Why Your C-Suite Should Care about Employee Advocacy [Part 2]

A few days ago, we talked about the benefits of employee advocacy from a marketing and sales perspective.

While your CMO and VP of Sales should be key stakeholders for your advocacy program, they are not the only ones. Other members of your C-suite should have a keen interest in advocacy, as well.

Let’s take a look at why your CHRO and CEO should care about advocacy.

Human Resources

Human resources executives have to wear many hats. Your CHRO or VP of Human Resources oversees hiring, compensation, training, and employee performance. Many times, the umbrella term “company culture” falls under their purview, as well. Human resources professionals have to find ways to build leaders, mobilize their employees, and increase collaboration.

As you talk to your human resources executives about your plans for advocacy, keep some of these statistics in mind:

1. Only 13% of employees are engaged in the workplace (Source).

That’s it! Almost 9 out of 10 workers are unhappy in their work environment, and they do the bare minimum at work.

That’s a real problem for people in human resources. An HR professional’s job is to ensure that employees are doing their jobs effectively.

Believe it or not, using social media can help remedy this engagement problem. According to the researchers Niran Subramaniam, Joe Nandhakumar, and João Baptista, employees that use social media at work are more creative, collaborative, and productive.

So, why not start an advocacy program and make social media a more integral part of your work environment?

2. Using social media can raise the productivity of employees by 20 to 25 percent (Source).

The McKinsey Global Institute has found that social media saves your employees time. When used correctly, social networking can help workers communicate with others more efficiently, find information faster, and be more effective collaborators.

A good employee advocacy platform is sure to boost the productivity of your employees. The tool will allow you to create a centralized library with content and sample messages. By placing those resources in a library, everyone can save time, and employees will easily update their social media networks.

3. 68% of employee advocates recommend their company as a place to work (Source).

Who would have thought that employee advocacy would affect recruiting? Well, it does.

When employers encourage their employees to use social media, employees feel in touch with the company culture. And since they are happy at work, they are more willing to recommend their company to job seekers.

When employees do not encourage advocacy, only 54% of employees will give their company a glowing review to a job seeker.

CEO

Most CEOs are measured based on earnings growth. Earnings can be everything from return on assets to return revenue growth. Since revenue is a concern of your CEO, many of the same stats that will entice a CMO or a VP of Sales should also be of interest to your CEO.

But there’s an additional angle that you can use when getting buy-in from your CEO. A socially active CEO brings a plethora of benefits to your company. In fact, your CEO should be your company’s most prominent and visible advocate on social.

Let’s take a look at why…

1. 77% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company whose CEO uses social media (Source).

Having your CEO on social media communicates transparency, openness, and innovation to buyers. It creates trust with them, and people want to buy from people they trust.

Speaking of which…

2. 75% of executives believe that a socially active CEO gives the company a human face and personality (Source).

You cannot underestimate the value of engagement and humanization. A company that maximizes personal and emotional connections with buyers will outperform the companies that are cold and emotionless. To be more precise, warm, human companies tend to experience a 75% increase in sales (Gallup).

3. Only 16% of CEOs use social media to connect with customers (Source).

Despite all the benefits, most CEOs are not using social media to connect with customers. They are missing out on opportunities to find out what their customers want – crucial feedback that helps CEOs strategize and articulate a vision for your company.

Get Buy-in

Speaking to members of the C-suite can be intimidating. However, getting executive sponsorship of your program is essential. By having the support of a CMO or a CHRO or a CEO, you legitimize your project, and it communicates to your employees that they should take advocacy seriously.

Good luck!

-Mark

Are you ready to get started with employee advocacy?

Leave a Reply