Employee advocacy success hinges on the effectiveness of the program itself as well as the participation quality of the employee advocates. When initiating your program, we at GaggleAMP want you to hit the ground running. That’s why it’s key to get employees on board in a way that is thorough, engaging, and supports a high retention rate. Transitions can be difficult, but the transition of your employees to your advocacy program doesn't have to be! Here are four steps for onboarding your employees to your employee advocacy program.
As with any new job, task, or goal, success relies on the adaptiveness of the employee and the effectiveness of the onboarding process. For your employee advocacy program, a range of approaches targeted towards supporting your new advocates is the best method of attack.
- Help employees create accounts. Before your new advocates can get started, they’ll have to create professional social accounts. While many of your advocates are likely familiar with social media and already have their own personal accounts, an account that maintains a level of professionalism should be created. This ensures that their account follows your company policies from the get-go. Rather than letting them create these accounts on their own, it’s best to give direction and assist with the process. This could easily be done during the training process, which brings us to our next point.
- Train your advocates. Sure, they probably have a good idea of what they’ll be signing up for, but ensure that everyone is on the same page from the start by holding an employee advocate training session. During this time, you can help them create accounts while training them on company policies and how to address a myriad of situations.
- Taper involvement. Onboarding an employee advocate doesn’t simply mean that you give them the tools and let them ‘run free.' They’re probably feeling excited about putting their training into action, albeit a little nervous. In the beginning, try to funnel content ideas or topical company information their way, giving them valuable avenues of resources to help them build their own engaging information. Later, they’ll know where to find the information as well as what types of information your company values. In this manner, you are able to gradually introduce them into employee advocacy, helping them gain confidence in a trust-built manner.
- Hold ongoing classes. We’ve all had that job or task where everything made sense during the training and then we felt confused quickly down the road when real situations started to occur. Hold ongoing classes for your advocates to answer questions and keep them up-to-date on company policies as well as information pertinent to social media. This ensures that they’re constantly supported by the company during their time as an advocate.
Onboarding is truly about retention, and you’ll find that your employee advocates are stronger and more confident with a successful onboarding process. By following our 4 steps, you’ll be sure to set them on the path to success!
