Glossary of Human Resources Management and Employee Benefit Terms
Employee advocacy is a strategic approach where employees are encouraged to promote their organization’s brand, products, or services. This can be done through various channels such as social media, word-of-mouth, or even through their personal networks.
Employee advocacy is the promotion of an organization by its employees. It involves empowering employees to share positive messages and experiences about their company on social media to increase brand awareness and boost credibility.
Advocacy is the act of supporting, promoting, or arguing in favor of a cause, policy, or group of people. It involves efforts to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy can take many forms, including lobbying, public speaking, media campaigns, and community organizing, all aimed at creating change and garnering support for a specific issue or group.
An employee advocacy program is a structured initiative encouraging employees to promote their organization on social media. The program provides employees with the necessary training, tools, and resources to share positive messages about the company on their personal social media accounts.
Employee advocacy and employee engagement are related but distinct concepts:
In essence, while employee advocacy is an outward expression of support for the company, employee engagement is an internal state of being emotionally and mentally invested in the organization.
Here are some examples of training and resources that a company can provide to support employee advocacy:
For instance, if an employee shares a photo of their team working on a project with a caption highlighting the company's culture and values, it can help them gain more visibility and attract potential customers. The company can also provide its employees with social media guidelines and pre-approved content to share, encouraging them to participate in spreading positive messages about the company.
Measuring the impact of employee advocacy can be done in several ways.
Here are a few examples:
Recognizing and acknowledging employee advocacy is an important part of building a culture of engagement and loyalty. Here are some ways that companies can recognize and acknowledge employees who participate in advocacy programs:
These are short surveys that can be sent frequently to check what your employees think about an issue quickly. The survey comprises fewer questions (not more than 10) to get the information quickly. These can be administered at regular intervals (monthly/weekly/quarterly).
Having periodic, hour-long meetings for an informal chat with every team member is an excellent way to get a true sense of what’s happening with them. Since it is a safe and private conversation, it helps you get better details about an issue.
eNPS (employee Net Promoter score) is one of the simplest yet effective ways to assess your employee's opinion of your company. It includes one intriguing question that gauges loyalty. An example of eNPS questions include: How likely are you to recommend our company to others? Employees respond to the eNPS survey on a scale of 1-10, where 10 denotes they are ‘highly likely’ to recommend the company and 1 signifies they are ‘highly unlikely’ to recommend it.
Employee advocacy best practices include:
By following these practices, companies can build a robust employee advocacy program that enhances their brand and fosters a loyal, engaged workforce.