When real employees share what it’s like to work at your company, the right candidates pay attention.
91% of employers use social media to hire. 86% of job seekers use it to land their next role. So clearly social media is more than just #BookTok and cat videos. And, since your employees are almost certainly active on social media, the most powerful recruiting tool you have could be sitting right in your office and on your payroll.
Think about it: chances are your employers already have an online presence and they know your company better than anyone else. They understand what makes your workplace tick and can show that far better than any corporate brochure. So why not tap into their firsthand perspective and turn your team into ambassadors for your talent brand?
What is Employee Advocacy?
Employee advocacy is pretty simple when you break it down. It’s the process of having your team members share positive content about your company on their personal social media accounts. That could be anything from announcing a new hire to a mentorship program to snapping a casual photo in the break room. Ideally, job posts get shared too.
Often, companies rely on official accounts to carry these messages, but that approach only goes so far. Content shared by actual employees reaches much further, often into new circles, and lands with a kind of authenticity you really can’t fake.
Employee advocacy works because people trust what comes from someone they know. Most employees spend years building up their own networks, and those authentic connections make any recommendation they share feel much more believable than anything coming from a corporate account.
Why Companies Love Employee Advocacy Programs
The benefits for businesses are pretty impressive. Research quoted in Sprout Social found that company messages shared by employees reached 561% more people than when the same content was posted on official brand channels. Imagine how many passive candidates your job posts and employer value proposition (EVP) could reach with that kind of amplification, especially if you’re a smaller company or niche brand and no one knows who you are.
Employee advocacy also tends to drive better results across the board. Gallup surveys repeatedly find that companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors, and brand advocates rank among your most highly engaged employees. When your team feels connected to your mission and excited to share it, that energy shows up in their work quality.
For talent acquisition teams, employee advocacy can add serious weight to your EVP. Candidates can spot corporate BS from a mile away, and they look for proof that your company is walking the talk on their employer brand. When potential candidates see current employees posting positively about their workplace, it creates a pipeline of people who are sold on your messages and attracted to your company culture. These tend to be much higher-quality leads than cold applications—and don’t forget, this type of recruitment marketing is free.
What’s in it for Your Employees?
Employee advocacy is voluntary so, for any advocacy program to work, your employees need to see real value in participating. Fortunately, there are plenty of reasons why team members might want to get involved.
First, you’re basically giving them ready-made content for their social media accounts. Not everyone is a natural social media creator, so giving them something to post about makes their lives easier. This is especially helpful for people who want to be more active on LinkedIn but aren’t sure what to say and don’t have the time to come up with new material from scratch each time.
Employee advocacy can also help your employees establish themselves as thought leaders in their field. When someone consistently shares valuable industry content with their own commentary and insights, their network starts to see them as a “talking head” on the topic. That type of recognition is career building and it can’t be bought.
The networking aspect is huge too. People rarely build their careers in isolation. When someone shares a post and engages in conversations about it, they’re building real connections with peers in their industry. Over time, these relationships can open new doors to opportunities and career growth.
Getting Your Program Off the Ground
Starting an employee advocacy program doesn’t have to be complicated, but there are definitely some best practices that can set you up for success. The main concern is getting the balance right. You’ll want to maintain some control over your messaging—you definitely don’t want people sharing messages that undermine your EVP—but you still need to give people room to add their personal touch.
At companies that do employee advocacy well, you’ll see executives leading by example. They share job postings alongside industry articles and team stories, giving potential candidates that “inside look.” A good tone from the top makes it much more likely that employees will throw their hat in and participate.
The following steps can help you get started.
1. Keep it Real
If content starts to feel more like a job ad than a story from the trenches, it will kill your employee advocacy program fast. The whole point is to combine storytelling elements and the authentic voices of your team to paint a picture of what it’s like to work at your organization. You must give people the flexibility to make the content their own. Plus, personalized content gets more engagement than content shared word-for-word from a template—people can always tell when someone is just copy-pasting corporate messaging.
You’ll want to discourage (or at least regulate) the use of AI for the same reason. People need to feel genuine enthusiasm and excitement in the post if they are to buy into your culture. AI is still pretty bad at walking the middle ground, neither bland and generic nor over-the-top, three-exclamation-points and smiley faces.
2. Give Training
Not everyone on your team is going to be comfortable with posting about the talent brand right off the bat. Some people might feel unsure about what to post, when to post it, or how to engage with comments. Providing some basic training can go a long way toward building confidence and participation.
This doesn’t need to be anything elaborate. A simple workshop covering social media best practices, platform-specific tips, and your company’s guidelines can be enough to get people started. If you discover that certain team members are comfortable in front of the camera, ask them to lead the charge with day-in-the-life videos or live AMAs. It sets the tone for others to follow.
Regular check-ins will help keep your team current and comfortable with new content or changes to platform algorithms.
3. Measure What Matters
Like any talent outreach initiative, you need to track whether your employee advocacy program is actually working. The following metrics can help gauge success:
- Participation rates – How many people are actively sharing content on a regular basis? See if you can find some benchmarks for your company size and industry and measure against that.
- Engagement metrics – Are people actually interacting with the content your employees share? High engagement indicates that the content is resonating with audiences; if it’s low, your content may need tweaking.
- Organic reach – how far are your employees’ posts travelling? Add up how many followers your employees have across their social channels for a ballpark idea, even if you don’t have advanced analytics tools on hand.
- Referrals – how many candidates come through team member referrals, and how many convert to hires? Track these numbers over time for a sense of whether advocacy is helping attract the right talent to your company.
- Job views and applications – Are volumes rising, are candidates quality candidates? Consider adding a question to your application process about how candidates discovered your company for more direct tracking.
- Earned media value – for talent leaders that want to get really sophisticated with measurement, earned media value is a useful concept. This calculates how much you would have had to spend on paid job advertising to achieve the same reach and engagement you’re getting through employee advocacy. It’s a concrete way to demonstrate ROI to leadership.
4. Offer Incentives
Incentives can keep interest and participation rates high once the initial flush of enthusiasm is over. Anything from shout-outs in company meetings to gift cards or branded swag could work. If an employee refers someone who gets hired, consider offering a bonus or sponsorship for professional courses.
You know what motivates your team, so offer incentives that feel meaningful to them without making the whole thing feel forced or artificial.
Get Started with Employee Advocacy
As a final word on this topic, it’s important that you don’t push people into being brand advocates—they’ll resent you if you do. You can sell the concept by focusing on how advocacy can help their personal growth or open up new professional connections. And remember, the content you give people to share is a direct representation of your employer brand, and a relevant, if indirect, part of the candidate experience. If it’s interesting, fresh, and feels like something they’d naturally want to post, you’ll see far better results.
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