Spherion Staffing commissioned a study by Harris Interactive on the 2013 Emerging Workforce. The study identified key strategies to help organizations become socially engaged and ultimately, postively impact business performance. The study concluded that organizations must become socially engaged in order to drive key business outcomes such as:
• Talent attraction
• Engagement
• Customer Satisfaction
• Positive Brand Awareness
• Company Reputation
Reasons Identified by Companies for Social Media Strategy
Spherion proposes that in order to realize and leverage an employee’s full value, they must become a brand influencer – a passionate advocate of your products, services and company. The front line is a powerful source of brand influencers as they can be tweeters, bloggers, Facebookers, etc.
So what are the keys to developing brand influencers?
1. True brand influencers must believe in their mission
Corporate missions have made a comeback, with more and more people researching whether or not a company’s ethics and values match up to theirs. Yet according to Spherion, many companies are falling short in translating a company vision into something its workers can identify with. Lynn Billing, Regional VP with Spherion Staffing Services points out that according to the Emerging Workforce Study, 42 percent of workers who are highly satisfied with their company’s online mission and values and follow-through have high job satisfaction. “That’s how important it is to execute your company’s beliefs. Ensure employees see and experience the company brand first hand by reinforcing the company mission and values at every opportunity,” says Billing. “Refer to your mission in meetings and illustrate how each employee can contribute to the bigger picture” she suggests.
Clarity and commitment to a company mission have the power to transform the role of employees from spectators to active participants. When an organization clarifies, communicates, and commits to a mission, the result is a highly engaged, highly productive workforce that adopts the mission as their own and is more satisfied in every aspect of their job.
2. Brand influencers need to see their employer lead by example in social media
If company leaders are NOT blogging and tweeting about the values of your business, how could you expect front line staffers to do so? It is surprising then, that only 6% of businesses active in social networks are using it to motivate existing employees. Billing says company leadership should have an active social media presence on professional networks like LinkedIn to share company news and industry insights. “Seeing company leadership involved in social media motivates employees to get excited about serving as an online brand ambassador and shows them how to do it effectively,” says Billing. “Social media tools can also help foster a sense of camaraderie between employer and employee, which can create an army of brand ambassadors from the inside out.”
The Emerging Workforce Study findings support this notion. Consider these results:
- A quarter of all U.S. workers agree that having access to social media tools allow them to be more productive at work.
- Nearly one-third of workers strongly agree/agree that “whether or not a company allows its workers to utilize social media during work factors greatly in my job satisfaction.”
- 31% of workers rate a company who encourages open and honest communication via online outlets as extremely/very important
What then is the impact of a socially engaged organization on customer service?
- Companies need to have the right talent in the right position to foster engagement and productivity. An engaged workforce will engage its customers at a higher level.
- When workers see the connection they want to your company mission, they will live out that mission with your customers
Teresa Allen is author of Common Sense Service: Close Encounters on the Front Lines and is often asked to speak at customer service meetings and conventions to share her expertise. To contact customer service speaker Teresa Allen, call or email at [email protected] or call 800-797-1580. See more valuable customer service tips at www.AllenSpeaks.com. This article may be reprinted if you include this contact information.
Our thanks to Lynne Billing of Spherion Staffing for her help with this post and for sharing the results of the Spherion Study with our readers… we greatly encourage you to click on the link below to read more on this important study: SPHERION EWS2013