Summary
Employer branding can be an isolated profession, particularly for practitioners working without specialist colleagues, established reporting lines or consistent access to peer support. Steve Ward reflects on the growth of the Employer Branding Club, the pressures reshaping the profession and the value of creating spaces where practitioners can share knowledge, challenge assumptions and learn from one another.
Key points
- Employer branding professionals continue to face isolation, limited resources and growing pressure to demonstrate business value.
- AI, reduced budgets and repeated organisational change are increasing the demands placed on the profession.
- Peer communities can help practitioners exchange practical experience, test ideas and build confidence.
- EBClub expanded from a UK-based digital event into a European programme spanning seven countries.
- A new partnership with EBN is intended to extend the community’s discussions and learning to a global audience.
Employer branding works better when people share what they know. EBClub brings practitioners together to exchange ideas, compare experiences, and learn from the people doing the work.
A Passion Project with a Purpose.
In 2019 I was still an inhouse employer branding professional; exploring new routes every month but starved of consistent, on-the-pulse education, knowledge resources and community. Every job or contract I did, I was on my own, no consistent reporting lines, no colleagues who knew really what on earth I was doing. The thought leadership externally, was largely non-practising opinion; and the leadership voice was sporadic.
So, in 2020 when I jumped into the agency world, I started a community myself.
It took me about 5 seconds to decide to call it The Employer Branding Club. Do what it says on the tin, right?
We had to re-jig an intended first in person event to a 3-hour digital event, because of the onset of the pandemic. 270 people signed up to attend. All of sudden, the job didn’t seem quite so lonely anymore. The attendee count never dropped below 180 throughout the 3 hours, and a living breathing community of UK EB geeks was born. Regular events, chat and community with a UK focus for 6 years.
In 2026, a passion project turned into a dream to make this something more international. I went self-employed and laid out a European EBClub events programme; and across 14 events, over 500 people registered their interest in attending events that spanned 7 countries.
Yes. In 2026, people still have the same needs as 2019 and 2020… it’s still a fairly isolated role, but it's a role in constant flux, evolution, new challenges, new demands, and then the onset of AI as a factor.
Averting a crisis?
When asked about the Employer Brand industry by Hung Lee on his Brainfood summary of 2025 back in December; I said it was potentially “in crisis”. Dramatic? Well hear me out.
The reasoning was AI intervention, the reasoning was lowered budgets, the reasoning was the pace of change, and most significantly the reasoning was the shelf-life of EB as a discipline. I wondered whether the average employer brand professional was sufficiently equipped to handle the pace of change and whether the average line manager to employer brand had the confidence in the art of our work, to stand up for it in court when the C-suite asks for numbers and business value right before its 5th global transformation in 3 years….
And then in fact, when I hosted EBClub in Amsterdam; one of the most senior global leaders in our space; and EBCub ambassador; Koos Wurzer, picked the subject for his panel as “EB is changing fast. Are we?” - a direct challenge to the room, as to whether we have the tools to strengthen the boat for when the waters get choppy.
It takes a Village.
But there it is. EBClub. Raising the discussion, Koos tackled the subject with his co-panelist Marco Dalmeijer and I, and the 50 people in the room hung on every word spoken, asking intelligent questions, sharing certain thoughts, leaving themselves open for vulnerability within the group - but nobody was there for that. Everyone was there to co-learn, to investigate, to be inquisitive and quite simple, to back each other.
Koos didn’t raise the subject to kick out our lights, he raised it to ask us to step back for a moment and consider our value, the sustainability and evolution of our profession, and gave practical guidance so that we were empowered to go to work the next day with a new set of ideas and motivations.
Meet the people behind the community. Discover the practitioners, ambassadors and contributors helping EBClub build a stronger, more connected employer branding profession.
That’s it you see. We have each other, the collective brains of the industry.
One of the mantras of EBClub is “Everyone’s an Expert”, because it doesn’t matter whether you are fresh into the pool, or a seasoned pro; we all have our lanes we drive in, our experiences and ecosystems, and every day is a new adventure in our profession. Therefore everyone has a contribution. Everyone's perspective matters.
Overflowing Generosity
Seven months on from my “crisis” observation, I have a new perspective. And you made it.
My tour of Europe, meeting and engaging with unbelievable people, unsung heroes and inquisitive minds in our industry; from the bright-eyed fresh enthusiasm of Poland and Portugal, to the hardened experienced environments of the UK and Netherlands; EBClub inadvertently almost; exposed hope.
People have something to say. The love of the art, the work we do, the things we create and the hurdles we face, stimulates a remarkable level of generosity. People step up, mostly who have never spoken on a stage or stepped on a panel in front of a room; and they share, with their heart open. There are no so-called-experts telling you how you are doing your job right or wrong because they have a book to sell; only people in the trenches sharing new ideas, things they have found and experienced, and war stories and outcomes that shed light on the possibilities of our work in employer branding.
When you capture the reflections on Linkedin from every EBClub event of the year, they enthuse with positivity about the learnings, the takeaways, the energy of community and everyone points to the necessity of stepping away from the shackles of the corporate desk and getting in the room together.
The reflection is that our industry, our profession, has strength when we remove isolation and open our ears and eyes to collective knowledge.
Globalising collective knowledge
So with that in mind, it’s fundamentally important therefore, that the EBClub is on an exciting and elevated journey, for people like you. The new partnership with this platform, EBN, means that the community reach becomes global. The generosity of thought, the inquisitive minds in the audience, the connectivity and learning, doesn’t just have to only be in rooms anymore. It can also now be digital, in the moment, the ability to ask a question and get answers, before you have to run into that room at 3pm with your CHRO and demonstrate a proven path for success.
The partnership also means more ways to learn and collaborate, more content choices; and the zoned community will also compliment closed ‘safe-space’ in-house chats, with The Exchange, an open chat environment for the entire industry, suppliers and inhouse together - to widen the pool of knowledge and ideas.
The EBClub events programme goes beyond Europe. I look forward to being inspired as the programme goes first to North America in Q4 of this year, and then onto APAC, Middle East and more destinations in 2027.
More room for you, wherever you are; to be part of the club!
The employer brand job need not be a lonely one. Join a peer community built for honest discussion, practical learning and shared experience across employer branding.
Explore EBClub
Find upcoming events, meet the people shaping the community, join the conversation or learn how to support EBClub as a partner.
| EBClub | What you will find | Explore |
|---|---|---|
| About EBClub | Learn how EBClub connects employer branding practitioners through peer learning, discussion and shared experience. | Explore EBClub |
| Events | Browse upcoming EBClub gatherings, panels and practitioner-led sessions around the world. | View events |
| People | Meet the practitioners, ambassadors and contributors supporting the EBClub community. | Meet the community |
| Join EBClub | Connect with employer branding professionals sharing ideas, testing approaches and learning together. | Join EBClub |
| Partner with EBClub | Support practitioner-led events, industry discussion and wider access to employer branding knowledge. | Explore partnerships |
Takeaways
1. Employer branding remains an isolated role
Many employer brand practitioners work without large specialist teams or managers who fully understand the discipline. Access to a trusted peer network can provide perspective, practical advice and reassurance.
2. The profession is being asked to evolve quickly
AI, budget pressure and continuous organisational transformation are changing what employers expect from employer branding teams. Practitioners increasingly need to connect creative work with evidence, business priorities and measurable outcomes.
3. Communities create space for practical learning
Events and professional groups can surface knowledge that does not always appear in formal reports or conference presentations. Practitioners can learn directly from the experiences, mistakes and successes of others doing similar work.
4. Expertise exists at every career stage
New practitioners and experienced leaders bring different forms of knowledge. A useful professional community gives people at every level the confidence to contribute, question established practice and share what they have learned.
5. Collective knowledge can travel beyond the event room
Digital communities can make discussions, questions and practitioner insight available across regions and time zones. The expansion of EBClub through EBN aims to connect employer branding professionals beyond its existing European events programme.
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