Hiring and retaining talent can be hard. And attracting the best candidates to apply for your positions becomes even harder without a strong employer brand. And that is not something that is straightforward to manage. Because in this day and age, it doesn’t depend simply on carefully honed messaging and a tightly controlled strategy meticulously deployed within your company. Thanks to the transparency of social media, employees are able to share their experiences far more widely – and if those experiences are not positive then you could find yourself facing significant challenges when it comes to recruitment.

But on the other hand, if your company is perceived by employees to be a great place to work, and they are openly sharing that fact across their own social media accounts, they become powerful advocates of who you are as an employer. And that can be worth its weight in gold when it comes to your recruitment strategy.

Putting a face to a name…
All too often, a company can feel somewhat “faceless” and that can make it pretty difficult for potential applicants to gauge whether it will turn out to be the kind of place they would want to work.

But employees immediately make that “faceless organisation” seem more human. It enables people on the outside to get a sense of what the people on the inside are like. It helps them get a more realistic impression of whether it’s the kind of environment in which they are likely to thrive.

And as a potential applicant what better recommendation can you get for becoming part of a company than positive messages from the people who are already there? This kind of advocacy builds trust; employees are typically regarded as authentic voices. Voices that are far more likely to generate engagement that a company page. By sharing their experiences this way, it amplifies the message of what it is like to work at a company and can be a brilliant way of catching the eye of potential recruits within their wider network too.

Of course, it can have an even more direct positive impact on recruitment if those engaged employees are happy to share specific roles that the company is recruiting for. But it doesn’t matter whether you are recruiting or not in the short term – this kind of positive digital footprint lasts.

 Should you create an employee advocacy strategy?
This can be a difficult one as there is undoubtedly a balance that needs to be struck.

While it can be useful to have a strategy, it must not turn into is a situation where employees feel under pressure to act as brand ambassadors and obliged to use their own accounts to send out positive messages.

Plus of course, it’s important to be realistic. Not every employee will be an advocate of the organisation. Not because they feel particularly negatively about where they work, but because not everyone feels comfortable talking about where they work or what they do in work on their personal feeds. A lot of employees might feel very positively about their company but would prefer to not to share their thoughts on social media. For some, it’s a way to maintain a boundary between work and their personal life and that’s completely understandable.

But this doesn’t mean the subject should be avoided. The message that the organisation welcomes positive employee advocacy can be highlighted by sharing some general tips and guidelines for employees if they feel that they would like to post about their activity within the company.

Pointers to consider could include:

• Encouraging employees to like, share or comment on company content, such as job postings, good news stories and blogs.
• Supporting them to share their thoughts on specific company events: for example, a team meal out, or celebrating another employee’s personal milestone. Or commenting on something that they’ve particularly appreciated or valued in work – perhaps company support for a charity or a thoughtful gift on their birthday.
• The need to be mindful of not inadvertently sharing anything that shouldn’t be in the public domain or that could breach confidentiality requirements. If anything is going to be off limits, then make sure that’s made very clear and highlight the importance of staying within general company social media guidelines.

It could also be useful to provide the details of the person or department employees should contact if they want to put out a post but would prefer to check it out with the organisation beforehand.

Do you know what employees are saying about your company?
Continually monitoring employees’ personal accounts would not be an advisable route to head down but keeping an eye on what’s being said about the organisation in general on social media and particularly on employee review sites such as Glassdoor is certainly worthwhile.

It might not only be your current employees expressing their views. It could be previous employees. Some might be keen to acknowledge the positive experiences they have had during their time with you. But others might not have such a good opinion. From a recruitment viewpoint, it’s very likely that potential applicants will be taking a careful look to see what is being said about the organisation… so are you aware of what they are likely to find?

Obviously you can’t control the comments. But you can have an impact by responding proactively to any less than favourable comments and taking the time to thank people who have left positive ones. And if there are negative comments being left, it’s advisable to make sure that feedback is being reflected upon, and where necessary acted upon going forward. After all, it could be a sign that there’s a wider cultural problem that needs addressing.

Encourage employees to share their stories
Genuine, effective employee advocacy doesn’t depend on constantly issuing tightly controlled briefs about the messaging needed. It involves encouraging employees to share their own stories and perspectives about what it’s like being part of your company. When they share their positive experiences in their own way, it feels natural, comes across as authentic and becomes a powerful draw for potential job applicants. If your company genuinely is a great place to work, then the majority of employees will be more than happy to celebrate that fact in their posts – and become the most natural, impactful brand ambassadors of all.