Ruby Melling didn’t set out to fix communication. She set out to fix hiring. But as founder of Talentloop, she quickly discovered that most “people problems” are really messaging problems in disguise.
When what companies say doesn’t match what they do, it’s not just a branding issue – it’s a trust, retention, and growth problem. In this Beyond Echo conversation, Ruby and I unpack how poor communication undermines culture, and why the fix starts with clarity, not another campaign.
When the story doesn’t match the reality
It often starts with requests like: “Help us define our employer brand” or “Write a careers page that attracts talent.” But once you dig beneath job ads and brand tone, you find the deeper issue: the culture being described isn’t the one being lived.
Ruby puts it plainly:
“Nine times out of ten, leaders are saying one thing, managers are doing another, and candidates are promised purpose but onboarded into chaos.”
One example: a company spent over £1M on recruitment but still struggled to attract senior hires. Their brand screamed “inclusive,” yet parental leave was non-existent, salaries were hidden, and interview processes varied wildly. That’s not “transparent” – it’s performative.
The hidden costs of misaligned messaging
When values don’t show up in daily life, people disengage, underperform, and leave – and the commercial impact is huge:
- Churn accelerates – replacing a mid-level hire can cost 30–50% of salary; senior hires up to 400%.
- Recruitment spend spirals – unclear job descriptions, inconsistent onboarding, and hollow values erode brand trust from the inside out.
The first 100 days matter most
Your culture is communicated in every interaction – often without a single word. From onboarding to manager training, job architecture to role clarity, everything sends a message. A warm interview tone followed by a silent first day tells a new hire: you’re on your own.
Communication is infrastructure
As Ruby says:
“You can’t outsource culture to HR and employer brand to marketing. If the language doesn’t match reality, employees will spot the gap and leave.”
Good comms isn’t just about tone of voice – it’s about making sure the business can deliver on what it says. That means comms teams need to be culture translators, not just message machines.
Before you write the story, check the reality
If you’re in comms or leadership, ask yourself:
- Before rewriting the Employee Value Proposition, what happens after someone signs the contract?
- Before posting values on LinkedIn, how do those values show up in daily decisions?
- Before launching a recruitment campaign, have you sat in on a full interview loop and an offboarding call?
If the answers reveal a gap, it might be time to bring in your own “Nanny McPhee” – someone who can help your culture live up to its story.
At Beyond Echo, we believe that’s the real test of communication. Talk is expensive. Make sure yours is worth the cost.
