How We Rank the Top EB Voices: Our Scoring Method

The Top EB Voices 2027 lists rank employer brand leaders by a score out of 100, built from five weighted pillars and public, dated evidence. This page sets out who is eligible, how each pillar is scored, what evidence is required, how the lists are sized and how to ask for a correction. We publish it so anyone can check our working, disagree with it or tell us what we missed.

• Key takeaways
• Who is eligible
• The five pillars
• How scores are set
• The evidence standard
• How lists are sized
• Badges
• Disclosure
• Corrections and removal
• FAQ

Who is eligible

Anyone whose work is mainly about employer brand, talent brand, EVP, recruitment marketing or the talent acquisition work that shapes how an employer is seen. That includes people inside companies, at agencies and consultancies, independent creators, authors, researchers and people who build tools for the field.

We start from public lists and add people found through research, such as conference speaker lineups, award winners, published authors and HR press. Being on a source list does not guarantee a place, and not being on one does not rule anyone out. People outside in house roles must also pass a recognition test, so that independents and in house leaders are held to the same bar.

The five pillars

Each person gets a score from 0 to 5 on five pillars. The total is the sum of each pillar score divided by 5 and multiplied by its weight, which gives a number out of 100.

Source: Happydance Top EB Voices methodology, version 0.9.

Achievements and thought leadership carry the most weight because they are the hardest to fake and the most useful to readers. Influence is capped at 20% so that follower counts alone cannot put anyone at the top, and experience is weighted lower so that newer people doing excellent work can still rank well.

How scores are set

Each pillar has a written scale. Here is how three of them read. Influence and community have their own scales, with community scored on markers such as years running, size, international reach, regular cadence and formal structure.

Source: Happydance Top EB Voices methodology, version 0.9. Follower counts are dated, marked as approximate and credited to where we saw them.

The evidence standard

Scores are not enough on their own. To be listed, everyone must have linked, credible evidence that a reader can click and check.

• Three to six milestones, such as awards, notable employer brand launches, books, keynotes or major roles, each with a working link and a one line note.
• Two to four links to their best content, such as articles, talks, podcasts or case studies, each with a note on why it is worth reading.
• Only sources we have opened and read count. Claims from a person’s own site or profile are allowed but labelled as self reported.
• If we cannot verify something we say so, and we never invent facts.

Awards count only on an open winner page that names the person, or a team they led at the time. A shortlist is recorded but does not count as a win.

How the lists are sized

The Global list ranks everyone eligible with a total score of 50 or more. The threshold is not lowered to make the list longer. Regional lists for the US and Canada, the UK, Europe, APAC and the Rest of the World are ranked by score within the region and sized by the number of eligible people there, so small regions are not padded. Region is where a person is based, not where their employer is headquartered. A person can appear on both a regional list and the Global list. Where scores tie, people are listed alphabetically by first name and numbered in that order.

The Hall of Fame recognises people with more than 20 years in the field whose work helped shape it. It is shown separately so it sits alongside current practitioners and not against them.

Badges

Badges describe a person on the list. They never add points, change a test result or decide a listing. Each badge has a written rule tied to evidence already in the entry.

Source: Happydance Top EB Voices methodology, version 0.9.

People named on a list can also download a Top EB Voice 2027 badge from the badge kit.

Disclosure

Happydance sells careers website software to employer brand teams, and our founder and CEO Bryan Adams works in this field. He is scored on the same rubric as everyone else and ranked like everyone else, from public sources, with his evidence shown in full. We also run the Employer Brand Atlas expert directory, which we used only as a starting pool and never as evidence. Some people on the lists are Happydance customers, partners or contacts. That has no effect on a score, a test result or a listing, and neither does agreeing to be featured, buying anything or sharing the list. There is no paid placement.

Top EB Voices method: frequently asked questions

Explore Top EB Voices 2027

Sources

• Happydance Top EB Voices methodology, version 0.9, written 30 September 2026 and updated 3 October 2026.
• Happydance Top EB Voices 2027 scoring data, checked 29 September to 2 October 2026 and updated 24 October 2026.