Why employee stories should be part of your employer branding strategy plus real company examples for sharing them with maximum impact.
What was your organization's latest social media post? Was it about your product? Or was it about your people?
How often do you feature employee stories on your social media? (If you do it at all.)
As any people manager knows, social media is one of the most important tools in your kit, providing instant reach to your audience in real time. And yet, while millions of businesses have social media accounts, two critical factors are too often overlooked:
-
Social media is social, meaning it’s meant to be a two-way conversation, not a broadcast.
-
Featuring your people and values is just as important as marketing your goods and services.
Why you should feature employee stories on social media
Sharing employee stories on social media shows potential job candidates what they can expect from your company culture. Next to being a powerful tool to facilitate brand advocacy it's also cost-effective and possible with a dispersed team.
More consumers want their money going to organizations they feel align with their values. In fact, a 2021 study by Toluna/Harris Interactive and KuRunData found that:
-
79% of consumers prefer buying from brands with aligned values
-
68% have stopped supporting brands that don’t align with their personal values
That alignment also applies to employees, who are increasingly seeking out workplaces that fit their values. Which is why featuring employee stories on your social media is so important. Sharing employee stories on social media is a way to showcase your organizational culture and values and attract customers and potential hires alike.
But how do you share employee stories in a way that’s authentic and engaging?
Before we share our tips, let's remind ourselves to follow certain guidelines to ensure the process is respectful and effective:
-
Obtain consent: Before posting an employee’s story, ask for permission and include any photos or videos that may accompany the story. Their permission should be informed, meaning your employee understands how and where their story will be shared and has agreed to it.
-
Respect privacy: Not all aspects of an employee’s story may be appropriate to share publicly. Be mindful of sensitive or personal information and make sure what does get shared doesn’t infringe on your employee’s privacy or make them uncomfortable.
-
Be authentic: Authenticity resonates with audiences. Avoid overly editing or censoring your stories. Let your employees’ voices shine through to make the stories more engaging and relatable.
-
Provide support: If an employee’s story involves overcoming challenges or difficult experiences, ensure that you provide support and resources for other employees who may be facing similar situations.
Now let's dig into it: here are five ways to feature employee stories on social media that will work for remote and in-person workplaces, starring examples from Certified™ great workplaces around the globe.
How to share employee stories on social media
1. Employee social media take-overs
Hand your account(s) over to your employees and let them speak for themselves. That could be something like a “day in the life” on TikTok, an interactive Twitter chat, or an Instagram ‘Ask Me Anything.’
Of course, blindly giving the reins of your brand accounts may not fly with your PR and communications team. But if the employee and the marketing team collaborate on the message, you can come up with some creative and authentic employee stories.
Teleperformance took their employee stories to the next level in the UK. There, they did a series of social media posts that celebrated several of their employees.
TeleperformanceUK on X: "This is Michael's journey. It didn't quite work out the way he planned it would ???? Spoiler: It worked out even better ???? Your Success is Our Success ???? Teleperformance. Inspired To Be The Best. #GPTWCertified #InspiredToBeTheBest #LifeAtTP https://t.co/DakmE3qFTI" / X (twitter.com)
2. Participate in theme days for maximum reach
Global theme days (or even themed weeks or months) are a social media gold mine. Not only do they supply you with a focused content topic, but they enable you to take part in a worldwide conversation and reach more people.
Days like Employee Appreciation Day, Certification Nation Day or World Mental Health Day are perfect times to show off how your workplace is making the world better – especially when you can connect those themes directly to your employees’ stories.
For example, check out how Cembra showed how they support equality for women in a post on the occasion of International Women's Day.
3. Think beyond the workplace
Great workplaces recognize that their employees have lives beyond the office. While it’s great (and encouraged!) to praise employees for their hard work, why not extend that and shout out some of the amazing things they’re doing outside of work?
Maybe you have an employee who volunteers with a charity, or who has a fascinating hobby, or a talent beyond their 9-to-5. Show off the personality of your people and in doing so, you’ll convey how your business puts its people first.
Jackson Healthcare not only showcased its inspirational company culture online, they extended its brand beyond the workplace by promoting its active involvement in the community. Employees want to be part of a workplace that aligns with the community and there is no shame in spotlighting the efforts a company has invested in its community.
4. Share your stats for transparency
If done right, numbers can be very eye-catching on social media. If done wrong, they’re just another boring statistic.
When it comes to social media, think visual: graphs or infographics that are easy to read at a quick glance. And be selective with which numbers you want to present.
Tap into the stats that truly set your company apart, whether that’s:
-
how many women you have in leadership positions
-
how your salaries compare to the competition
-
how your employees answered your latest pulse survey.
MS BioMarketing didn't hold back when it shared company survey stats on social media. And with an impressive 96% of employees willing to give extra to the job, that's not a bad data point to brag about.
MS BioMarketing on X: "While VMS employees are tasked with high levels of responsibility, 96% are willing to give extra to get the job done. VMS BioMarketing is proud of our unique culture, enabling us to #LoveWhereYouWork #GPTWCertified #GreatRated https://t.co/HZuFTQcOJc" / X (twitter.com)
5. Jump on trends for playful posts
If you're stuck for ideas, why not try taking a look at what's trending? From TikTok audios to Instagram buzzwords, there are plenty of ways to pick up on current trends for your organization's social networks. Like UMB AG, who picked up on a Workation trend in a fun video on LinkedIn.
Amplify your employee stories and make your company culture go viral
At Great Place To Work, we have our own theme day that is the perfect time for featuring your employee stories on social media, whether your team is in the office or remote. Certification Nation Day is happening online on November 1 - 8, 2023. We’re inviting organizations to celebrate their people-first cultures alongside the world’s best workplaces on the day.
