Employee stories are powerful tools in your communications toolkit. They’re honest, first-person accounts that lend credibility to your messaging.
Plus, your employees are the most influential and powerful group to help you recruit great talent, communicate the value of your benefits and get others involved in your wellness programs, to name just a few HR initiatives. Whether in person or through their social media networks, they are more influential than any combination of traditional communications.
Did you know?
- Just one person who shares your message results in far more click-through activity than if your company was to add 100 followers.
- The collective reach of your employees’ posts far surpasses the reach of your company. Just 60 employees can increase your company’s reach by 1,000%.
- Employee posts have farther reach than company posts due to the amount of filtering on company posts by social platforms.
- On average, 73.8% of the potential engagement on a social media post happens in the first hour.
- When your employees share posts, the engagement lifespan is extended by 4,200% thanks to your employees sharing over time.
So how do you get the best stories from your employees? Here are five tips you can put into your playbook now.
Make a Plan
Create a communications plan that allows you to collect enough employee stories to ensure you have one for every communication you send out. This includes newsletters, intranet, social media, video, podcasts and traditional print pieces.
Make the Ask
Once you have a communications plan, make the ask. Identify employees willing to share their stories. Send company-wide emails on specific topics requesting employee stories and make sure you have employees sign a release to use their stories.
Build a Library
There’s no time like the present to start gathering employee stories. You may think you have too many to use, but it’s better to have more than you need than to be behind the eight ball trying to play catch-up. You can create a library of content by topic so you always have what you need when you need it.
Get a Good Mix
Don’t forget to get a good mix of employee stories so every generation in your company can make a connection. If you only focus on millennials, other generations in your workforce will feel left out and you won’t get the results you want.
Also focus on different job functions and locations. Remember, you’re going for credibility here.
Be Clear about What You Want
To get the best employee stories possible, let them know what you’re looking for. People love sharing their stories but often need a little guidance to get started. And if you’re offering something for their participation, tell them that, too.
You’ll find that adding employee stories to your communications will humanize your company and build trust not only with current employees but also with prospective recruits.
