Our Stories series: employee experiences of Grant Thornton w

Our Stories is an ongoing campaign that features individual employees on the firm website. Every month, an employee describes his or her experience in working at Grant Thornton, e.g., why he or she joined the firm; his or her job priorities, purposes and impacts; perceptions of culture, benefits and values; and appreciation for colleagues and leadership.

The primary target audience is job seekers, entry-level through experienced, who want to work at a firm that has personable, relatable colleagues; and offers support in professional development and opportunities for growth, a thriving culture that includes desired benefits and flexibility, and an appreciation for work-life integration. The secondary target audiences are a) clients and potential clients interested in knowing the kind of people they could be working with at Grant Thornton, and b) current employees curious about their colleagues.

Goals
Provide job seekers with examples of ways the firm supports and empowers employees
Show the firm as an employer and provider of choice without appearing self-serving
Humanize the brand

Content development
A candidate is chosen based on criteria such as professional and personal diversity (e.g., gender, race, disability, job level), theme (e.g., Black History and Pride months, Veterans Day) and topic (e.g., innovation, mentoring). The candidate is invited to a 30-minute interview with a heads-up about questions and photos requirements. Questions pertain to job-seeker FAQs and the storyteller’s unique situation.

A “first-person” draft is delivered to the storyteller for review.

The Content team writes website copy, provides web page layout, and oversees the work of Design, Digital and Social teams.

Promotion
Prominent placement on the firm website’s home page and a dedicated Our Stories landing page
Cross-promotion
Post on the internal site
Social media

Results
Awareness: In 2019, without paid support the series accumulated 9,974 article page views at an average 133% over time-on-page goal, and one story was engaged 10,960 times on LinkedIn.