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The New Dictionary of Hiring

Employer Sameness

/IM-PLOY-ER SAYM-NUHS/
  NOUN

Employer Sameness is the condition in which different companies describe working for them with essentially interchangeable promises.

MEANING

Everyone is innovative. Everyone collaborates. Everyone makes an impact. Everyone values their people. Everyone, apparently, is changing the world.

‍

One begins to wonder how the world has survived all this change.

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Here's the problem: most of those claims may be true. But when a candidate can't tell which company said what, the claims have stopped helping anyone decide. Employer Sameness turns a potentially good workplace into one more forgettable option.

Defined by:
James Ellis,
Employer Brand Labs
Category:
Employer Brand
The New Dictionary of Hiring card: Employer Sameness, noun. The condition in which different companies describe working for them with essentially interchangeable promises. Abstract iridescent glass shape on a white background.

MAKE THE CHANGE

Instead of:
Assuming truth automatically creates differentiation.
Ask:
What are we saying that our competitors cannot say just as easily?

EXAMPLE

Remove the logos from five careers pages. Nobody on the team can tell which company is which. Every page promises meaningful work, supportive people and opportunities to grow.

HOW TO USE IT

Run a blind comparison of your careers copy, job ads and outreach against talent competitors. Find the interchangeable claims and replace them with meaningful truths only you can prove in that way.

SAY IT TO LEADERSHIP

When every employer sounds like us, candidates have no reason to remember us. That turns hiring into a contest over salary, convenience and who shouts loudest.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH

Sameness Tax: Employer Sameness is the condition; the Sameness Tax is what it costs.
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James Ellis
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