According to recent nationally representative research conducted by Opinium* on behalf of one of the UK’s leading brand experience agency The Park, the need for brands to walk the walk when it comes to the claims it makes has never been more urgent. Just 19% of people think their company is completely true to their values and 16% say their company is completely true to what it says about itself externally.

There were significant differences across sectors with food and drink performing best, and retail, healthcare, and manufacturing performing worst. Marketing, advertising, media and PR were also amongst the lowest scoring sectors.

Company size had an impact on the scores with larger companies getting the worst results; of those with more than 2,500 employees just 11% think their company is true to what it says about itself externally with only 13% of them thinking their company is true to their values.

The level of seniority of the participants influenced their responses; unsurprisingly CEOs and owner/founders rated their companies most highly suggesting they might need something of a reality check. Amongst these leaders one in three believe their company is completely true to their values and external claims versus just 10% of middle management and 17% of those with no management responsibility.

The Park’s research identified ten broad themes across employee experience that brands need to focus on. Amongst this, the research showed a pressing retention crisis with 46% of people looking to leave their jobs in the next six months, a need to re-focus away days on being more inclusive and less top-down, and a need to create company cultures that have greater employee input and control.

Commenting on the research, Will Worsdell, The Park’s strategy director commented: "There is an urgent need for companies to walk the walk when it comes to their external claims and stated values. Too many companies are focusing on making claims that their own employees just don't believe. Brands need to focus on proving what they stand for internally before communicating it externally."

*The research was conducted by Opinium in October 2022 and surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 people, in traditionally office-based roles, working either in offices or at home.