Winning the war on talent

In today’s competitive landscape, the war for tech talent is fierce. 

Companies in every industry, from healthcare to finance, from retail to gaming, are racing to secure the best and brightest minds in the tech field. Yet the task isn’t as simple as it might have once seemed. The recruitment challenge has shifted. It’s not just about attracting candidates with the right skill set, but about showing them why your organisation is the place they want to build their career. And it's not just about appealing to the youngest recruits either. Today's talent pool is diverse, spanning all age groups and career stages. But in the battle for talent, one question reigns supreme: What makes a company a great place to work?

This question is not only more relevant than ever before, but it's one that we at RY helped answer for our client GSK. Two years ago, the team came to us with a challenge that was emblematic of the growing demand for tech talent in sectors beyond traditional technology companies. As GSK found themselves competing for skilled professionals with both biotech rivals and tech giants like Google and Microsoft, their reputation as an employer was more critical than ever.

The brief was clear: improve their reputation and attract top talent. It wasn’t just about recruitment. It was about retention too. GSK needed a long-term solution that could make it stand out in an increasingly crowded market, while reinforcing its purpose-driven ethos to appeal to both younger graduates and seasoned professionals alike.

The answer? A comprehensive campaign focused on authenticity, purpose, and career development. Through deep audience insights, expert brand storytelling, standout design, and creative excellence, we built a strategy that would resonate not just with GSK’s target audience, but also with the evolving needs and expectations of the wider workforce.

The power of purpose in recruitment

In our research, we uncovered a few core truths that would guide the strategy. 
First, we discovered that an organisation’s purpose is a powerful magnet for today’s workforce, especially Gen Z. These younger recruits aren’t just looking for a paycheck: they’re looking for meaning in their work. But there’s a catch. If an employer’s purpose isn’t genuinely embraced across the organisation, it falls flat. For GSK, their mission to “get ahead of disease together” was a powerful force, but only if it could be demonstrated in a real, tangible way.

Second, we found that prospective candidates were no longer swayed by generic recruitment campaigns. They wanted to know what it was actually like to work at a company, not just what the company claimed about itself. Stock images and vague promises weren’t going to cut it. In fact, just the opposite. Tech giants like Microsoft were already ahead of the curve by shifting the narrative from “what we can do for you” to “what you can bring to us.” This subtle change was magnetic, and it was something we knew GSK could embrace as well.

The solution. Bringing GSK’s story to life

We took these insights and created a campaign called It’s Personal - a deeply authentic storytelling initiative that allowed GSK employees to share their personal stories. These narratives weren’t just about working at GSK. They were about the values, the culture, and the real-life experiences that made GSK a great place to work.

At RY, we brought our full suite of integrated skills to the table. From our conducting in-depth audience research, to developing creative strategies, to producing compelling film and animation content, every aspect of the campaign was meticulously designed to capture the essence of GSK’s workplace. The result was a campaign that spoke directly to both experienced professionals and young recruits looking for a meaningful place to work.

One of the key components of the campaign was the creative approach. To make It’s Personal creatively authentic we needed to blend user-generated content (UGC) and professionally shot films, creating a series of stories that brought the GSK culture to life in a way that was fresh, engaging, and real. Each story, told in the employees’ own words, underscored the themes of purpose, career, and wellbeing - three pillars that defined GSK’s vision for what makes a great workplace.

The impact of authenticity

The results were striking. Within just six months, the campaign exceeded benchmarks across all internal and external channels. 

Click-throughs to GSK’s careers page from LinkedIn and YouTube outperformed by 45%. 

Applications from social channels rose by 18.2%, and GSK’s employer reputation increased by 3.1 points in the Global Employer Brand Index, placing them at the top of the Biotech leaderboard. 

Internally, nearly half of GSK’s global workforce of 70,000+ employees had engaged with the campaign, fostering greater employee advocacy and increasing job satisfaction scores.

But beyond the metrics, the true value of the campaign lies in its ability to convey what a workplace is really like. It’s not about flashy promises or stock images. It’s about showing, not telling. This approach has proven to be a game-changer for GSK, and it's a lesson that every organisation can learn from when it comes to competing for top talent in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Why this matters more broadly

As more industries seek to recruit tech talent, the challenge is clear: how can you stand out in a sea of competition? The answer lies in authentic storytelling, backed by a deep understanding of your audience’s motivations and desires. By focusing on purpose, career growth, and employee wellbeing, you can build a culture that attracts and retains the best talent, regardless of age or background.

At RY, we understand what it takes to create a campaign that resonates with your audience on a personal level. Through our expertise in brand storytelling, design, and creative execution, we help organisations like yours tackle the toughest challenges in recruitment and retention. And as the GSK campaign proves, when you get it right, the results speak for themselves.