Beyond Engagement: Listening to the Employees Tale: People often ask: “Advocacy – what’s in it for the employees?” And it’s a question that doesn’t have a unique answer. In part, that’s because no two employee-advocacy programs are identical; more often, though, it’s because every employee has a unique, highly personal reason for participating. Finding a way to appeal to your people is the key to success – so pause before you leap in and consider how that plays out in your organization. Becoming a Brand Inside a Brand For some, an employee-advocacy program offers an opportunity to develop a personal brand that outlives the original initiative. It can become a way of life and a spin-off business; ask Mike Bruny, former Brand Ambassador and key member of Intel’s advocacy program. He says, “I was able to get myself out of a so-so job into one I really loved based on all the skills I learned.” Today Mike is the driving force behind Brand Inside a Brand Coaching, helping others to achieve the same job satisfaction and career development he enjoyed with Intel. Not every employee takes personal branding to the same level, but there are alternative opportunities for the more corporate-minded. For some, becoming a subject-matter expert – the go-to person for an particular area of expertise – is a desirable and career-enhancing move. Dell’s Social SME program encourages people to adopt a higher-profile role, both within the business and externally; although becoming a Social SME isn’t an exercise in self-promotion – Dell takes great care to focus on the customer rather than the individual – the increased exposure does no harm. Maintaining High Levels of Engagement Programs that start with a bang dont always sustain the initial momentum. During a recent webinar that focused on a high-profile employee-advocacy program, I noted a few statistics that illustrate the potential problem. The guest program manager was understandably pleased to report that nearly 1,500 employees had enrolled as advocates since the program start-date. However, when the discussion moved to recognition, it became clear that the headline number disguised some shortcomings. Like most well-structured programs, this initiative recognized employee activity and participation. At each level, contributors were awarded a badge; and here’s where the story plays out ... Badges awarded to “active contributors” numbered fewer than 250, those to “repeat contributors” fewer than 150 and awards to “star contributors” totalled just over 30. All of which tells me that even in the best-run programs, it’s hard to keep people involved and active once the initial enthusiasm dies away. In truth, it’s better to identify the core of enthusiastic advocates, and build the program around them. I find myself wondering what steps employers should take to avoid the drop-off in participation levels. It’s clear from discussion with a number of current practitioners that content quality is a key factor. Therein lies another story ... Employer-Sponsored Content Isn’t Always the Answer It may seem like a no-brainer, but organizations need to realize that not every employee is enthused by the prospect of sharing brand-sponsored content; failure to provide content that lends itself to sharing is a recipe for disaster. Michael Brito of WCG, speaking at the 2014 Employee Advocacy Summit, emphasized the importance of aligning content with the workforce – a task which he described as “daunting.” [[{fid:188581,view_mode:default,fields:{format:default,field_file_image_caption[und][0][value]:,field_file_image_caption[und][0][format]:filtered_html,field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]:employee advocacy,field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]:},type:media,attributes:{alt:employee advocacy,style:height: 580px; width: 750px;,class:media-element file-default}}]] Localising content production is a positive step – and one which almost guarantees an increased level of employee engagement. Although not every participant will be a fully fledged content creator, there are plenty of ways to involve individual advocates in the process – and there are some innovative tools designed to achieve exactly that. I talked at length to Yves Salama, CEO and co-founder of Teem’d, a collaborative content-creation tool. He shared his experience of delivering localized content in differing sectors that include leisure and not-for-profit. Thinking Outside the Organisation Localization, he says, is “an essential step in developing an intuitive workflow process that promotes participation.” It’s also vital not to limit the reach of a content-creation program, as many of the best ideas for shareable material originate from outside the organization itself. Salama cites the example of a major hotel group that not only distributes generic, brand-owned content from its central marketing function but also delegates the task to local advocate teams throughout the chain. Some of the most-shared localized content originates from businesses associated with individual hotel properties; hotel employees advocating on behalf of tour providers, specialist sales outlets and extreme-excursion organizers have proven to be popular with guests and would-be visitors alike. Although it sounds contradictory, says Salama, “you control your message by crowdsourcing oversight to local teams.” It certainly makes for advocacy with a broad appeal. Does Your Content Measure Up? What’s your take? If you’re part of an advocacy program, whether as an employee or as part of the project leadership, we’d love to hear about your experience in providing shareable content. Is your program purely an in-house initiative, or do you involve external stakeholders? And how do you meet the challenge of sustaining momentum after the initial enthusiasm dies away? Do tell ... Beyond Engagement is an exclusive Social Media Today column published every other Thursday. Image credits: Column logo by Marie OtsukaLocalized Content Creation by Teem’d
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 10:20:44 +0000
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