Company culture can shape how your employees and corporate leaders advocate for your business. Learn how you can foster a company culture that creates loyal employees and increased brand awareness.
Brands that embrace corporate advocacy know the importance of having employees as brand advocates.
When employees talk positively about the companies they work for, it increases your brand's visibility and improves credibility with customers and potential hires.
But do you know that company culture is one of the factors responsible for proactive employee advocacy?
When employees understand your purpose and feel connected to your values, they are more likely to participate in social media advocacy, publishing positive content about the brand on their social media profiles.
This article explores the critical role company culture plays in corporate advocacy and shares actionable tips to help you build a company culture that turns employees into loyal employee advocates.
What is Company Culture and why is it important? 👬
Company culture represents the standards, behavior, attitudes, and values that define a work environment. It speaks to the experience employees have at their place of work and how that aligns with the company’s mission.
A good company culture greatly influences employee performance. When employees feel committed to your values and well-supported in their roles through organization training and development, the result is a remarkable increase in employee engagement.
But the benefits of a great company culture don’t stop at employee satisfaction. PwC’s Global Culture survey found that companies with a distinctive culture are more likely to see a 48% increase in revenue and an 89% increase in customer satisfaction. This will not only lead to a happy work environment but also a noticeable improvement in the quality of work by the employees.
As you can see, the benefits of company culture are profound. To create a corporate culture that drives your company forward, pay close attention to the following:
- How you treat your employees: How you treat the workers in your company directly influences your company culture. For example, a company with an employee recognition program will have a different company culture than an organization where the managers take all the credit for work done.
- Build a strong mission: A strong company mission will influence your company culture because it gives the employees a strong sense of purpose and direction.
- Corporate values: When businesses incorporate charitable initiatives like Corporate Social Responsibility and green initiatives that fight Climate Change, employees are more proud to promote the entire company.
- How you make decisions: The decision-making norms of your company also influence your corporate culture. For example, a company that seeks employee opinions before making a decision will have a different culture than an organization where the CEO and business leadership team call all the shots.
- How workers communicate with each other: To build a thriving team culture, establish an open style of communication where employees feel encouraged to share ideas and collaborate. This will lead to stronger relationships, creating a harmonious work environment that fosters productivity.
What is an employee advocate? 🧑💻
An employee advocate is someone within a company who actively supports, promotes, and speaks positively about the organization, its values, products, services, and culture. Employee advocates are enthusiastic ambassadors for their company, both within the workplace and externally.
What is an employee advocacy program? 🤔
An employee advocacy program involves empowering and encouraging employees to actively promote and advocate for their company's brand, products, services, and values. A successful employee advocacy program typically includes:
- Training and education: Providing employees with training and materials on the company's brand, values, products, and services ensures they have a clear understanding of what they're advocating for and how to represent the company positively.
- Guidelines and policies: This includes rules for content creation, social media usage, and behavior online to maintain professionalism and alignment with the company's values.
- Tools and resources: Equipping employees with tools, content, and resources to easily share and promote the company's messages. This might include pre-approved social media posts, images, articles, or videos that employees can share across their networks.
- Incentives and recognition: This could be in the form of rewards, bonuses, recognition within the company, or other perks.
- Encouraging authenticity: Authenticity adds credibility to their advocacy efforts and helps in building trust with the audience.
- Monitoring and measurement: Tracking the impact of the advocacy program through metrics like engagement rates, reach, leads generated, etc., allows the company to assess the program's effectiveness and make adjustments where needed.
- Continuous support and feedback: It's crucial to listen to employee's suggestions, address concerns, and adapt the program based on their feedback.
- Compliance and legal considerations: Ensuring that employees are aware of legal considerations, such as disclosure requirements when endorsing or promoting company products or services, to avoid any legal or ethical issues.
How else can you build a company culture that promotes corporate advocacy? 📝
To inspire your employees to advocate for your brand online, you need to create a corporate culture that elevates the employee experience.
After laying the foundation, you can leverage effective employee advocacy tools like those in this Attrock post to help your employees share the latest updates about your brand online.
Now, let’s dive into the strategies for creating a company culture that encourages your team to participate in corporate advocacy.
Encourage connectedness 🤝
Encouraging your employees to connect with each other is one way to build a culture that encourages corporate advocacy. Connectedness creates a sense of inclusion and belonging.
In addition, employees tend to perform at their best when they feel like they are part of a team that’s working towards a common goal.
To create these connections and strengthen the bonds among the employees, consider implementing the following strategies:
Plan team building events 🥳
Team building is a critical tool for fostering a positive workplace environment. By engaging in team building activities and exercises, employees develop trust, mutual respect, and a sense of camaraderie, leading to increased morale and job satisfaction. This shared bond promotes a supportive atmosphere where individuals feel valued, understood, and motivated, ultimately boosting productivity and creativity.
These connections help break down barriers, resolve conflicts, and improve problem-solving skills, allowing teams to work cohesively towards common goals, and contributing to a positive and thriving workplace culture that employees can be proud of.
Spend quality time outdoors 🌴
Every once in a while, get the team out of the office so they can connect in a natural way and talk about things other than work. Find a community project that aligns with what your company is doing and ask your employees to volunteer together.
Alternatively, you can choose to host an offsite event that includes activities that bring the team together such as team challenges or sharing personal stories.
Provide the tools 🔧
You should also consider giving your employees the tools to connect with each other properly, especially if they work remotely. You can invest in quick communication tools such as VoIP software that enables efficient communication using an internet-based phone system.
Embrace gift giving 🎁
The act of gift-giving can profoundly impact your corporate advocacy by building stronger ties between your employees.
You can achieve this through a Secret Santa program where employees exchange gifts and other tokens of appreciation during your end-of-year celebrations.
Recognize employee contributions 👏
To promote corporate advocacy through your employees, recognizing their contributions should be part of your company culture.
When employees feel valued, their engagement and productivity levels increase and they are more likely to publish positive content about your brand on social media.
Employee recognition is very easy and can be as simple as telling an employee that they did a great job on a project. Other worthwhile methods of employee recognition include:
- Social media feature: Celebrate the achievements of your employees on social media. Use free video editing software to create feature videos for your employees.
- Handwritten note: Write a detailed note complimenting your employees for their work performance.
- Spontaneous treats: Surprise your employees with free lunch or sweet treats to acknowledge their great work.
- Non-cash rewards: Consider giving universally accepted non-cash rewards such as movie tickets and shopping vouchers to let your employees know you appreciate them.
Empower your employees 🥇
Another key aspect of company culture that plays an important role in corporate advocacy is employee empowerment. The benefits of employee empowerment include a sense of ownership and increased motivation, all of which are crucial in motivating employees to advocate for your brand positively.
To empower your employees to fulfill their roles, give them opportunities to develop their skills. Also, give them a voice and make sure it counts. You can invest in their professional growth by providing them access to specialized training on online courses. When they see the company investing in them, they’ll feel empowered.
This investment will enhance your employees' expertise and create a workplace that’s committed to your company and passionate about promoting your brand.
Final thoughts 💭
Corporate advocacy can be a powerful tool for growing your company. When your employees are passionate about championing your brand, it increases your credibility with customers and potential hires.
By encouraging connectedness, recognizing employee contributions, and empowering them through training, you will create a positive environment that transforms your employees into passionate employee advocates.
Add Confetti team building experiences to your own employee advocacy program today! Contact [email protected] to get started.
