What Is Employee-Generated Content? The Complete Guide for Employer Branding

Lachlan Cooper

14 October 2026

Employee-generated content (EGC) is content created by an organisation’s own employees, rather than its marketing team or an agency, that shows what it is really like to work there.

It includes short videos, photos, written stories and social posts made by real people in real roles. For employer branding, EGC matters because candidates trust employees far more than they trust the company: LinkedIn found that people are 3x more likely to trust company information from employees than from the CEO.

In this guide, we cover what employee-generated content is, how it differs from other types of content, why it works so well for attracting and engaging talent, and how to launch an EGC programme that stays on-brand.

What is employee-generated content?

Employee-generated content is any content about your organisation that is created by the people who work there. The employee is the storyteller, and usually the person filming or writing, too. The organisation provides the prompts, guidance and guardrails, but the voice is the employee’s own.

That is the key difference from traditional employer brand content. A polished careers video made by an agency tells candidates what the company wants them to believe. Employee-generated content shows them what employees actually experience.

It helps to separate EGC from two terms it is often confused with:

User-generated content (UGC) is created by customers or the public about a brand. EGC is the same idea, but the creators are employees and the subject is usually the workplace, the work and the people.
Employee advocacy is employees sharing content, often content the company created, on their own social networks. EGC is about employees creating the content in the first place. The two work best together: employees create stories, and employees share them.

What are examples of employee-generated content?

Employee-generated content can take many forms, but short video is the most powerful because candidates can see and hear real people. Common examples include:

Day-in-the-life videos: an employee walks through a typical day, from morning stand-up to the work that actually fills their time.
Role spotlights: a hiring manager or team member explains what a specific role involves, who thrives in it and where it can lead, in 30-60 seconds.
Team introductions: a quick hello from the people a new hire would be working with.
Career journey stories: employees explain how they joined, how they’ve grown and what has kept them there.
EVP stories: employees bring each pillar of your employee value proposition (EVP) to life with a real example, such as flexibility, learning or purpose.
Meet-the-grads videos: current graduates speak directly to the next intake about the programme, the rotations and the culture.
Welcome and preboarding messages: the team says hello to a new starter between offer and day one.
Internal updates and team spotlights: for internal communications, leaders and employees share news, wins and change updates in their own words.

Why is employee-generated content so effective for employer branding?

Employee-generated content works because it solves the three biggest problems employer brand teams face: trust, reach and volume.

1. Candidates trust employees more than they trust employers

Candidates are sceptical of corporate messaging, and they go looking for the real story. According to LinkedIn, people are 3x more likely to trust company information from employees than from the CEO. Glassdoor reports that 86% of employees and job seekers are likely to research company reviews and ratings when deciding where to apply.

In other words, candidates will find out what it’s like to work for you regardless. Employee-generated content lets your people answer that question directly, on your careers site and channels, rather than leaving it to review sites alone.

2. It feels authentic, because it is

Audiences can tell the difference between content made by real people and content made by a brand. In a survey by Stackla reported by Social Media Today, consumers were 2.4x more likely to say user-generated content is authentic compared to brand-created content. The same principle applies to employer branding: an unscripted 45-second clip from a nurse, engineer or graduate is more believable than a beautifully lit brand film.

3. Your employees have far more reach than your company page

LinkedIn data shows that a company’s employees have, on average, 10x more connections than the company has followers, and that employee re-shares of company content get 2.1x the click-through rate of the original company post. A widely cited figure reported by Social Media Today puts it even more starkly: content shared by employees sees 8x more engagement, on average, than content shared through brand channels.

4. It scales without scaling your budget

Agency video is expensive and slow, so most organisations end up with a handful of hero videos that date quickly. Employee-generated content can be captured continuously, across every role, team and location, at a fraction of the cost. That means you can show candidates content for the specific role they are considering, not just a generic culture video.

5. A strong employer brand improves hiring outcomes

Ultimately, EGC is a means to an end: a stronger employer brand. LinkedIn research found that a strong employer brand can reduce turnover by 28% and cost-per-hire by 50%. Authentic employee content is one of the most practical ways to build that brand, because it gives candidates a realistic picture of the role before they apply. That tends to attract people who are a better fit and less likely to leave early.

Employee-generated content vs agency video: what’s the difference?

Agency production still has a place, but it does a different job. Here is how the two compare:

Cost: agency videos can cost thousands per piece. EGC costs a fraction of that per video once a platform and process are in place.
Speed: agency projects typically take weeks from brief to final cut. Employee videos can be captured and published in days.
Volume: agencies produce a few hero assets. EGC can produce content for every role, team and location.
Authenticity: agency content is polished and scripted. EGC is real people in their own words, which candidates find more credible.
Freshness: agency videos date quickly and are costly to update. EGC can be refreshed continuously as people, teams and roles change.

Many organisations use a hybrid model: one or two high-production hero pieces for big campaigns, supported by an always-on stream of employee-generated content that keeps careers pages, job ads and social channels current.

Where should you use employee-generated content?

The best EGC programmes don’t create content for its own sake. They put the right stories where candidates and employees are already looking:

Careers site: an always-on feed of employee stories, ideally filtered by team, role or location.
Job ads: a role spotlight video in the ad itself, so candidates understand the job before they apply.
LinkedIn and social: short clips shared by both the company page and the employees featured in them.
Graduate platforms and campus campaigns: peer stories from current graduates, which early-career candidates trust most.
Candidate nurture and preboarding: welcome videos and team intros between offer and start date, to reduce drop-outs.
Onboarding: team and leader introductions that help new starters settle in faster.
Intranet and internal comms: leader updates, team spotlights and change messages that employees will actually watch.

How do you start an employee-generated content programme?

You don’t need a big launch. Most successful programmes start small, prove value with one use case, then expand. Here is a simple six-step approach:

Pick one goal and one audience. For example: improve applications for hard-to-fill engineering roles, or reduce graduate drop-outs between offer and start date. A clear goal makes it easier to choose stories and measure results.
Turn your EVP into story prompts. For each pillar of your EVP, write two or three questions employees can answer from their own experience, such as "Tell us about a time you learnt something new on the job".
Choose your first contributors. Start with 5-10 willing, enthusiastic employees across different roles and backgrounds. Enthusiasm matters more than polish.
Make it easy. Give people prompts rather than scripts, keep videos short (30-90 seconds), and let them record on their phone in a few minutes. The easier it is, the more people will take part.
Set guardrails. Agree brand templates, an approval step, and a clear consent process so Marketing and Legal are comfortable from day one.
Publish, share and measure. Put the content where your audience is (see above), encourage contributors to share it, and track results against your original goal.

What are the common challenges with employee-generated content?

Most teams run into the same handful of concerns. All of them are solvable:

“Our people won’t want to be on camera.” Some won’t, and that’s fine. Start with the people who do, use prompts so nobody has to think of what to say, and recognise contributors publicly. Participation tends to grow once employees see colleagues doing it.
“It won’t look professional enough.” Authentic content builds more trust than polished content. Branded templates, captions and simple editing make employee videos look consistent without losing their realness.
“What if someone says something off-brand?” An approval workflow means nothing is published until it has been reviewed. Brand-locked templates keep logos, colours and fonts consistent.
“We don’t have time.” A good EGC process takes contributors a few minutes and replaces hours of agency briefing, filming and reviews.
“What happens when someone leaves?” Get clear written consent upfront, explain how content will be used, and set a policy for reviewing or retiring content when people move on.

How do you measure the success of employee-generated content?

Measure EGC against the goal you set at the start, not just views. Useful metrics include:

Attraction: careers page engagement, job ad click-through and apply rates, and number of applications for target roles.
Quality: the proportion of applicants who reach shortlist or interview, and hiring manager satisfaction.
Conversion: offer acceptance rates and drop-outs between offer and start date.
Retention: early attrition in the first 6-12 months, since realistic previews of the role help set the right expectations.
Reach and participation: views, shares and the number of employees contributing over time.

How VideoMy helps

VideoMy is an employee-generated video platform built for employer branding, recruitment and internal communications. It makes it easy for employees to record short, authentic videos from any device using guided prompts, while giving Marketing and Employer Brand teams the control they need through brand-safe templates and approval workflows.

Approved videos can be published to a Story Feed on your careers site or intranet, shared to social channels, and translated for teams in different regions, all from one central library. It means TA, Employer Brand and Internal Comms teams can build an always-on content engine without relying on agencies or becoming a bottleneck for Marketing.

Want to see how it works? Book a demo with VideoMy and we’ll show you how teams like yours are turning their people into their most credible storytellers.

Frequently asked questions

What does EGC stand for?

EGC stands for employee-generated content: content such as videos, photos, stories and posts created by an organisation’s own employees, usually about their work, their team and their experience of the organisation.

What is the difference between EGC and UGC?

User-generated content (UGC) is created by customers or the public about a brand or product. Employee-generated content (EGC) is created by employees, and is most often used for employer branding, recruitment and internal communications.

Is employee-generated content better than professional video?

They do different jobs. Professional video is good for a small number of high-impact hero pieces. Employee-generated content is better for authenticity, volume and freshness, and candidates tend to trust it more because it comes from real employees rather than the company.

How long should an employee-generated video be?

For recruitment and social channels, 30-90 seconds works best. Role spotlights and quick team intros can be as short as 30 seconds, while day-in-the-life or career story videos can run slightly longer.

How do you get employees to create content?

Make it quick, easy and optional. Give people simple prompts rather than scripts, let them record on their phone, start with enthusiastic volunteers, and celebrate contributors so others are encouraged to join in.