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By now, we’ve all heard the term online influencer or social media influencer. It’s defined as “a one who is capable of generate interest in something” by posting about it online. The explanation I would like to speak about influencers today is because LinkedIn recently published an article titled “25 Big Ideas that may change our world in 2025”. It’s an interesting read price trying out.
Number three on this list is “corporate employees will emerge as the subsequent wave of influencers”. Truthfully, I need to admit that this one may be a bit off the mark. Employees should not going to emerge as the subsequent wave of influencers. Why? Because they already are organizational influencers. And the issue isn’t with employees. It’s with organizations that don’t realize their employees have that power and aren’t taking steps to cultivate it.
An excellent example is worker referrals. Yes, an worker referral bonus is sweet. But nobody goes to refer their friend, colleague, or member of the family to work with them for a terrible employer. Are you able to imagine referring someone only to have them come to you and say something like, “I can’t imagine you told me to use here. This place is a large number. And also you made money from the referral.”? If organizations aren’t seeing referrals, they may want to seek out out why. The reply might be that their “worker influencers” aren’t willing to advertise the corporate.
In all fairness, possibly organizations have at all times understood the worth of employees promoting the organization but never considered it when it comes to being an influencer. Now that the term is on the market, organizations should take a while to take into consideration how they might help employees be higher influencers for the corporate.
Construct a culture component into onboarding. Organizations often tell employees concerning the company history during orientation but what about culture? This might be an incredible time to let employees know what the corporate’s culture is all about. And connect it to the corporate’s services and products. I’m still amazed on the variety of organizations that don’t offer an academic session to employees on what the corporate does – they simply hope employees learn it on the job.
Teach employees the best way to use social media safely. Technology could be very much a component of our personal and skilled lives. We would like our employees / influencers to embrace technology and use it safely. Offering training sessions on the best way to use technology responsibly helps the worker and the corporate. Employees can use their knowledge to share information concerning the company’s brand, products, and job opportunities. Oh, and when employees do that, other employees can share it to their networks.
Measure results. Recognize and reward behavior. Organizations that welcome employees using their influence should have the opportunity to see results. It might be more traffic to the corporate website. Or customers saying that they heard a couple of recent services or products from an worker. Or worker referrals increasing. Then the organization must thank the worker influencers. This wasn’t a component of their job description. It’s not a mandate. They did it because they trust the corporate and like working there.
Don’t get me flawed. Encouraging employees to be organizational influencers doesn’t entirely replace the corporate’s marketing efforts. Or recruiting efforts. But it might have a positive impact. If the organization truly recognizes the worth.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Washington, DC
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