7 ways to boost employee engagement using social media

Employee engagement (or lack thereof) is vital to building a successful workforce. An engaged workforce is one that performs better, stays longer, and helps you both recruit new candidates and grow your employer brand, while lack of engagement causes issues like quiet quitting, actual quitting, and a damaged company reputation. So, to help you boost employee engagement, we asked 7 people leaders and CEOs for their best tips on how to boost employee engagement using social media.

Here are their answers.

Make your employees brand ambassadors to tell your story
Welcome each new hire through a social media post
Provide a platform for employees to share their personal interests
Make your employees a partner in your employer brand
Celebrate employees’ professional and personal success on social media
Host various events for employees on company’s internal social media account
Spotlight employees behind the scenes

Make your employees brand ambassadors to tell your story

“Empower your internal team to be your brand ambassadors and champions by recognizing and promoting their talents and expertise through your social channels,” says JJ Nelson, Director of Brand Communications at Bergmeyer. “Utilize the power of young professionals within the company by giving them the opportunity to lead creative social campaigns that speak to their passion and purpose. Make it personal! This all ties into your employer value proposition (EVP).

“Your employer brand must have a well-designed, discovered, defined and tested EVP that is undeniably part of your brand story, told through the eyes of your people. For B2B brands like Bergmeyer, there is often a misguided approach to traditional B2B marketing tactics, and we’ve worked tirelessly to break away from the industry standards we’d typically compare ourselves against. Don’t measure against traditional competitors—aim to compete with the aspirational brands not typically associated with yours, and start with using your people as your power and your benchmarks for success.”

For more about the benefits of employee advocacy, check out these 24 need-to-know employee advocacy stats in 2022.

Welcome each new hire through a social media post

“Welcome each new hire through a social media post to boost employee engagement,” says Ryan Stewart, Managing Partner at Webris. “Introduce them online by sharing their photo and a brief background of their role and experience. You can even include a call to action at the end of the post, inviting your current team members to connect with them. Doing so will encourage your workforce to comment with a greeting or an emoji reaction to which the new hire could respond to—thereby fostering a series of interactions.

“A new employee social media post shows a team’s warm and friendly atmosphere. It makes the new hire feel more welcomed and accepted. Likewise, it creates an excellent start to their new journey as a working professional in an organization.”

Provide a platform for employees to share their personal interests

“One way a company can use social media to boost employee engagement is by providing a platform for employees to share their personal interests and passions with their coworkers,” Matthew Ramirez, Founder of Paraphrase Tool. “By doing this, you can create a sense of community between employees, which can lead to higher levels of engagement. For example, if an employee shares their love of cooking on a company Slack channel, their coworkers may start asking them for cooking tips, which can create a fun, casual work atmosphere.”

Make your employees a partner in your employer brand

“Social recruiting and employee advocacy are powerful tools to build your employer brand and reach new candidates,” says Debora Roland, Vice President, People Operations at CareerArc. “But when your employees’ involvement in it is all about how they’re benefitting you, it won’t do much for employee engagement. Instead, show employees how much of a positive effect their social media use has for your company and for their own professional brand. Empower them to use their social media to express their expertise, meet and network with other professionals, as well as build and share your company’s vision. You want them excited to know that they’re helping build their company. Hand in hand with that goes celebrating their successes, hard work, and dedication publicly on social media. This way, they’re not engaging because they’re doing you a favor, but engaging because they actually care and actually are engaged.”

For more on the power of social recruiting, see here.

Celebrate employees’ professional and personal success on social media

“My law firm uses our official Facebook and Instagram accounts to recognize employees for their personal achievements inside and outside of work,” shares David Aylor, CEO & Lawyer at David Aylor Law Offices. “Recognizing our employees’ success in both their personal and professional lives creates a more positive working relationship. They’re excited to share their achievements with their coworkers and superiors, and it creates a more positive office environment on a day-to-day basis.

“The happier my employees are, and the more they feel like they belong. Therefore, the better their engagement tends to be. Everyone looks forward to coming into work and catching up with their friends, while simultaneously working hard to make our company successful.

“It is important that you only make posts with express permission from employees. Some people do not want themselves or their families posted on social media. However, if they want to be broadcasted, share their birthdays, anniversaries, and momentous occasions whenever you can.”

Host various events for employees on company’s internal social media account

“Most companies have their own internal social media applications,” Laura Martinez, Consultant and Content Writer at PersonalityMax. “It is a portal meant for sharing ideas and personal events. It may also be a medium for inspirational messages and the likes. It functions in the same way as the usual social media apps that we know. The only difference is it is only within the organization.

“There are many employee engagement activities that you can do using this type of digital venue. You can launch any type of event or create games where everyone can take part. Creative competition can also be an awesome example. A photo competition is one. It can showcase the employees’ artistry through the captured moments in pictures. You can create a theme for this contest. It has been a proven event that solicits the most participation. Be sure to roll out clear mechanics and criteria for judging the winners. And of course, prizes and awards must await them.”

Spotlight employees behind the scenes

“One way to boost employee engagement is to take a break from continually posting about the company’s products and services,” says Alaina Ross, Co-Founder & Registered Nurse at Sleep Family. “Instead, once or twice a week, try publishing behind the scenes pictures and content of employees working, brainstorming or even eating together in the lunchroom. By doing so, it will make your employees feel valued and important, and it will also make your company appear more authentic and likable to the outside world.”

Hi. We’re CareerArc—the world’s only social media recruiting and employee advocacy solution built for talent acquisition teams. Click here to find out what we do, or here to see a free demo.

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Boost employee engagement using social media