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Develop an Employee Brand Ambassador Program

Harness the power of your employee voice on social media to reflect your most authentic organizational culture, build a strong employer brand, and attract top candidates.

  • Corporate communications and digital strategies are usually owned by individuals, teams, or departments outside of HR.
  • Without HR involvement in employer branding, organizations run the risk of promoting a brand misaligned with the employee value proposition (EVP).
  • Without the skills, resources, or ownership, it is difficult for HR to build a strong social media presence and take their social media use to the next level.

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  • Get on-demand project support
  • Get advice, coaching, and insight at key project milestones
  • Go through a Guided Implementation to help you get through your project

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Social media is a powerful tool to communicate and promote the employer brand and organizations are increasingly recognizing its potential.
  • Organizations leverage social media as a means of recruiting potential talent and/or for consumer marketing, but initiating an employee ambassador program is increasingly becoming a top social media priority.
  • While social media changes HR’s role, HR does not have to become a marketing expert. Instead, they need to collaborate with those who have the right skills and knowledge.
  • With the active promotion of your employer brand by employees, organizations are able to extend their reach, bring the organization’s authentic voice to life, and ultimately promote the organization.

Impact and Result

  • Build an employee ambassador program that suits the needs, culture, and trust level of your organization.
  • Improve employee engagement and organizational outcomes within your organization while simultaneously improving public perception beyond your organization.
  • Enhance talent acquisition experiences to not only source talent, but create “talent communities” which attract or “pull” talent to your organization.
  • Effectively mitigate social media risks, leverage existing social media skills in your workforce, and empower your employees to speak out about their authentic experience.

Develop an Employee Brand Ambassador Program Research & Tools

1. Assess your current social media landscape

Evaluate your organization’s readiness for an employee ambassador program. Identify your target audience, their characteristics, and social media preferences. Assess your organization’s current social media landscape. Establish program goals, objectives, and measures of success.

2. Build your employee ambassador program

Outline details of your employee ambassador program.

3. Manage social media risk and outline appropriate use

Create the appropriate social media policy. Create employee ambassador guidelines.

4. Publicize and launch your employee ambassador program

Develop a communications plan. Measure the success of your employee ambassador program.


Workshop: Develop an Employee Brand Ambassador Program

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Assess Your Current Social Media Landscape and Set Employee Ambassador Objectives

The Purpose

  • Understand how an employee ambassador program fits within your current social media landscape
  • Determine program objectives and set measures of success.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Program objectives clearly identified and understood.
  • Metrics to measure efforts.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Identify your target audience, their characteristics, and social media preferences.

  • Target audience outlined.
1.2

Assess your organization’s current social media landscape.

  • Social media audit completed.
1.3

Establish program objectives and set measures of success.

  • Employee ambassador program objectives and measures of success finalized.

Module 2: Build Your Employee Ambassador Program

The Purpose

  • To design and build an employee ambassador program specific to your organization.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Outlined details of the employee ambassador program.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Build your employee ambassador program.

  • Employee ambassador program plan
2.2

Determine your social media policy.

  • Social media policy
2.3

Create employee ambassador guidelines.

  • Employee ambassador guidelines
2.4

Develop a communication strategy.

  • Communication strategy
Develop an Employee Brand Ambassador Program preview picture

About McLean & Company

McLean & Company is an HR research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools, diagnostics, and advisory services that have a clear and measurable impact on your business.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your HR problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 6 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Assess your current social media landscape
  • Call 1: Review your organization’s readiness for an employee ambassador program and identify target audience.
  • Call 2: Assess your organization’s current social media landscape and set program objectives.

Guided Implementation 2: Build your employee ambassador program
  • Call 1: Review program options and outline a program specific to your organization.

Guided Implementation 3: Manage social media risk and outline appropriate use
  • Call 1: Review appropriate social media policies and guidelines.

Guided Implementation 4: Publicize and launch your employee ambassador program
  • Call 1: Plan for the communication of your employee ambassador program and ensure executive buy-in.
  • Call 2: Review metrics and identify opportunities for improvement.

Contributors

  • Amanda Blum, Senior HR Assistant, Capital Farm Credit
  • Anonymous Contributor, Social Media Community Manager, Telecommunications Industry
  • Ben Dickie, Sr. Manager, Research, Info-Tech Research Group
  • Carly Kleisinger, Manager of Corporate Strategic Communications, City of Lethbridge
  • Jacob Shriar, Director of Content, Officevibe
  • Kathleen Teixeira, Manager, Talent Acquisition, OLG
  • Kristiana Hurley, Human Resources Manager, Inventa
  • Larry Kihlstadius, Solutions Czar, KinetixHR
  • Lisa Smith-Strother, Sr. Director, Global Head Employer Branding, Careers Channels and Diversity TA, Ericsson
  • Leslie Hughes, LinkedIn Trainer, Profile Writer, Public Speaker, Social Media Marketing Strategist & CEP, PUNCH!media
  • Mark Diker, Sr. Manager, Recruitment and Talent Planning, Woodbine Entertainment Group
  • Orlando Castillo, Organizational Effectiveness Manager (Talent Development, L&D, OD, Compliance, and Employee Engagement), Capital Farm Credit
  • Sarah Cortese, Director of Communications, Capital Farm Credit
  • Sean Burkett, Manager, Product Development and Innovation, Info-Tech Research Group