Forward-thinking CMOs and sales leaders recognise that the most trusted voices of their brand are their employees. But how do you scale that trust across a global organisation?
We recently hosted a follow-up webinar, building on the brilliant insights shared at our 2025 Social Business Exchange event. We brought back speakers from IBM, Workday, Merck and Sanofi to share how they’re scaling employee advocacy and social selling to strengthen their employer branding. Read on for my five key insights.
1. High-trust workplaces outperform the market by 4x
Tribal CEO, Sarah Goodall opened by sharing how employee trust is connected to business impact. As Great Place To Work® highlights: Companies with high-trust cultures outperform the market by up to four times.When employees feel empowered to share their stories on social media, they become trusted voices.
8.5x more revenue per employee is achieved by high-trust workplaces
2. Employee advocacy goes beyond sharing
Workday shared how employee advocacy isn’t just about sharing pre-written posts; it’s about building something deeper.
“We brought employees into the process not just to post, but to shape our employer brand,” said Stuart Hazell, Global Director of Talent Brand & Marketing at Workday.
For them, employee advocacy has become a core part of their talent strategy. And the results speak for themselves! They saw a 65% increase in total traffic to their careers site, with organic traffic up by 87%.
Their impact doesn’t stop at impressions, though. They also saw better quality role applications alongside a reduction in job rejection rates. It’s important to go beyond surface-level engagement.
Workday presented results, including a 65% increase in traffic to their careers site.
3. Yes, you can activate employees in regulated industries
For organisations in highly regulated sectors, activating employees on social can feel like walking a tightrope. But that hasn’t stopped Sanofi.
Anne Adam, Global Employer Brand Marketing Manager at Sanofi, emphasised the importance of working closely with internal comms and legal teams to develop global guidelines that are locally adaptable.
“We always say, global guidance is great but local rules win,” she explained.
Anne Adam, Sanofi, explains their approach to employee advocacy
Rather than fearing the risks, Sanofi focuses on educating employees, setting clear boundaries, and bringing internal experts into the process. Confident, compliant employee advocacy, without silencing employee voices.
4. IBM's Buzz Squad enables real-time coverage of live events
IBM’s Nada Alkutbi, who manages the global social media strategy at IBM, spoke about their Buzz Squad; a team of employee advocates who help them reach and react to events on the ground.
Rather than asking employees to repost brand content, her team work closely with advocates to equip them with content creation skills.
IBM works closely with employees to bring offline events to life through social.
As Sarah Goodall pointed out, referencing Nada’s examples: “You can’t just think about LinkedIn anymore, especially if you’re trying to reach younger talent. They’re hanging out in different places.”
Platforms like TikTok are playing an increasing role in employer branding. For companies looking to diversify their reach and tap into Gen Z talent pools, adapting the content strategy across multiple platforms is becoming essential.
5. How Merck used AI to empower their employee advocates
Guillem Cardenal, Senior Social Selling Lead at Merck Life Science, made it easy for people to join their employee advocacy program using AI.
What started as a small Teams channel sharing best practices for LinkedIn Sales Navigator has evolved into the company’s dedicated Social Selling Community!
“We didn’t plan to scale this - we just followed the demand.”
- Guillem Cardenal, Merck
Guillem developed a suite of internal AI-powered CustomGPTs to support employees in becoming confident content creators. The program has resulted in a 20% increase in employee social activity!
By meeting employees where they already were, in Teams, Merck created a community of over 600 employee advocates!
Merck Life Science created bespoke CustomGPTs to empower teams to become content creators
Final thought: It’s not a ripple anymore, it’s a wave
If you want to build lasting brand trust, attract top talent and accelerate sales, you can’t treat advocacy as a one-off campaign.
True momentum only happens when advocacy is embedded into the operations of your business across marketing, talent, communications and sales.
This means moving beyond siloed initiatives and investing in a connection, people-first strategy. The companies leading the way aren’t just enabling their employees, they’re empowering them to become the voice of the brand and recognising their growing role in driving business growth.
Where to next?
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Sign up for our newsletter to find out about our upcoming online events.
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Or talk to us about how we can help you build a scalable program tailored to where you’re employees are today on their social media journey.
