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We are already in the "Social Selling Washing" (cf. Lois Simon and my last post "Training his sales people at LinkedIn, okay, but what does it look like?") and guess what? We are also entering the era of “Employee Advocacy Washing” !
But let's do things in the right order, let's start by defining exactly what we mean by "Eemployee Advocacy" Because, let's be clear, it's not obvious to everyone, far away from it. And besides, you're gonna tell me, another expression from the Atlantic. And you'll be right.
So let's go: the "E employee advocacy" is to get employees - and as long as possible to do as many employees as possible - to become spokespersons, to represent their company, brands, products and services, expertise, values, careers, etc. in their social media activities.
Let's take the example of Marc, a manager in a big company. Marc is of good composition, he likes his box, he feels good, he's OK to play the game. He will therefore give a "corporate" orientation to his LinkedIn activity. In doing so, he becomes an "ambassador", he embodies his employer on LinkedIn. And as he works at Human Resources, by clicking on "coordinates" from his profile, we will be able to access the different "career" pages of the company's website; we will also be able to consult directly company videos hosted on Youtube, etc. Of course, in terms of speaking, he will make sure to play a "pass-flat" role, minimum he will "like" the posts "Employer Mark" published by the LinkedIn page of his box. And it will do so all the more willingly and systematically since dedicated tools - curation tools - such as Sociabble, Sharee, Elevate (which is a LinkedIn tool) ... Non-exhaustive list.
And by the way, let's look at how these platforms present their offer, to understand what the Employee Advocacy is:
- Social : “Make your employees an informed and committed platform of influence”, "enables companies to transform their employees into ambassadors on social networks" (source: LinkedIn page, interview with Jean-Louis Benard its founder)
- Share : “Facilitate the engagement of your employees on social networks, these employees who are your best ambassadors on social networks”, Giving power to your ambassadors on social networks (source: Idem)
- Elevate : “Facilitates the discovery and sharing of content developed by experts from your company" (source: LinkedIn Elevate website)
On the merits, I'm not saying that the Employee Advocacy is wrong. I even think it's a good idea.
It is logically expected that some collaborators will be ambassadors. In particular, HR and recruiters/sourcers, operational managers, commercials... The Directorate, too, of course. With regard to the sales force, how can we imagine a Social Selling activity without a minimum of Employee Advocacy? It just wouldn't make sense.
...Now, that's a good idea if I think of preserve "individual miseries" ; Behind the facade of the corporate comm', one must be able to feel the individual. The individual who is a unique person with his own professional history, his own opinions, his own eyes. Because these are the ingredients that make all the flavor of Digital networking. We socialize with people, not with boxes.
What does the Employee Advocate overtly say from the public's point of view?
This gives what I call a "giant ice cube", something smooth and cold.
- Smooth Carefully planned in advance by the marketing and communications team, these mass-produced posts combine political correctness, clichés and excessive respect for convention: avoid criticism, avoid controversy and, above all, take no risks. Frankly, it is just boring.
- Cold because the result necessarily sounds very disincarnated, not human. Of course, we're trying to incorporate emotions, but they sound hollow. It's toc, preformatted, disposable emotions, without texture or depth. No one's fooled.
- Giant because dozens - or even hundreds - of "ambassadors" actors participate in the construction and maintenance of the "machin" in good small soldiers. So yes, we become visible. But since the commitment isn't on the date, is it really? What about a speech that doesn't trigger anyone's reaction...?
And so, of course, what needs to be practiced isEmployee Advocacy Reasoned, with in my opinion different levels or types of ambassadors. It is essential to provide for "ambassadors +" who will differentiate themselves by a better balanced dosage, more individual ingredients, and less ingredients purely corporate. Having simple "good soldiers" with a role of "paste-flat" is OK (although it all depends on the flavor of the dish in question), but having a "on-layer" well networked experts-writers who will bear the intellectual capital of the company and lead real conversations with real people, that's better!
And if you work in a company affected by the ‘Giant Ice Cube’ syndrome, what has your experience been? Do you have examples of guidelines or practical instructions to share?
Author: Antoine Jambart