What Microsoft got right about employer branding

Companies often try to build employer brands by highlighting what leadership says. Microsoft took a different approach by showing what employees actually experience.

They did this by grounding their messages in reality and dropping overly promotional statements, said Jen Crum, director of marketing and communications for HR programs at Microsoft.

“We had to ask, are we sure that’s what we want to say? And then we were like, no, we need to let the data speak,” she said during a presentation at Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference.

Instead of defaulting to familiar talking points, the team examined employee data, focus groups and external perception to build their brand.

Let the truth shape the message

Leadership initially leaned toward themes like high performance and AI leadership.

But the data told a more nuanced story, Crum said.

“Microsoft isn’t the highest-paying company in tech. AI is exciting, but also uncertain for many workers,” she said.

And like any large company, it has layers and bureaucracy. So instead of brushing over this, the team leaned into it.