Picture the scene.
A CEO is on stage at the all-hands. Behind them, the new EVP is up in beautiful 60-point type. Grow. Belong. Make an impact. Six months of work. Focus groups. Exec sign-off. Brand guidelines so thick they have their own postcode.
The room nods along politely. Then someone puts their hand up.
"Three weeks ago we made eight per cent of the company redundant. How exactly does that fit with 'belong'?"
You can hear the slide deck deflate.
This moment, or some version of it, is happening in every transformation programme, every employer brand launch, every refreshed EVP rollout across the country right now. And it's the reason most EVPs launched in 2026 will quietly fail to move the metrics they were built to move.
The diagnosis isn't that the EVP is wrong. It's that the audience has changed.
The data has been quietly screaming this for two years. Edelman's Trust Barometer used to show "my employer" running well clear of every other institution. That lead has narrowed year on year since 2022, with the sharpest erosion among knowledge workers. Gallup's most recent State of the Global Workplace put global employee engagement at its lowest reading in over a decade. We can debate why. We cannot debate that an EVP launching today is landing into a more sceptical room than one launching three years ago.
The shift no one is naming
For two decades, EVP work has been built on a quietly generous assumption: that employees might be sceptical, but they wanted to believe. They wanted their employer to be a good place to work. They wanted the EVP to be true.
That goodwill has packed its bags and left the building.
Three forces have collapsed it.
First, the broken promises of hybrid. Companies that committed publicly to flexible working in 2021 and 2022 have, in many cases, walked those positions back through phased RTO mandates. It's not just about the office; it's about the perceived breach of contract.
Second, the efficiency narrative. In a world of "Year of Efficiency" headlines, the language of "belonging" feels dissonant. Employees are hearing two different stories: one about being a valued human, and one about being a line item to be optimized.
Third, the AI uncertainty. As technology shifts what work looks like, the traditional EVP promises of "growth" and "career paths" feel less certain. Without addressing how the technology changes the human experience, the EVP feels like it's solving for a world that no longer exists.
How to build an EVP that actually works in 2026
If you want your EVP to land, you have to solve for trust before you solve for brand.
Lead with radical honesty. Don't just talk about the perks; talk about the trade-offs. What is actually hard about working here? What are you still working on? Authenticity is the only currency that still carries weight.
Close the gap between promise and practice. If your EVP says "we empower our people" but your managers micromanage, the EVP is just an irritant. Focus on the everyday behaviors that either prove or disprove your brand.
Equip your leaders to be the brand. The CEO's speech matters, but the team leader's conversation matters more. If your managers don't believe the EVP, nobody else will.
Kane Lillywhite
Client Strategy Director at Bunch
Bunch is the people side of change. When organisations change direction, restructure, roll out new tech, or shift culture, we make sure their people change with them. Twenty years, four integrated capabilities, one senior team.