The Recipe for Winning with Employee-Generated Content (It’s Not What You Think)

Let’s be honest. Most employer branding content out there feels a bit like… supermarket cake.

Perfectly fine. Safe. Predictable. But if you’ve had one slice, you’ve had them all. Meanwhile, your employees are sitting on Michelin-star ingredients, and most companies are handing them a mixing bowl with zero instructions.

If I asked 10 colleagues to bake me a cake, I’d get 10 very different results. Some would be showstoppers. Others might look like a toddler’s science experiment.

But if I asked those same 10 people to make a chocolate birthday cake for a 6-year-old who is nuts about Spiderman, suddenly the results get a lot closer to what I actually need.

Because a clear brief changes everything.

And yet, when it comes to employee-generated content (EGC), far too many organisations take a “just share something authentic!” approach and then wonder why the output is… a little unpredictable.

“But Surely Corporate Content Is More Trustworthy?”

Nope.

The Edelman Trust Barometer has been very clear on this for years: authentic voices matter.

- 79% of people trust “my employer” more than government, media, or business.

- Employees are trusted more than CEOs and paid ads.

- 73% say they trust brands more when they authentically reflect today’s culture, not just their products.

So if you think your polished, on-brand corporate video is the star of the show — spoiler alert — it’s probably not. Beyond the Edelman Barometer, one study found that EGC generated growth rates exceeding 5,000% in brand-visibility metrics.

It’s clear - your employees’ stories are the real headliners.

And here’s the kicker: trust in employers actually dropped for the first time in Edelman’s history, now sitting at 75%. The trust is still there… but it’s not guaranteed. If you don’t enable your people to speak in ways that resonate, that gap will only grow.

The 5-Step Recipe (Yes, There’s Actually a Recipe)

Employee-generated content works best when there’s a structure behind it. Think of this less as “corporate control” and more like providing the cake recipe before people fire up the oven.

1. Outcome Clarity

If you don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, how will they? Be specific: “We want to surface one example of a remote-team success story per month” or “We’re looking for 30-second video testimonials on working culture”.  

As a bonus, link the goal to a business metric to increase engagement eg. “increase applications via LinkedIn by 20%” (for more relevant EGC metrics see our free KPI Guide)

2. Guardrails (Not Handcuffs)

Authentic ≠ chaotic. Provide themes, prompts, examples.

Example prompts:

- “Describe a moment this year when you felt proud of our team culture.”

- “What’s one way you’ve changed how you work (and what helped you)?”

Why? Because employees need context. Without it, “authentic” can quickly become “off-brand, off-message”.

3. Ease of Contribution

If it takes 14 clicks, a VPN, and a blood sample, no one will do it.

Make it simple: mobile and desktop friendly, minimal fields, optional vs mandatory. Offer support (guides, training, tutorials, FAQs).

The easier you make it the more likely you are to get enough ingredients to bake with and to choose the right ones for your needs.

4. Smart Amplification

Great stories die in dark corners of the internet. Get them seen.

Amplification means:

- Scheduling internal and external distribution (social, intranet, blog, social media).

- Leveraging employee networks (so the story gets a personal boost).

- Measuring reach/engagement and iterating.

According to the EGC study, when employees actively advocate, brands saw visibility surges without adding big marketing spend.

5. Recognition Loop

Celebrate contributions. A simple “Your post brought in 3 hires!” or “Your story got 12k impressions” goes a long way. Tie it back to your original metrics.

Why? Because EGC isn’t a one-off campaign. It becomes a habit, part of culture. Recognition reinforces that.

Also, it makes clear that the employee’s voice matters and isn’t just a content machine.

Bonus: A Little Challenge

If your instinct is still “Yeah, but we prefer polished corporate content…” I hear you. But ask yourself:

When was the last time someone shared one of your corporate recruitment posts unprompted?

Now compare that to a heartfelt story from a real employee.

Exactly.

It’s not about throwing away your brand guidelines. It’s about using them to elevate real voices, not silence them.

The Payoff

When you get the recipe right, you unlock content that:

- Builds trust: peer-to-peer beats brand-to-audience every time.

- Scales authenticity: your workforce becomes your distributed marketing engine.

- Boosts engagement: algorithms love real voices.

- Drives actual results: more clicks, more applications, more impact.

- Improves retention: companies with a strong brand could see retention increase by ~28%.

And like that perfectly briefed chocolate cake, it’s exactly what your audience wants — not just another stale slice from the corporate fridge.

Final Thought

Employee-generated content isn’t a “nice to have” anymore. It’s your unfair advantage if you do it right.

So, here’s my challenge to you: remember the spider man cake the next time you ask for content from someone.

And ask yourself - Are you giving your employees a proper recipe, or just tossing them the ingredients and hoping for the best?

And for those wondering, yes I was hungry when I wrote this article... I’m off to eat cake now.