How to Make Your Employee’s Online Brand Part of Your Company Brand

Your latest hire, let’s call him Joe, didn’t realize the far-reaching implications of what he just posted on Facebook. To him, a quickly uploaded a photo with a snappy comment didn’t mean much. Now, after a few eyeballs saw and commented, all hell was breaking loose online. No big deal, right? Maybe so. Just below Joe’s public profile photo, he has listed your company as his employer. What now?

Instead of sprinting straight to damage control, it’s important to understand that Joe, like most employees, doesn’t really know the power and effect that his personal brand online has on the company as a whole. This needs to change — starting from the inside and working out.

It is possible to help your employees feel empowered to use social media for the good of the organization — and to make them look good in the process. Think of this as an internal marketing campaign that has the dual benefit of engaging employees and raising your company’s online profile at the same time.

Your employees have a footprint of some kind online. We know from social media statistics that a huge percentage of the U.S. adult population, for instance, has a Facebook account, and many use tools like Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and Yelp every day. Rather than telling your employees to stay off of these sites at work, why not incorporate their activities to help attract great customers and like-minded employees to the organization?

Tell your people that you realize they network online — and that’s okay. Let them know that if they would like to share with the world about the company’s awesome culture to help attract great customers and more great people like themselves, that you will give them the tools to do just that. Don’t force it, but give them the option. Empower them to opt-in and help your company — their company — grow.

Most people don’t talk about work very well online because they either don’t know what to say, or, more commonly, they are unsure what they’re allowed to say. Generally, they are simply given a document telling them what not to say.

Shouldn’t the people closest to you — your company’s human capital — be the best equipped to refer great people to the organization? Help your employees talk about work better, even if just occasionally, on social media sites. Help them boost their profiles to attract more great people to the company.

Think about all the voices you can activate if you give your employees some great ways to talk about work better. Encourage them to show appreciation for their co-workers, talk about their great team, great customers, great managers and more. Show them how to take great photos and tell stories that help describe a day-in-the-life in their job. Allow them to be transparent.

Have an honest conversation with your employees. Break down the walls of social media dos and don’ts. Tell them something like this: “We like you. We think you are great. We would love for you to talk about work in your daily online activities if you want to. You can help the company. In turn, we will help you create a great Linkedin profile and give you social media training if that’s something you want to take advantage of. Here’s a database of cool articles and resources you can share with the world.”   

Explain how it can benefit them to have a better profile, as well. Suppose their manager is online looking for the perfect job candidate for a new opening that their current employee might also aspire to. Imagine the manager’s delight when their current employee looks like the best candidate they see for that job. 

Conversely, as the employer, think about the lower attrition you can achieve with more engaged employees who now feel like a more integral part of the team. These employees also appear highly engaged to outside recruiters who may move on to lower hanging fruit.

This article was originally published by Craig Fisher on HumanCapitalist.com