Following our blog post last week, we’ve taken some of the best tips from fellow bloggers about how best to turn employees into brand ambassadors. Because ultimately that’s what every organisation wants to do. And the good news, particularly for many public sector organisations, is that we’ve then applied our knowledge for implementing each action on a budget.
Amber Avines – Break down barriers
Simple changes can make a big difference in bridging the gap between employees and senior management/the Board. The tone of voice in which management members communicate needs careful consideration to ensure it is approachable and down-to-earth without losing the necessary professionalism or authority. It’s a great idea to create a list of phrasing dos and don’ts – for example using ‘About’ instead of ‘With regard to’ – to help them move away from bad habits and toward more accessible communications.
The media used to communicate needs to fit well with how employees would communicate with one another too – Twitter, emails/intranet forums and face-to-face conversation could make all the difference and are all very low-cost solutions.
Bidiversity – Tweet your people right
Embracing rather than avoiding social networking sites like Twitter automatically gives employees (not to mention other stakeholders) more access to management, and the brand too. It’s an opportunity to encourage the valuable habit of sharing knowledge and research, and when used well, is a fantastic tool for enhancing your brand and employee community, which can have significant bottom-line benefits.
Jeff Wilson – Celebrate and reward standout brand ambassadors
People like to be rewarded for their efforts. And it’s widely acknowledged that rewards don’t need to be expensive. Verbal recognition, a Friday afternoon off or, more productively, a day spent helping generate innovative ideas for internal communication can really get people fired up and wanting to offer more.
Everyone – Evaluate your actions
It’s necessary to measure the results of any campaign you do. A great measure of employee engagement can be an online survey conducted at certain points of your campaign to understand how employee understanding of, and attitudes towards, your brand develop throughout. You’ll need to make sure there’s an end goal in mind – achievement of which needs to be clearly defined.
With so many solutions available at low cost, there’s really no excuse for not implementing an internal engagement programme… If you’d like to discuss ideas for your own programme we’d be delighted to share ideas with you, so call us on 020 7593 4014.
How you can turn employees into brand ambassadors without breaking the bank
