Most businesses say their people are their biggest asset, but not all have an employer brand that clearly shows what they stand for.
Our survey of 1,000 UK employees reveals a clear and growing gap between what organisations say about their culture and what candidates actually see. And it’s already shaping who applies and who walks away.
TL;DR
- 82% of employees want to work for companies that share their values
- Nearly 1 in 5 candidates decided not to apply for a role because of perceived poor company reputation
- Employer brand is an increasingly serious commercial risk factor, not just a comms challenge
Employer brand is shaping talent decisions
Hiring is harder than it used to be and it’s now far more open to scrutiny.
Candidates are doing their homework. They’re cross-checking what you say about yourself against what they can actually find and what others say about you on platforms like Glassdoor and Reddit.
That means the challenge isn’t simply having an employer brand, it’s making sure that your employer brand is visible, understood and its authenticity is trusted.
Because if it’s not, people will make assumptions. And they won’t always be generous.
What employees really want (and expect to see)
The headline stat is hard to ignore:
- 82% of employees say it’s important that an employer shares their values
- 41% say it’s *very* important
- Just 4% say it doesn’t matter at all
And the values themselves aren’t abstract or corporate, they’re human:
- Hardworking (44%)
- Integrity and honesty (43%)
- Respect for others (37%)
- Compassion and kindness (34%)
- Treating people equally (32%)
- Friendly (31%)
- Fairness (26%)
- Caring about the environment (15%)
- Valuing diversity (11%)
Polished statements and carefully scripted videos aren’t enough. It’s whether people believe what you say and whether they can see it reflected in reality.
A few practical ways to build credibility: actively manage platforms like Glassdoor by engaging with reviews, ensure employees and leadership are visible, engaged and contributing on LinkedIn and treat employer brand as a core PR objective through leadership profiling and thought leadership.
Strengthen this further through credible awards and accreditations, involve employees in sharing real experiences and make sure your careers page brings your culture to life with genuine stories, not just job listings.
What are your values?
This is significant. More than four in five employees want their employer to share their values.
But how will they know if you share those values? Where will they find that information, and when they find it, will they trust it?
Ask yourself honestly – what are our values as a business, and does everyone in the company not only know them but live and breathe them?
We’ve talked a lot in the past about greenwashing and the importance of not paying lip service to ESG topics. Well, this goes for your values too. Did you create some in a branding session but never talked about them again? Time to revisit them and make them real.
We’ve seen some great examples of businesses living and breathing their values from making them visible on their website, even painted on the walls of their office, appearing as screen savers on employee computers and including them in all company documentation from tender documents to employee handbooks.
People are already voting with their feet
This is where it gets commercially real.
Because of perceived poor reputation:
- 19% have chosen not to apply for a role
- 15% have turned down a job offer
- 13% have left a job
Poor reputation means lost talent and growth your competitors are picking up instead.
Younger audiences are even more decisive:
- Gen Z are the most likely to act whether that’s applying, accepting or walking away from a position.
- Millennials are the biggest advocates when they trust what they see
In other words, your reputation is already influencing your ability to hire good people. Whether you’re managing it or not.
The gap: what companies say vs what people see
Most organisations think they’re communicating their culture. In reality, they’re often describing it – vaguely – and hoping candidates join the dots themselves.
For example, we’ve all seen businesses describing themselves with generic ‘we value our people’ language on their websites. What does this mean in reality? Are there employee voices backing this up? What does ‘value’ actually mean to your business and how does that play out in practice?
In our student discussion group, one frustration came up again and again: it’s surprisingly hard to understand what companies actually stand for.
In some cases, participants couldn’t even work out what the business did, let alone what it valued.
One student, Max, started the project convinced employer brand didn’t matter. His focus was on salary, prestige and progression. But after researching companies in more depth, he completely changed his mind. Culture, work-life balance and values became deciding factors. If your story isn’t clear, people won’t wait. They’ll move on.
What this means for your employer brand strategy
Here’s the challenge: most employer brands simply aren’t clear enough.
The businesses that get this right don’t just state their values, they make them visible and believable in the places candidates actually look.
That means:
- Showing how values play out in real decisions and behaviours (e.g. how you handle flexibility, personal development and what support systems you have for your staff)
- Making culture easy to find (not hidden three clicks deep)
- Backing up claims with proof – stories, examples and employee voices
- Keeping messaging consistent across careers pages, social channels and third-party platforms
- Treating employer brand not as something to be launched then forgotten about, but something you build over time
When delivered consistently and authentically, trust is built and gives candidates confidence in their decisions.
Done badly, or not at all, it creates doubt.
And doubt is enough to stop someone applying.
Expert view: why identity now drives career decisions
Dr Naeema Pasha is an author, speaker and founder of Henley Business School’s World of Work and an expert at assessing future trends in the workplace.
She provided a definitive verdict on the results, saying:
“To hear that people are walking away from a job, whether it’s one that’s being offered or one they are currently in, because of the external reputation of a business is extremely interesting.
“I think what we’re seeing here is a need for people to feel that their identity with work should feel like an extension of them.
“If an organisation and a job reflect who they are, that can drive attraction. They are thinking: ‘if I join this organisation, it’s a reflection of my identity, of my skills and values.’
“If the employer falls short, there’s a problem.”
Why employer brand matters more in 2026
Hiring has become more competitive. In most sectors, the fight for quality talent is real.
The CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook found that 45% of UK employers have hard-to-fill vacancies, with 65% expecting recruitment challenges to continue over the next six months.
Candidates are comparing reputations as well as roles. In this environment, a weak, unclear or untrustworthy employer brand won’t just slow down your ability to hire good people, it will push them elsewhere.
At the same time, transparency has changed the game. Platforms like Glassdoor, Reddit and LinkedIn mean candidates can more quickly sense-check what you say against other people’s real experiences. The ‘polished’ version of what you say about your culture is no longer enough.
There’s also a generational difference to consider. Younger audiences, particularly Gen Z, are far more likely to make decisions based on values, culture and perceived reputation.
Put all of that together and the new reality is that employer brand is no longer what you say – it’s what people see, share and believe.
And finally…
Employer brand used to sit on the sidelines.
Now it’s influencing who joins, who stays and how your business grows.
If your values aren’t clear, or worse, don’t feel real, people will notice.
And they’ll act on it.
Next steps
Want to know if your employer brand is helping or hurting your hiring?
Take our free 2-minute scorecard to see how your reputation really lands.
Or get in touch to explore how we help businesses turn their employer brand into a genuine growth advantage.
You can also read the full research report here.
