You may not need a formal programme, but you absolutely can't discount employee voices.

The first step is really to listen to what employees are saying already online. Look at LinkedIn or other internal platforms where conversations are happening. Are employees proud to be posting about their projects, their teams, their experiences? And if they are, are you noticing it, responding to it, amplifying it, or even encouraging it?

So, employee content often reaches far more people than corporate posts. From platforms like LinkedIn they often perform far better in terms of reach and engagement. And that's really the shift in employer brand.

People and candidates really want to hear from the employees that are experiencing this. Advocacy programmes really shouldn't exist to force people to post. They shouldn't be giving them super glossy, branded content to share. They really should be spotting existing behaviour and giving people the tools, the confidence and the framework to share their own stories, which you can then amplify. And when that happens, your employer brand travels a lot further and it feels a lot more authentic.