I’m loving Employer Content Club - me and Chris Murdoch set it up so that we could elevate the role and importance of employer content creation. And our series “Co-Created: How to build authentic content with your employees” is well underway.
So when I went to the Recruitment Marketing Awards a few weeks ago, I kept an eye out for award winners in certain categories.
One category that particularly caught my attention was the Employer Brand award.
This was won by Currys, in partnership with Tonic.
Here’s a segment from Episode 2 of our Co-Created series - a little dive into the award-winning work. Me and Chris took a look at the winning listings and the content itself, and shared our thoughts based on what we saw.
Watch the video for our deep dive
And here are my key takeaways for you:
The Authenticity Problem
I had a conversation with someone who was at World Employer Branding Day who said something that resonated: when you over-gloss employee content, you kill its authenticity.
Currys seems to have figured this out. Their approach leans into TikTok trends, office banter, and the kind of workplace moments that feel genuine because they are genuine.
The production quality isn’t the point - the people are.
Why This Matters for Co-Create
If you’ve been following our Co-Create series (and if you haven’t, welcome - you’re in the right place), you know we’re exploring how to build authentic content with your employees, not just about them.
The Currys campaign is a great case study for this philosophy:
They built infrastructure, not just content. Creating a centralised platform with a consistent cadence takes serious coordination. It’s not just “hey, post something to TikTok when you feel like it.” It’s strategic, but it doesn’t feel forced.
They trusted their people. Staff were encouraged to participate. That level of trust - and the training and support that goes with it - is what separates real co-creation from tokenistic employee spotlights.
A Quick Note About Our Series Partner - Vouch
We’re capturing insights like these throughout our Co-Created series, and we’re doing it using Vouch - the video-first AI content platform that makes it easy to collect and share authentic employee stories.
It’s fitting, really. We’re exploring how to co-create content with employees, and Vouch is helping us gather voices from practitioners throughout the season. If you’re curious about how to collect authentic stories at scale without the production headaches, check them out here.
What You Can Steal From This
You don’t need to be Currys to apply these lessons:
Start with listening. Before you create a single piece of content, talk to your people. What do they want to say? What are they proud of? What would they actually post?
Build the infrastructure. One-off employee features won’t cut it. You need a system that makes it easy and appealing for people to contribute regularly.
Coordinate without controlling. Yes, you need guidelines. Yes, you need some level of quality control. But if it feels like a corporate communications exercise, you’ve already lost.
Watch & Listen to the Full Episode
Want to hear the complete conversation? Me and Chris talk about other RMA winners in Episode 2 of our Co-Created series. And we talk about the challenges and opportunities facing the world of TA, EB and recruitment marketing.
Watch the full episode here
Listen to the full episode here:
About the Co-Create Series
This article is part of Co-Create: How to Build Authentic Content with Your Employees, an ongoing series where Chris Murdoch and I explore the world of employee-generated content.
We’re talking to organisations at different stages of their journey, learning what works (and what doesn’t), and building a community of practitioners who believe there’s a better way to do employer content.
Want to find out more about Employer Content Club?
What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to co-creating content with your employees? Drop a comment below - I’d love to hear from you.
Note: While I attended and discuss the Recruitment Marketing Awards in this article, this content is not affiliated with or sponsored by the Recruitment Marketing Awards or anyone connected to this award-winning.
