What Is Employee Advocacy?

Employee advocacy, explained

Employee advocacy is a program or habit in which people who work at a company talk about it on their own professional networks. It can include sharing product launches, writing about their work, celebrating customers and posting job openings. The appeal is that people tend to trust individuals more than brand accounts, and employees collectively have far larger networks than a company page. Brunswick partner Craig Mullaney has argued that content from individuals resonates far more than even the best content from brands. Programs fail when they ask everyone to post identical text, which looks coordinated and gives readers nothing new. They work when employees are given useful material and freedom to say what they actually think, and when participation is voluntary. LinkedIn's policies also matter: pre-arranging likes or reshares among colleagues to inflate engagement falls under the artificial engagement LinkedIn asks members to avoid.