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Employer branding: stop selling dreams, let your employees tell the real story.

Is your employer brand lacking authenticity? Stop selling dreams and find out how to turn your employees into your best ambassadors.


There's a scene I see all too often. A company spends a fortune on a beautiful recruitment campaign. Sleek visuals, inspiring slogans, promises of fulfillment... on paper, it's perfect. But internally, employees roll their eyes. Sometimes they laugh. Sometimes they're just cynical.

This gap, this wide discrepancy between the storefront and the back office, is the silent cancer of the employer brand.

During my recent conversation with Anne-Sophie Noël, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing in episode 32 of the HR Stay Tuned podcast, she pointed out a painful truth with a candor that struck me: "If there's a discrepancy between what a company says about itself in external communications, its ambassadors, that is its employees, will very quickly say: 'No, no, no, that's bullshit, it's not exactly like that.'"

"Bullshit". The word is out. And it's accurate.

In an era where trust is such a rare currency, it's time to stop this corporate charade. Let's stop selling dreams. Let's start sharing reality.

The credibility crisis: why no one believes in your stock photos anymore

The problem is not new. In fact, it's the topic I covered in my final thesis: the alignment between internal and external communication. Even back then, it was clear to me. And today, the phenomenon is amplified by a radical transparency imposed by the digital world.

Your candidates are not naive. Even before applying, they have already conducted their research on social media, or by contacting former employees. They know. And the numbers confirm it. According to a study by LinkedIn Talent Solutions, candidates trust employees of a company three times more than the company itself to get credible information about the work environment.

Three times.

Reread this statistic. It marks the death certificate of top-down and sanitized corporate communication. The career site with actors smiling around a coffee machine? No one believes it. The CEO's polished speech on "values"? It is immediately contrasted with the stories, good or bad, that the teams share on the ground.

As Anne-Sophie aptly puts it, your true ambassadors are not your PR agencies. " The employees of a company are its first ambassadors. " They are your only source of truth. Ignoring them, or worse, contradicting them, is not just a mistake. It's brand suicide.

The authenticity revolution: co-creating your story, not making it up

So, what do we do? Do we give up?

On the contrary. We are radically changing paradigms. The solution is disarmingly simple, but it requires courage: we must make authenticity a strategy.

Anne-Sophie summed it up perfectly: "A good employer branding campaign, to me, is one that is done with the employees."

This goes well beyond a few scripted video testimonials. It's about co-creating your story. This is called "Employee Advocacy", but let's get rid of the jargon. In plain terms, it's about creating an environment where your teams are not only heard, but also feel proud and safe to share their actual experiences.

How do we do it, practically speaking?

  1. Listen before you speak: What do your colleagues REALLY like about you? What excites them? What frustrates them? Conduct surveys, focus groups, informal conversations. Look for the raw material, not the polish.
  2. Identify your true storytellers: Give a voice to everyone. Not just to managers or the "good students". Highlight the technician who solves complex problems, the accountant who loves the atmosphere of her team, the young talent who has been well integrated. Their experiences are a thousand times more powerful than any slogan.
  3. Provide them with a stage, not a script: Your career site should be their platform. Your LinkedIn account should showcase their achievements. Companies like Patagonia or Decathlon don't burden themselves with corporate speak; they show their employees in action, living the passion for sports or the outdoors that is the brand's DNA. According to a report by MSLGroup, messages shared by employees have a reach 561% greater than the same messages shared through the brand's official channels. It's a monumental marketing and HR lever, based on trust.

My struggle: to make authenticity accessible

I have held this belief for years. It's what recently drove me to launch Jobloom, my new venture. I've seen too many companies wanting to be authentic, but facing a lack of time or budget to create quality content.

My obsession is to make this authenticity 'sexy' and accessible. As I was explaining to Anne-Sophie, we directly integrate the creation of this lively and embodied content into the design of career websites. We help companies to interview their talents, to turn these gems into captivating stories, so that their employer brand can finally be a true and attractive reflection of their culture.

Because in the end, the best employer brand isn't the one that promises the moon. It's the one that tells you: "This is who we are, with our strengths, our challenges, and the incredible people who keep things running. If that speaks to you, join us."

It's an invitation, not an advertisement. And that's the whole difference.

The latest

Recruter sans outils digitaux, c’est un peu comme pêcher sans filet : on finit par passer à côté des meilleurs profils. 

Aujourd’hui, les candidats veulent postuler aussi facilement qu’ils commandent sur Amazon — et si ce n’est pas le cas, ils passent à l’offre suivante.Voici les 10 erreurs les plus fréquentes que font encore (trop) de PME… et comment les éviter.1. Un site carrière figéUne simple liste d’offres ou des PDF à télécharger → taux de conversion quasi nul (0 à 2 %).2. Pas de mobile firstAlors que plus de 90 % des candidatures se font sur smartphone.3. Des formulaires à rallongeLettres de motivation obligatoires, 20 champs à remplir, étapes multiples… les candidats fuient.4. Aucune marque employeurPas de contenu qui donne envie de rejoindre votre boîte plutôt qu’une autre.5. Des process éclatésCandidatures par mail, suivi dans Excel, CV dans Dropbox → perte de temps et d’efficacité.6. Pas de base de données centraliséeOn oublie les bons candidats, on recontacte les mêmes profils, on perd la mémoire collective.7. Pas de visibilité multicanalLes offres ne sont publiées que sur LinkedIn ou Indeed → portée limitée.8. Zéro automatisationLes recruteurs passent des heures à trier ou envoyer des refus manuellement.9. Manque de feedback candidatAucune réponse claire ou rapide → image employeur abîmée.10. Recrutement perçu comme administratifAlors qu’avec les bons outils, on peut redonner du temps à l’humain, à l’échange, à la rencontre.La bonne nouvelle ? Tout ça se corrige facilement.Avec Jobloom, les PME peuvent digitaliser leur recrutement sans perdre leur authenticité — et sans se ruiner.Vous avez envie de voir comment ça marche ?

Christelle Lempereur, DRH de Léonidas. 

" Nous avons reçu 55 candidatures sur un profil atypique et ça, c’est parce que cette offre publiée par ce site (jobloom) génère beaucoup d’attractivité et beaucoup de visibilité. "

Christophe Degauquier, Managing director DAP 

" En termes d’efficacité et d’outils digitaux, nous avons été très positivement surpris, et pour un prix tout à fait raisonnable. Cela a créé une petite révolution chez nous en matière de recrutement."

Kévin Coppens, Co-fondateur de Semactic. 

"Jobloom nous a permis de nous structurer et d’adopter une approche RH cohérente, pertinente et bien définie, autant pour nous que pour les candidats."

Amélie Alleman

Founder of Jobloom and Betuned, Amélie Alleman is a passionate entrepreneur who has been shaking up the recruitment industry for over 15 years. She innovates at the crossroads of communication, digital marketing and technology to make recruitment more human and tailored to the expectations of today's talent. Her solutions now support both start-ups and large groups in their HR transformation.

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Corporate Culture: The Secret to an Irresistible Employer Brand 

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