What is Employee Advocacy Training?
Employee Advocacy Training is a programme designed to educate and empower employees to effectively represent and promote their organisation's brand, values, and messages across their personal and professional networks. This training equips staff with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to become confident brand ambassadors, particularly on social media platforms, where they can share positive experiences and insights about their workplace with a wider audience.
Why is Employee Advocacy Training relevant to internal comms?
Employee Advocacy Training is pivotal for internal communications as it harnesses the power of employees' voices to extend the reach and authenticity of the organisation's messaging. By training employees to advocate for the company, organisations can enhance their brand presence, improve public perception, and attract talent, all while fostering a culture of trust and engagement within the workforce.
Examples of Employee Advocacy Training in internal comms
Examples include workshops on personal branding and social media best practices, guidelines on how to share company content, and strategies for storytelling that aligns with the organisation's values and goals. These training sessions often incorporate real-life examples and role-playing scenarios to provide practical experience.
Best practices for Employee Advocacy Training
Clearly define the goals and boundaries of employee advocacy to ensure consistent and appropriate messaging.
Provide ongoing support and resources, such as content libraries, that employees can easily share.
Recognise and reward active employee advocates to encourage participation and acknowledge their contributions.
Common challenges for Employee Advocacy Training
Ensuring employees feel comfortable and authentic in their advocacy roles without feeling pressured.
Balancing the organisation's need for brand consistency with employees' personal expression.
Measuring the impact of employee advocacy efforts on brand perception and engagement.
What does Employee Advocacy Training mean for frontline teams?
For frontline teams, who often have direct interactions with customers and clients, Employee Advocacy Training can be especially beneficial. It provides them with the skills to positively share their work experiences and the impact of their roles, further humanising the brand and building customer trust.
Employee Advocacy Training FAQs
How can we encourage employees to participate in advocacy training?
Highlight the personal and professional benefits of advocacy, such as building their personal brand and professional network.
What content is safe for employees to share as brand advocates?
Provide clear guidelines on what company-related content can be shared and encourage sharing of personal professional experiences that reflect positively on the company.
How do we track the effectiveness of our employee advocacy programme?
Use social media monitoring tools to track engagement metrics and sentiment analysis, and conduct internal surveys to gauge employee satisfaction with the advocacy programme.