Strategic support, without the overhead

Companies at a certain stage have more communications work than they can manage internally — and not enough to justify a full-time hire. The Advisory Retainer fills that gap: a senior employer brand and communications partner, engaged on a consistent monthly basis and accessible as circumstances evolve.

Most clients engage the retainer following the Employer Brand Sprint. However, where a clear employer brand foundation already exists and the requirement is for consistent ongoing support, the retainer is an appropriate starting point. It carries no minimum term commitment beyond the initial month.

It is particularly suited to organizations at a significant transition point — entering a period of rapid hiring, navigating a leadership change, or expanding into a new market where the employer narrative must carry further and bear greater scrutiny.

The engagement

Each retainer engagement combines strategic counsel with active communications delivery. Working with the leadership team on a regular basis, Trevian aligns employer brand priorities with business direction, produces communications across the people function, and provides direct advisory support as circumstances require — anticipated and otherwise.

Why it works

The employer brand work that carries the most weight is rarely scheduled in advance. It is the message sent to the organization during a difficult week, the communication that follows an unexpected departure, or the narrative that enables a new hire to understand the nature of what they have joined.

Retainer clients are not paying for hours. They are engaging a partner who understands the business well enough to respond with precision on the occasions when the quality of that response carries real consequences.

"The test of an employer brand is not how it reads in a document. It is how the organization communicates during the moments that employees remember."