Anyone who
wants to implement a PR campaign internationally is faced with various
challenges. The language and cultural barriers and other working methods do not
often simplify things. Yet as a company you want to have one voice to be heard
and achieve the best results in every country with a universal strategy. How
can you handle this?
With this
question in mind, the PR World Alliance (PRWA) – Feintuch Communications is a
founding member – recently visited the Netherlands at the invitation of
Marcommit, our local market partner. Ten offices from different countries came
together in Amsterdam to discuss international PR issues. Fake news and
employee advocacy popped up as the two main themes.
In this
first part of this two-part blog series we will dive deeper into employee
advocacy and the role that PR can have in this. What do our eastern neighbors
say about the use of social media among employees? How do French organizations
successfully attract candidates and what core values are relevant in American
labor market communications? You read it in la
première partie of this international series!
A stage for your own employees
The
Netherlands is currently dealing with an employee shortage. This means that
employee advocacy is in vogue. We can see the examples all around us. For
example, think about police vlogger Jan-Willem
and the Dutch online police series RobuustBlauw. Both vlogs
attract many youngsters (and therefore potential employees) and give them a
glimpse behind the scenes of the Dutch police world. It is not surprising that
more and more companies are committed to the ambassadorship of their employees.
For example, research from LinkedIn
shows that companies with involved employees have a 58-percent greater chance
to attract top talent.
"By
activating employees to share relevant content in which the organizational
culture emerges, an effective form of word-of-mouth advertising is deployed.
After all, it is much stronger and much more credible to let your own employees
tell others that you are a good employer, than that you do that as a company.
This makes employee advocacy a truly strategic marketing tool: it can achieve a
high organic reach and appeal to a wider audience. However, it is important
that you start from the right objective and adjust your approach accordingly.
Do you want more reactions to vacancies? Or strengthen your employer brand? Do
not forget the objectives for participating employees. What can they get out of
their ambassadorship? Think, for example, of strengthening their authority
position. Only in this way do you encourage employees to voluntarily share
content. You do not want to oblige them."
Define the DNA of your organization
Companies
that want to do labor market communications in the United States, need a strong
emphasis on communicating their core values. Peter Stanton of Stanton
Communications in the United States recognizes four core values that are
frequently present at the moment: respect, freedom, opportunities and
transparency. These values are characterized by offering flexible working
hours, having a good work-life balance and realizing career growth. Stanton
explains: "Especially in the context of #metoo, respect is a very
important core value. All employees must be treated equally. In this sense, the
core value of freedom is the opportunity to give your opinion as an employee
and to be able to express yourself without any negative consequences. By
contributing these four core values internally and externally, employees can
transfer a good image of the organization to their own network. It is their
challenge to give it their own twist!"
Authenticity as a guideline
After all,
individuality is vitally important for the success of employee advocacy. You
want to stand out, not using empty phrases and boring generalities. Meike
Grisson from the German Panama PR talks about how they are tackling this:
"Certainly in Germany it is noticeable that employees are eager to work on
their thought leadership position. When they do not have a clear idea of
content that is worth sharing, you can help employees and provide them with
authentic content. There is already a lot of handy technology for this, such as
LinkedIn
Elevate, Bambu
or DrumUp.
Make sure that it is not pre-fabricated news. "
Grisson
also explains that in Germany, they pay a lot of attention to best practices,
such as the story of a new employee who enthusiastically discusses his training
and how he already uses the learnings of this in his daily work. By choosing
someone to which new candidates can mirror themselves, you show that you
recognize the wishes of job-seekers and actually acknowledge them.
Show your workplace
In addition
to the company's own channels and employees, external channels can maximize
results. For example, in France external online platforms are often used, says
Catherine Kablé of Kablé Communication: "In France, a lot of use is made
of the job board Welcome to the Jungle.
Here employers can be put in the spotlight through attractive content. Photos
of the office, videos with the daily activities, what the male – female ratio
is: you can find all sorts of information. This content brings the
organizational culture to life, shows the core values and is therefore very
effective for attracting new talent. Employees can also add content to the
company profile themselves. In addition, links can be placed to the social
channels of the organization."
And the viewpoint from Feintuch Communications?
"In the U.S., where thousands of PR firms of all sizes compete – and new
physical and virtual organizations join the competition each month – it’s
critical to communicate who and what your organization stands for on an ongoing
basis. It’s also about listening and understanding the wants and needs of the
talent pool," states Henry Feintuch, president, Feintuch Communications.
"Today’s millennials, for example, want far more than just a steady job;
they want to learn, be able to experiment (and fail) and be given
responsibility. Salary, benefits and job title alone will not attract and
retain these professionals. It’s about job satisfaction and work/life balance. With
the competition for talent so keen, employers must communicate their respect
for employees, the opportunities for growth and ability to enjoy their work."
Eline
Visser has another tip for extra involvement: "In order to motivate your
employees, it is effective to show them their contribution. How much coverage did
his or her blog, vlog or article get and how much engagement has been achieved?
If you really want to bring it, you can set up an internal competition across
the entire width of the organization, which will keep track of which employee
generates the most interaction with his or her messages. That way you make it
fun and make your results visible to everyone. Your ambassadors program will
spread quickly!"
Real and sincere
Whether you
want to deploy employee advocacy in Europe or in the United States, one thing
is obvious. Organizations need to show their personality more than ever through
their employees. What is stronger than having your own employees talk about
what your company really stands for and what it is all about? For example,
content distributed by employees on social channels reaches no less than 561
percent more persons than messages distributed through their own company
channels[1].
By drawing up core values and communicating them clearly to your employees,
they can identify themselves better with the organization and communicate these
values externally. Then you can look at a good advocacy strategy that brings
your company to the attention of new talents. The right strategy not only helps
your employees to acquire a stronger thought leadership position, but at the
same time it is also cheaper than purchasing social media ads. By offering
authentic content and giving employees insight into the results they achieve,
they remain motivated to share their expertise with their network. New
employees, come on in!
In part two
of this series we will discuss fake news. What does this mean for the PR world
and how do international PR agencies deal with this? Should they take more
responsibility, or leave this up to journalists? Stay tuned.
Nice Content. Thanks for sharing it
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