Employee advocacy guidelines - For your startup ambassador corps

Employee advocacy - your starting point

For many companies, considering employee advocacy may appear to cross the line. There can be many reasons for this:

• The fear that it may backfire. For example, that an employee inadvertently gives misinformation, or makes statements that do not agree with the company's values. In the worst case, you can imagine that the employee's statements cause the company to have negative press in the media
• The corporate culture; The management style; The type of products and industries can mean that the resistance to employee advocacy is great

The fear will be noticeable among the employees and it can be a strong deterrent against the desire to participate in an ambassador corps. Because why do something for the HR department if my boss or the director doesn't like it?

But, but, but...

The risk of negativity in the media is extremely minimal. The employees will rarely say anything inappropriate, especially if you are a good coach and have some good guidelines.

Employee advocacy guidelines

It is on purpose that the word 'guideline' is used in this context, because it is not a question of a rigid set of rules!

Where a set of rules can be difficult to change, a guideline is much more fluid and can be used in far more contexts. There is new social media coming up all the time, so it's no use if only Facebook is mentioned, because it's so last year, if you ask generation Z.

What can the employee (not) do?

It might be a bit like killing a party that hasn't even really started, to start talking about what the employee can (and can't) do when the employee markets the company.

Nevertheless, it is good that you and the employees are aware of the rules prescribed by the Consumer Ombudsman in relation to good marketing practice and the Danish Data Protection Authority in relation to copyright:

1. If the employee does so-called newsjacking (David Meerman Scott, 2011), where the employee hijacks current events and rides on the media coverage, then there must be a source reference as a minimum and preferably a link so that viewers can see the origin of the material
2. If your employee takes a picture or makes a video or story in the public space and there are many participants, such as at a concert, then the employee doesn’t need to have permission to record a video of every single concert guest. But it is a good idea to ask concert organisers for permission to record before video recording takes place. Should there be a small group of people who are in the background of the video, permission must be obtained, which appears in the guidance from the Danish Data Protection Authority. 
3. The Marketing Act covers, among other things: Unsolicited electronic inquiries, also known as spam. There must therefore be valid consent if your employee encourages actions such as liking. An example of valid consent is if the recipient has accepted to be part of your newsletter list
4. There must be a clear marking at the start of the employee's posting on social media, which the Consumer Ombudsman has stated. For example, the employee must clearly show via his social media profile that the employee works for your company. If you have made an agreement with the employee that employees must make x number of posts in a given period, the employee must also mark his post as #add

Both the Danish Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) and the Consumer Ombudsman  (Forbrugerombudsmanden) update their instructions regularly, so check their websites and you are well equipped to create your employee advocacy guideline.

The next step in your guideline is that you prepare the following points:

• What can the employee do in relation to the company's value set and CSR?
• What is best practice on social media?
• How are critical comments handled?
• What content the employee may (or may not) provide to the public
• Does the company have any focus areas and wishes for promotion?
• The facts must be correct
• How does the employee ensure that the postings are fit to the public?
• The company has the legal responsibility, the employee does not
• Communication takes place using a proper tone
• The employee must create empathy for the company
• Mail should be informative, not with a sales bias
• Transparency about where the employee works
• Comply with copyright rules
• No references may be made from strategy meetings
• Industry gossip is a no go
• Press inquiries are directed to the communications department
• Use your personality and create value for viewers
• Quality of sound and light must be in order
• Agree which social media will be used (possibly individually depending on the profiles in the ambassador corps). Most HR departments choose only a few social media channels
• Content is adapted to the chosen media and the target group. Here we think about the length of the written content; The length of the videos; Form of speech etc.

One social media stands out from the other social media in that it is a professional business network: Linkedin

Employee advocacy på Linkedin

To appear professional, there are just a few things that you need to check or help the employee put in place if it is not already in order:

1. The CV must be up to date, including the job description for the current employer (you).
2. Make sure there is a catchy summary below of what value you create for your current employer, preferably with a description of the tasks the employee solves. In the summary, the employee can also add contact information; Links to the company's website, or publications that the employee has made
3. Upload a professional profile photo, and possibly maximise the visuals with a good cover photo (A quote; Photo of happy employees in your company; The employee's passion, etc.)
4. Write a catchy headline. Feel free to use the job title to create professionalism

In this context, it is worth mentioning that both the profile picture and the headline follow employees on all activity that takes place on Linkedin, it is visible to everyone.

However, the cover image and summary can only be seen when you click on the employee's profile.

You are now ready for the next step: