Pop quiz! If you want to appeal to the hearts and minds of potential new talent (and keep your existing high performers), what would be more engaging: facts and figures or a ripping story?

The story - hands down, every time!

Of course, facts and figures have their place. But they need the scaffolding of an authentic story to pack the biggest (and longer-lasting) punch.

Authentic storytelling is a powerful way to shape and share your employer brand. Businesses around the globe increasingly realise this, and many are achieving amazing results: better quality candidates, hires, retention rates and employee engagement.

Yet, many other organisations fail at storytelling. Why is that?

We’ve outlined the common reasons why businesses flounder with employer brand storytelling, so you can avoid these pitfalls and achieve the incredible results your stories deserve.

1. Lack of authenticity

Stories need to be believable to make an impact. No job or workplace is without its challenges, so what are some of the challenges your people and organisation face? How are they overcome?

Let your people speak truthfully. Try not to airbrush their tone of voice - let their personality take centre stage. This will enable your audience to trust and connect with them - and you - more easily.

And by being honest and genuine, all your wonderful values, benefits and perks will shine.

2. They tell, don’t show

No doubt you sincerely care about your employees, and you offer them fantastic benefits. Simply stating these benefits in your stories won’t do, though. You need to show them!

So, how can you do that? Let’s say you’d like to highlight the benefit of “flexibility”. What does this mean? What does it actually look like for your people? How does it make life happier, easier and more meaningful for them?

By using real examples of your benefits in action, you make a greater emotional connection with your potential talent, and they can start picturing themselves working with you.

3. Not sharing stories

You could have the most amazing collection of stories in the world, but they’re not going to gain any traction if they don’t have an audience.

The first thing you need to do is give them a permanent home on your website. Then, you can link to your stories in your social media posts, e-newsletters, emails and more.

4. Lack of followers

So, you’ve shared your stories on Facebook but no one’s hitting “like” or clicking on the links. To gain visibility, you need to nurture your followers. Include links to your social media pages in your email signature and on your website. Invite your employees to follow your social media accounts, too.

You also need to share your stories on the right platforms. Is Facebook really where your potential candidates hang out? Or are they more likely to be on LinkedIn?

And when people do comment on your posts, reply to them. Keep the conversation going, and encourage your employees to share your stories, too.

5. Poorly written

Your stories need pizzazz! No one wants to read uninteresting, unstructured, overly long employer brand stories full of errors. Get someone who knows how to write to do them for you! Someone (shameless plug alert!) like the Storytellers at Employer Branding Australia. After all, it’s what we do best! And we’d love to work with you.

If you’d like help turning your authentic people stories into your most powerful marketing tool, email us today at hello@employerbrandingaustralia.com. We can’t wait to work with you!