How do you train and coach your employee advocates to be authentic and engaging storytellers?

Train and coach employee advocates by providing storytelling workshops and guidelines on authentic communication. Encourage sharing personal experiences and real-life examples related to their roles. Offer feedback on their storytelling techniques and provide examples of successful advocacy. Support them with tools and resources to create engaging content. Regularly review and celebrate their contributions to keep them motivated and aligned with your brand message.

Include examples of posts from existing employee advocates in your employee advocacy training. Potential new advocates can learn from these authentic examples their peers and leaders are already sharing on LinkedIn and other social sites. It helps them get ideas on what to share!

Training employee advocates in talent branding involves educating them about company values, enhancing storytelling skills, and encouraging diverse experiences. However, the unfiltered truth is every employee should be an advocate, reflecting a genuinely positive work environment. Authentic storytelling emerges naturally from a healthy culture, reducing the need for scripted narratives. True employer branding aligns with employees' real experiences, and transparency is key. In essence, the best talent branding is a direct outcome of a supportive, engaging work-life experience, where coaching becomes secondary to the genuine satisfaction and enthusiasm of the employees

- Establish Clear Objectives: Establish clear objectives for your employee advocacy program, such as increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads. - Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Set KPIs to measure the success of your program, such as engagement rates, reach, and conversions. - Define Success Metrics: Define success metrics that align with your objectives, such as the number of employee-generated posts, likes, shares, and comments. - Track Progress: Track progress regularly to identify areas for improvement and optimize your program. -Adjust and Refine: Adjust and refine your goals and metrics as needed to ensure alignment with your program's objectives.

1. Don't be overly pushy and "force" employees to act as ambassadors (especially Diverse employees). Ensure you have a timely communication and provide a full brief ahead, so that the person doesnt feel "thrown in the water" -- ie. just reading a script in front of a camera. 2. Select employees who are more likely to be proactive ambassadors, well engaged, with real company stories. 3. Maintain and nurture a network of peers and friends within the company, whom you constantly help and interact with mutual favors. So that when the opportunity comes, you are ready with allies who can step up and speak good things on your company brand. 4. Strike the right balance between authenticity and the alignments with your marketing/EVP.

You can also look at more casual channels to determine who might be a good fit. For example, is there someone who cheers others on and gives kudos frequently over Slack? Or someone who raises their hand for a lot for volunteer days or other work extras? These natural advocates might be a great fit for your employer branding committee.

Make sure you're asking for participants from different areas across the business to have the best chance at gaining authentic diverse perspectives. It's easy to lean into your most outgoing or vocal employees but more likely than not that's only representative of a small part of your org. People also want to hear from people they can relate to and the more perspectives you can have in the mix, the more likely your audience will find someone they connect with.

I think an important point here is to not beg them, patronise them or direct them. They’re not your client or your slaves. Ask for their help, and show them you value their contribution. Tell them what you’re trying to achieve and give them an idea of how you have learned they can have an impact. Then ask them what they think and what they would do. It’s worth remembering that when you’re recruiting, you’re trying to put the right new hires alongside them. Those new hires can massively influence how your existing team feels, and what they achieve. They have good reason to be invested as talent advocates.

- Identify Influential Employees: Identify influential employees who are passionate about your brand and have a strong social media presence. - Recruit Ambassadors: Recruit ambassadors who are willing to share their experiences and perspectives with their networks. - Create a Sense of Ownership: Create a sense of ownership among your advocates by involving them in the program's development and decision-making process. - Provide Clear Guidelines: Provide clear guidelines and expectations for your advocates to ensure consistency and quality. - Encourage Authenticity: Encourage authenticity and creativity among your advocates by giving them the freedom to share their unique perspectives.

Not all of your employees are able to advocate, and that’s fine. You want to identify those employees who are naturally inclined towards advocacy. They are the ones who frequently share positive experiences and insights about your organization, both within their professional networks and on social media. To do this, start by observing employee interactions and engagement levels. Pay attention to those who consistently participate in company events, contribute thoughtful feedback, and show initiative in their roles. Once identified, provide these advocates with the resources and support. Creating a structured employee advocacy program can further support these efforts, offering clear guidelines and incentives for participation.

Offer training. In the training, include a lot of examples of what employees' colleagues are already sharing with their LinkedIn networks. Let employees learn from their peers' amazing advocacy!

If your people have to spend too long thinking about what they can and can't post then you will lose them as advocates. Then you've wasted your investment. Have super clear and memorable guidelines that help them work out how to be themselves. If you are in a regulated industry get clear guidance from your professional body as well. The trick is not to overwhelm with direction but to create an easy blueprint that shows the boundaries whilst giving them freedom. Show them examples and give them options on who to ask so they can run their ideas up the pole and train them to confidently voice their ideas and opinions - in their own voice!

Equip your advocates with storytelling "personas" based on different aspects of your company culture. These personas can represent different themes—like innovation, inclusivity, or work-life balance. This provides employees with a framework to guide their narratives while staying authentic. Encourage them to pick the persona that best aligns with their personal work experience and voice. Instead of rigid "dos and don'ts," provide employees with a content playbook that offers flexible templates for social posts. The key is to make these prompts adaptable, allowing each advocate to tailor the content to their own style while staying aligned with the company’s brand tone.

To train and coach employee advocates, start by educating them on your brand's values and mission to ensure their stories align with your company’s identity. Encourage personal storytelling by sharing their unique experiences and perspectives, making their content relatable and authentic. Provide them with storytelling workshops and resources to enhance their narrative skills. Regular feedback sessions are crucial for continuous improvement, offering constructive criticism and praise. Lastly, foster a supportive community where they can share practices and learn from each other, enhancing confidence and engagement in their storytelling.

- Offer Training and Resources: Offer training and resources to help your advocates develop their storytelling skills and create high-quality content. - Provide Content Calendar: Provide a content calendar to help your advocates plan and schedule their posts in advance. - Offer Feedback and Coaching: Offer feedback and coaching to help your advocates improve their content and engagement strategies. - Create a Community: Create a community among your advocates by hosting webinars, workshops, or online forums to share best practices and ideas. - Recognize and Reward: Recognize and reward your advocates for their contributions and achievements to motivate them to continue participating.

To create and curate relevant content for employee advocates, start by identifying topics that resonate with your team's experiences and the company's values. Encourage employees to share their personal stories and insights, highlighting how these align with your brand's mission. Provide training on storytelling techniques, focusing on authenticity and emotional connection. Utilize social media and content creation workshops to enhance their skills. Regularly update your content strategy based on feedback and trends to keep the material fresh and engaging. By fostering a culture of open communication and continuous learning, you empower your employees to become effective storytellers.

- Develop a Content Strategy: Develop a content strategy that aligns with your program's objectives and resonates with your target audience. - Create Engaging Content: Create engaging content that is informative, entertaining, and inspiring, such as videos, blog posts, and infographics. - Curate User-Generated Content: Curate user-generated content from your advocates to showcase their experiences and perspectives. - Use Visuals and Multimedia: Use visuals and multimedia to make your content more engaging and memorable. - Keep Content Fresh and Relevant: Keep content fresh and relevant by regularly updating and refreshing your content calendar.

To streamline the content-sharing process, consider implementing a content calendar that outlines key themes, events, or campaigns throughout the year. This calendar can serve as a guide for both the content you create and the content your employees generate. Additionally, consider sending out a monthly newsletter featuring content highlights, employee spotlights, and suggestions for what to share in the coming weeks. This keeps the momentum going and encourages regular engagement.

All too often I see this done wrong, we grab our diverse team members, take a lovely picture of them at pride for example, and help them write a paragraph about how great and inclusive it is to work at X and be part of the LGBTQ community. What I want to know is, do I have a community at the company? What are the policies on co-parent leave? If I am moving to a new city, are there places I can meet new friends and socialise? Without a doubt, the best way to do this is to enable candidates to talk to an advocate - either with reverse interviews, or interactive software that gives live chat events/capabilities. The likes of Nokia, Which and the British Army do this really well!

- Recognize Achievements: Recognize achievements and milestones reached by your advocates, such as the number of posts, likes, and shares. - Offer Incentives: Offer incentives, such as rewards, recognition, or exclusive access to company events, to motivate your advocates to continue participating. - Create a Leaderboard: Create a leaderboard to track and showcase the top-performing advocates and their achievements. - Host Events and Activities: Host events and activities, such as webinars, workshops, or social media contests, to engage and reward your advocates. - Show Appreciation: Show appreciation and gratitude to your advocates for their contributions and dedication to the program.

All employees should be recognized for their contributions, and the same goes for those who are advocates. Recognition is crucial in fostering a positive and motivating work environment. Some common ways include public acknowledgment, whether through company meetings, newsletters, or social media shoutout. However, it’s important to consider the personal preferences of each advocate to ensure that the recognition is meaningful and impactful. While some may appreciate public acknowledgment, others might value more private forms of recognition, such as a personal note from a manager or a one-on-one meeting to express gratitude.

Often being a good advocate can really showcase a side of an employee that could be missed. Good advocates and mentors make great managers! Any employees taking part, who are really doing a great job, should be offered the chance to progress more quickly, more frequent reviews, and more training for example. People shine if you give them the chance too!

- Track performance metrics regularly to identify areas for improvement and optimize your program. - Analyze engagement data to understand what works and what doesn't, and adjust your strategy accordingly. - Conduct regular surveys to gather feedback from your advocates and identify areas for improvement. - Adjust and refine your program regularly to ensure alignment with your objectives and to stay ahead of the competition. - Continuously improve your program by staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in employee advocacy and social media marketing.

Never assume - ask your employees. I often get asked, what could we do to make our company more inclusive to neurodiverse people, how do we attract more neurodiverse people and how can we improve our company for our existing neuro's. Simple - ask them. The thing about us lot is... we will always give you a straight, honest and often brutal answer 😅

I think this article captures what a lot of organisations do incorrectly which is trying to artificially create and curate authenticity. If you want authenticity it means letting go (a little) of control and direction and giving the employees freedom to share. Maybe the picture they paint doesn't have to be all bright and sunshine but if you truly value authenticity then articulating the pro's AND the con's of the organisation is going to go a much longer way than trying to pretend like all of your jobs are perfect and there are never any problems that occur in your business.

Training employee advocates to be authentic and engaging storytellers is key to amplifying your brand's message. Start by helping them connect with your company's mission, values, and culture. Encourage sharing personal experiences that reflect these elements, ensuring authenticity and relatability. Provide workshops and guidelines, but allow individual voices to shine. Empower them with the right tools and platforms for effective storytelling. Regular feedback and recognition will boost their confidence. Fostering a supportive environment enables advocates to naturally engage their networks.