From the newest hire in the office to the most senior executive recruiter for your organization, every employee can act as an ambassador for your company. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends largely on the individual employee. For this reason, it makes sense to develop strong employee ambassadors from among those employees who best exemplify your corporate values.

Employee Ambassadors Can Make or Break Your Company

According to a 2015 LinkedIn survey of U.S. and Canada talent trends, 50 percent of job seekers turn first to family and friends when looking for a job. Add to that the fact that 39.9 percent of successful new hires come from employee referrals, and it is clear to see that your employees play a significant role in your ability to attract and retain top talent.

How to Develop Strong Employee Ambassadors

Since your employees do play such a major role in your recruiting success, it falls upon you to see to it that your employees are given every opportunity to advocate for your employer brand. The first step, of necessity, is to create a working environment that encourages enthusiasm and loyalty on the part of your employees. To this end, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Are you encouraging engagement in the workplace?
  • Are you placing high priority on fostering a strong commitment to excellence among your employees?
  • Are you actively involved in recognizing and rewarding exceptional work?
  • Are your working conditions and environments aligned with the overall core values of your company?
  • Are your employees excited to come in to work every day?

If you can answer ‘Yes’ to those questions, you are well on your way to building loyal employee ambassadors for your company.

How to Encourage Appropriate Social Media Sharing

Social media has become a major source for recruiting. This means that what your employees are saying about your company on social media is a big deal. SparkHire.com notes: “If these thoughts are positive, it can encourage people who see the post to consider applying for open positions within this company, thus directly impacting recruiting efforts. If they’re constantly firing off passive aggressive statements about how they’re longing for the weekend or dreading Monday, it’s an indication that maybe things aren’t ideal at their place of business.”

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From day one of onboarding, you can help shape new hires into employee ambassadors by encouraging positive social media posts. A little instruction about what is and what is not appropriate to share on social media regarding your organization will not go amiss. By addressing this early on, you are sending a message to your employees that you welcome their positive comments on social media platforms.

You can also model the correct social media behaviors by posting company events and celebrating employee successes on social media platforms. Posting highly positive items about your employees and about company events will provide some incentive for employees to share your posts with their networks as well.

Applaud Your Ambassadors Enthusiastically

Whether it is incentivizing an employee referral program or instituting an “Employee of the Month” award, find some way to publicly acknowledge your appreciation of active employee ambassadors. Employees who feel valued and appreciated are inspired to share that information with family and friends. This is how your employer brand grows organically.

You can use your talent management system to track the results achieved by your employee ambassadors. As candidates enter the system, you can track their progress from initial referral through onboarding and beyond, tying their trajectory with the appropriate referring employee.

Thrive TRM is a total talent management solution that enables you to track your recruiting results in real-time. To see Thrive TRM in action, simply schedule a demo today.