Employees can bring a brand’s storytelling alive! Whatever may be an employee’s designation, he or she plays a vital role in driving a brand’s public reputation.
Employees are actively promoting your company’s values, mission and goals every time they post on social media (something that they may not realise!).
Branding employees mean they fit into the big picture, they trust your mission and want to share their positive feelings with the world. They stay up-to-date with developments and news within your industry. They’re engaged on all levels.
Engaged employees work hard and smart, and are more productive too. Now, imagine the possibilities if a company empowers its entire team to become a passionate army of ambassadors! These employees will indeed, live and breathe your brand story every day. If they are geared up substantially, if they are provided with the right tools, guidelines, content and support that they require to become ‘advocates’, they’ll surely represent your brand in an authentic way.
If you engage the employees, you will also have the ability to reach customers, influencers and potential employees. Your team’s increased drive and ambition will inevitably and ultimately have an impact on the company’s bottomline; it will, for sure, increase sales, give a boost to recruiting and also provide a big thums up to brand recognition! So, it pays to turn employees into brand ambassadors.
Engaged employees build strong brands
What we see around is that many companies focus branding efforts on marketing activities such as advertising campaigns. Yet, one of the most powerful brand assets your company has is its people. Building a strong brand requires that all employees feel connected to the corporate brand and understand their role in turning brand aspirations into reality (regardless of which industry you may be in). If you’re not inspiring your talent pool to be brand ambassadors, you’re missing something!
To build a strong corporate brand, you need brand ambassadors – employees who are thoroughly engaged, connected and committed.
Do not underestimate the power of ‘É’. Here are some points that will help you create passionate employees, who are committed to representing your company with pride:
Encourage employees to raise the bar
People recognise what’s rewarded. Recognition programs for all employees who raise the bar – rise above and beyond their expected duties will create an attitude of pride, ownership and responsibility within the team.
Recognising achievements leads to higher performing employees and encourages them to stay longer, thus helping in retaining talent. Organisations with recognition programs for employees are known to have lower attrition than companies with hardly any recognition programs to boast of.
Epitomise powerful communication and leadership
Setting a good example, as a leader, goes a long way – beyond keeping the company profitable. It also means displaying effective communication skills and transparency. When employees have a clear picture of their leader and how he or she responds to conflict and adversity, they’ll naturally rise up to match up to this example.
Research shows that when employees and leaders have open communication, employees are more likely to see a brighter future for the company, and work towards it too. They are more likely to inspire deep trust in customers and create productive, authentic connections.
Enable social media advocacy
Today, the internet is a critical driver of public opinion. It’s a reality that your customers are plugged into social media, and just one slip-up can have a devastating impact. Turning the entire team into brand ambassadors now needs to be an essential mission for all leaders.
A social media policy can be crafted that ensures your employees have a deep understanding of the company’s goals and how to best interact with happy/unhappy customers. Make sure the guidelines are clear and provide a list of do’s and don’ts. Then, just sit back and watch your brand grow in leaps and bounds.
Brands that empower their employees to become advocates on social media, can really turn it into a huge advantage.
Emphasise the larger context
Share the bigger picture with the employees and dynamics of the parameters you as an organisation are up against. When the picture is clear, they will participate in the brand story better. Creativity emerges best, when the overall scheme of things is clear.
She can be reached at: @shree_la on twitter
Very informative article on employees as brand ambassadors.