Employee-generated content a ‘strategic lever’ for retention, recruitment

As disengagement proves to be an expensive endeavour for Australian organisations, it’s crucial that HR leaders explore different avenues to retain and recruit skilled workers.

Speaking to HR Leader, Melissa Laurie, founder of Oysterly Media, highlighted a new direction that Australian employers and HR teams can explore to better engage their workers.

Laurie claimed that with 77 per cent of employees disengaged and 44 per cent reporting high stress levels, HR leaders are presented with an opportunity to counteract these statistics by leaning on social media and employee-generated content.

“Social media becomes the new front door to a company’s culture, HR leaders have a powerful opportunity to turn employees into trusted voices, not just for recruitment, but for reputation,” said Laurie.

“Employee-Generated Content (EGC) is no longer just a marketing tool. It’s a strategic lever for talent acquisition, retention, and engagement. But for HR to successfully encourage employees to create content, it has to be done thoughtfully with consent, clarity, and support.”

Laurie offered insight on how HR teams can navigate this integration:

1. Create a culture of invitation, not obligation

“Don’t mandate social media activity. Instead, offer it as an opportunity. Make participation voluntary and inclusive – employees should feel excited, not pressured. As we often say at Oysterly Media: you don’t need everyone to post – you just need the right people, telling the right stories,” Laurie said.

2. Provide training, tools, and clear guardrails

“One of the biggest pitfalls is assuming that anyone with a phone knows how to create effective, brand-aligned content. HR should offer basic content training and clear social media guidelines. Set guardrails around confidentiality, language, and tone – not to restrict creativity, but to build confidence and consistency,” she said.

3. Recognise and reward participation

“Creating content takes time and vulnerability. Celebrate the employees who step up. Highlight their posts internally, offer incentives or recognition, and show them the impact of their contributions on talent attraction or brand visibility,” Laurie said.

According to Laurie, too often do employers solely rely on ECG to produce itself, with young workers sometimes being left to create content that they have little care for, thus producing the opposite reaction.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is assuming EGC just ‘happens’ that Gen Z can film it, or that anyone with a phone can do it well,” Laurie said.

“Yes, the tools are accessible, but the skill is not automatic. Speaking naturally to the camera, telling a compelling story, and creating content that’s both on-brand and engaging takes training and intention. It’s like going to the gym; you need to get the reps in before you see any muscles.

“Just because everyone has a camera doesn’t mean they know how to use it for your brand. There’s an art and a science to great EGC, and when companies skip the training, it shows.

“The result is often awkward, low-impact content that employees don’t feel proud of and audiences don’t engage with.

Invest in training either by engaging an external partner or appointing someone internally with EGC experience.”

Once again, Laurie offered some direction for employers that may look towards implementing ECG as an engagement tool, but don’t know where to start in terms of training up staff to execute it.

Plan: “Establish clear but empowering guidelines. Create social media guidelines that are easy to understand, covering tone, topics to avoid, and confidentiality. It’s not about controlling the message – it’s about creating a safe framework for creativity,” Laurie said.

Produce: “Run a one-day intensive workshop to equip employees with the skills and confidence to create short-form video. Put a light-touch review process in place. Especially when content is posted on company-owned channels, a simple check-in or approval step should be in place just like with any piece of content posted on the company’s owned channels or social media,” she said.

Progress: “Keep the momentum going with regular EGC creation, supported by recognition and incentives. This is an important step that’s often overlooked,” Laurie said.