How to Make Your Employees Your Heroes

Not all heroes wear capes. And in terms of your company, this is especially true. There is no one that knows your company or brand better than your employees. Think about it. Who is working the long hours on-site, interacting with customers, giving feedback and coming up with amazing ideas for the company?

Easy, your employees.

Now another question: who is doing the most talking about your company?

(Pssst…the answer should also be your employees!)

Your employees are your story. And better, they have the ability to tell your story for you. Employee advocacy is one of the most powerful tools every company has, yet not all take advantage of it. Social media makes this even easier to do. So how can you leverage this, and make your employees your heroes?

Your Employees Are More Than Your Employees

The mere act of considering your employees to be your brand advocates is the first step to achieving simple employee engagement and making your employees feel invested in the company. Cross this with social media, and it can be huge for your company.

Little will you find an employee who isn’t already engaged on social media in their everyday life, initiating and weighing into conversations that matter to them, conversations that could easily be about your brand.

A Mutual Investment

However, none of these conversations will happen on social if your employees are not invested in the company, and it’s all about making your employees feel invested in the company.

In order to eat an apple you must first plant a seed, and then give the tree all the resources it needs to grow and become successful and it’s the same within your company. When you make an effort to do or create something that shows your employees that they matter, they will give you the best apple you’ve ever tasted; free advertising.

Social displays have the power to make employees feel invested in your company. Hilton Hotels is a great example of a company that not only recognizes that their employees are their story, but shows that they are.

Hilton just ran their fourth annual Team Member Appreciation Week, where they take the time to recognize and give thanks to Team Members from hotels around the world. They kicked off the conversation by posting on their own channels and displaying the content on their website using a social embed display, powered by Tagboard.

Employees caught on quickly and started sharing photos and experiences of their own, tagging Hilton and using the hashtags. By having a public space to display the conversation, Hilton was able to advertise its dedication to and passion for hospitality without the company saying anything. Employees did the talking.

Give Your Employees a Voice

The greatest thing social displays do for you employees is give them a voice, which both empowers and enables them to become advocates and tell your brand story.

Walmart, for example, made social sharing a central component of their Saturday Morning Meeting event through a giant Tagboard display that encouraged employees, shareholders, and everyone else at the event to share their experiences on social media.

Microsoft gives their employees a voice by promoting and displaying #MicrosoftLife content on screens throughout their offices. Using Tagboard to display this user-generated content in the halls has a powerful impact on creating a better environment, and it serves as a fun, easy medium for internal communication. At the same time, Microsoft is also promoting the company through employees as they share with their network.

Showing one person’s comment on a screen is a simple act, but one that can make that person feel like they have a voice, even in massive companies like these. It generates a better and more inclusive environment in the office, a feeling of community, and a sense of ownership in the company.

Becoming Your Heroes

There is such a high volume of advertisements in all aspects of our lives that sometimes we become numb to the clutter. But when these messages are coming from our friends, who are your employees, they are not recognized as advertising. We trust our peers and value what they have to say, so empower your employees to share your message with their peers.

By displaying social content inside the office, on your website, and at your event, you encourage employees to create. You encourage them to become invested in the company, to post about your brand and share their experience through their own social channels, which opens up an entirely new touch point with your customers, and one that they trust. You now not only have a team of loyal employees, but your own team of brand advocates. Your heroes to the rescue.