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Nov 15, 2022 Justyna Brownbridge

Want To Persuade Employees To Become Active On Social Media? Focus On These Employment Trends

Here at Tribal Impact, we've worked with many forward-thinking companies that successfully activated thousands of their employees on social media. They did it because they understood the power of giving their staff an opportunity to find their voice online and thanks to this, realised the wider benefits of doing so.

Plenty of cases suggest that this is driving tangible business results such as expanded company brand reach, increased sales, reduced talent acquisition cost, and increased employee engagement.

However, for any program of this kind to be successful, the company first needs to succeed in persuading their employees to believe that this change initiative will be of long-term value to them.

How do they do this? By addressing the ‘what’s in it for me’ question.

In one of our recent LinkedIn Lives, I presented a taster session on this subject. One of the main modules covered the key employment trends that impact the majority of workers globally, with a focus on how building their online presence helps them adjust to these trends.

In this blog, I will dig deeper into the points covered in the module. If you'd prefer to watch the taster session instead, click here.

1. Hybrid Working Is Here To Stay

The pandemic has changed the business world for good. Many companies now offer either fully remote or a hybrid way of working. In fact, as of June 2022, approximately 78% of companies in the UK offered hybrid working for their staff and the majority of employees preferred this model of working.

What does this mean to modern workers?

  • In-person meetings with our colleagues are often reduced to a minimum, therefore we need to learn how to build and maintain relationships online
  • Nowadays, our work is less visible therefore, we need to learn how to make our projects/opinions/ideas seen and heard
  • We compete for promotions and new opportunities with more people than ever before, from across the globe, and we need to learn how to make our expertise and skills stand out.

How can Social Media help:

  • It helps us build and maintain strong working and personal relationships through our social media interactions
  • It provides us with a channel to share, at scale, our opinions, knowledge, and achievements as well as take part in discussions with colleagues across the globe
  • It forces us to define what we want to be known for - what makes us stand out from others in our field.

2. AI Is Changing How We Work

Artificial Intelligence is no longer something reserved purely for sci-fi movies. Now, it is present in many aspects of our life including work.

As a result of this, there is a wider concern that AI will replace many of our jobs.

However, the reality is proving to be different. According to Statista, so far in 2022, the number of jobs that were created thanks to AI was larger than those that were eliminated.

Job created vs lostSource: Statista 2022

What this means:

  • AI is nudging us (unfortunately, not subtly) to quickly adjust by becoming lifelong learners

  • We need to constantly invest in upskilling and reskilling ourselves to survive and thrive in the future workplace. Josh Berlin mentions that a set of behavioural skills is of particular importance and many workers are recognising the need for learning those skills – as an example, the top 7 of 20 most completed LinkedIn learning courses completed in 2022 were related to communication skills.

How can Social Media help:

  • It helps us learn quicker in a more direct way from those who are paving the way in our industries through following them and interacting with them on social media. In the words of Malin Liden from SAP: "For me, learning is a top reason to be on social and to connect with the right people, and participate in the learning experience yourself by also giving back"
  • It provides us with a channel to practice and showcase our behavioural skills e.g. leadership and communication skills. In the words of one of the top executives that attended our recent leadership activation training – ‘social media is a channel that helps you extend your impact as a leader within and beyond your company’.

3. We Are Less Engaged At Work Than Ever Before

Due to a number of reasons, such as losing someone close during the pandemic, the life adjustments following the pandemic, not finding a role rewarding or meaningful, or even a lack of hope for the future, only 21% of employees globally are currently feeling engaged and satisfied within their role.

What this means:

  • We need to understand what drives our work engagement as this differs for each individual. As mentioned by Gallup in their latest State of the Global Workplace Report “People want purpose and meaning from their work. They want to be known for what they're good at.” Several things can impact this, including: having development opportunities, a caring manager, ongoing conversations as well as focus on personal strengths.

State of global workplaceSource: Gallup 2022

How can Social Media help:

  • Your professional social media activity could become a window to gaining greater self-awareness that will help you understand what drives you, interests you and what you are good at. Writing a great LinkedIn About section and definining your content strategy require deep reflection time on what makes you ‘tick’, what are your strengths, passions and values. These exercises often result in a fresh spark of engagement, ideas and innovation triggered by this new realisation. It could also work as a driver to more meaningful conversations with your manager on what work would interest you more.

4. Our Mental Health Is Declining

Although nowadays we have a lot more information available about the importance of wellbeing, that doesn’t necessarily mean things are improving in terms of our mental health. While 33% of employees feel like they are thriving within their workplace, and able to maintain good mental health, the other 67% are likely to be only just surviving, or even struggling, within themselves.

What this means:

  • We are struggling at work. This impacts our engagement, sick days and productivity, all leading to lower business results.

  • We need to understand what helps us improve our mental health. Jacqui Brassey (People Expert at McKinsey) in her book Authentic Confidence, makes a case, based on her research that one of the keys to improving our mental wellbeing is working on our self-confidence. Self-confidence (defined as a belief in your professional competence) is a positive driver of work engagement, job satisfaction, learning, decision-making, and focus all of which impact physical and mental wellbeing.

How can Social Media help:

  • Taking steps to become more active on social media can be a confidence-building activity. Learning how to express your opinion even in as simple form as short but clear comments, helps us expand our comfort zone and build what Sylvie Nicol, VP HR Henkel, calls Change Mindset. Social media also provides a path to gently facing the most common of all fears – the public speaking fear.

    How? By taking small steps:

    1. comment on someone’s content
    2. sharing someone’s else’s content
    3. sharing my own written content
    4. sharing my first video
    5. doing my first LinkedIn Live/webinar
    6. presenting during my first conference.
  • The confidence gained through expressing your opinions/ideas/experience will shine on other areas of your life, which could have a positive impact on your overall self-perception and mental wellbeing.

Concluding Remarks

Persuading employees to build presence on social media could be significantly less complex than you might have thought. By pinpointing the reasons why your employees should consider becoming active on social, through driving their attention to current employment trends you can help them undestand how building a strong online presence will help them stay connected, relevant, engaged, and confident. This is key to driving high engagement levels for your employee advocacy program.

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About Tribal Impact

Tribal Impact is a B2B Social Selling and Employee Branding Agency.

We're a team of social media strategists, trainers, coaches, content creators and data analysts who are passionate about helping our B2B customers develop and scale their social selling and employee advocacy programs.

Learn more about us here.

Published by Justyna Brownbridge November 15, 2022
Justyna Brownbridge