From EVP to Impact – let’s k*** the corporate fluff! If I gave you a euro for every time you’ve read the phrase “we offer meaningful work in a dynamic environment”… you’d probably have enough to retire by now.
Let’s start with something spicy:
Employer Value Propositions are dead.
They’ve been killed by meaningless corporate jargon, PowerPoint platitudes, and empty adjectives like “innovative,” “collaborative,” and “fast-paced.”
Welcome to episode 197 of the Story-Driven Business Podcast. I’m your host Susanna Rantanen, author of Story-Driven Employer Branding and the creator of the Magnetic Employer Branding Method™—and today, I’m inviting you to attend the funeral of the old-school EVP.
Because the new world of work demands more than slogans. It demands story.
We’re talking about moving from EVP to Impact. From scripted statements to Key Story Themes that make your company’s mission feel real—inside and out.
If you’re a leader, HR pro, marketing or comms strategist and tired of talking in circles about “employer branding,” this episode is your liberation.
Episode 197: #197 From EVP to Impact: The D**** of Corporate Fluff
If I gave you a euro for every time you’ve read the phrase “we offer meaningful work in a dynamic environment”… you’d probably have enough to retire by now.
Corporate fluff has diluted the entire EVP conversation.
Most EVPs don’t resonate. Why? Because they’re not stories. They’re slogans. They don’t show, they tell. They don’t evolve, they sit static on career pages that no one believes.
Key Story Themes fix this.
They’re dynamic. Real. Strategic.
They come alive through content.
They are your leadership values in action.
In this episode, I’ll explain how you can ditch dead-weight EVP copy and finally create a living, breathing brand your people believe in.
Let’s burn the fluff and build something magnetic.
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The Problem: Static EVP, Static Culture
For years, companies have been told to write an EVP—a big statement about what they offer employees. But here’s the truth:
Most EVPs are created for approval, not impact.
They’re born in meeting rooms, shaped by consensus, and polished by copywriters who’ve never met your employees. They sound good, but they’re completely disconnected from how it actually feels to work in your company.
Worse, they age like milk.
A year or two later, leadership changes, culture shifts, new people arrive—but your EVP stays stuck in 2021. That’s not branding. That’s stagnation.
The Shift: From EVP to Modern Work-To-Life Promise and Key Story Themes
In The Magnetic Employer Branding Method™, I introduced a better way:
Replace static EVP statements with a Modern Work-to-Life Promise and back it up with Key Story Themes that evolve with your business.
A Modern Work-to-Life Promise reflects your organisation’s view of the relationship between working and living in today’s society. It’s rooted in strategic culture and leadership values, making it far more relatable, dynamic and relevant than a fixed EVP.
But this promise comes to life only through Key Story Themes.
Key Story Themes are not slogans. They are content-driven narratives. Real, recurring, and rooted in lived employee experience. They are how your leadership values become visible.
They become the red thread across all your messaging—from job ads to leadership comms, social media to onboarding.
Imagine:
- Instead of “We value collaboration,” you show what collaboration looks like between teams in practice.
- Instead of “We empower our people,” you share stories of real growth, support and autonomy from inside the business.
Story Themes invite everyone—inside and outside your company—into an ongoing, evolving story.
They build trust because they’re transparent.
They build alignment because they’re consistent.
They build meaning because they’re human.
A Case: Turning Fluff Into Fuel
One of our clients came to us with an EVP that had been collecting digital dust for four years. It had everything: innovation, passion, opportunity… and zero traction.
We helped them define a powerful Modern Work-to-Life Promise that reflected their unique role in society and what makes their work meaningful. Then we uncovered four Key Story Themes based on lived culture, real feedback and leadership priorities.
We embedded these themes into their content plan, their hiring comms and internal town halls.
Suddenly, the brand felt alive again. Employees recognised themselves in the stories. Candidates saw something worth joining. Leaders saw culture aligned with strategy.
And guess what? Not once did we use the word “innovative.”
Why This Matters More Than Ever
With hybrid work, generational shifts and rapid change, employees and candidates are no longer fooled by fluff.
They want to feel something real. They want a reason to care.
That comes from meaningful content tied to shared values and actual lived experiences.
A Modern Work-to-Life Promise gives your brand strategic clarity.
Key Story Themes give it traction, life and credibility.
Together, they help:
- Leaders lead with consistency
- Comms teams create purposeful content
- HR build trust and emotional safety
- Marketing drive authenticity and brand affinity
How To Start Crafting Modern Work-to-Life Promises?
- Forget about writing a slogan. Ask instead: what is the modern role of work in people’s lives here?
- Craft your Modern Work-to-Life Promise based on strategic culture and your leadership view of sustainable, meaningful work.
- Talk to your people. What do they experience that aligns with this promise?
- From their stories, extract themes. These are your Key Story Themes—rich, relatable, recurring narratives.
- Translate them into content pillars. Stories, campaigns, leadership messaging, internal comms—they all draw from here.
Key Takeaways From This Episode
- EVPs are outdated and disconnected from real culture.
- A Modern Work-to-Life Promise reframes work as part of meaningful life.
- Key Story Themes turn that promise into visible proof.
- Together, they build the foundation of a story-driven, trustworthy employer brand.
It’s time to stop fluffing up slogans and start shaping culture.
Modern work demands a modern brand—one that speaks to life, not just labour.
So if your EVP is collecting dust, bury it.
And build something better: A Work-to-Life Promise rooted in your truth, and Key Story Themes that bring it to life.
Get the book at: storydrivenemployerbranding.com
Until next time—keep leading with story.
