How Employee Advocacy Helps Retain Top Talent

Last Updated: 6th June 2023

Employee advocacy may seem like a system that only affects sales and marketing figures, but in reality, employee advocacy campaigns have a ripple effect, affecting almost every department of the business – including HR.

Today we’re covering how employee advocacy helps retain your top talent! Without further ado…

Research has found that a successful, active employee advocacy strategy can help to retain the brightest and best talent within an organization.

An Altimeter Group study showed that people employed by companies with active social engagement are:

Employees who are actively involved in employee advocate programs and campaigns are 20% more inclined to remain in their position with the company.

This is likely due to the fact that they truly enjoy working for the company. Promoting their everyday achievements to friends and family acts as motivation to stay put and accomplish even more!

57% of socially engaged employees are better equipped to turn social media engagement into sales leads.

This is simply because their employer is preparing and allowing them to use their social media skills and connections to promote the brand. This creates sales opportunities for the company.

Employees of socially active employers are 27% more likely to be optimistic about the future and growth of their employer.

This is due to the company embracing the digital era, taking a proactive approach and introducing forward-thinking steps when it comes to incorporating employee’s social media activity into the business’ regular operations.

Social engagement boosts employee confidence – making employees 40% more likely to think of the company as being competitive in its sector.

Again, incorporating proactive social media strategies gives a company a competitive edge, whilst having an inbuilt brand promotions team is almost guaranteed to increase sales and ensure the longevity of the business.

15% of socially-engaged employees report feeling that they have better connections with colleagues.

Whilst employers may have many teams, spread throughout multiple offices in potentially multi-continental locations, employee relations have never been smoother, thanks to social engagement connecting staff with other employees outside of their immediate team or department.

Social engagement and employee advocacy encourages colleagues to become connections – even if it is only on social media sites and apps, for ease of sharing content and communicating the brand message.

However, this also means that colleagues may begin to see aspects of their workmate’s personal lives, and will eventually come to associate the positive feelings of friendship and compassion. It brings employees closer together emotionally, even though physically, they may be in completely different countries or departments.

The same research suggests that if businesses use advocacy and engagement programs effectively to listen, respond to, and motivate staff, it can reduce costs associated with employee retention and recruitment programs.

Companies with successful social engagement and employee advocacy see a 57% increase in attracting top talent.

A LinkedIn study has shown that employee advocacy also builds upon and improves the employer brand, meaning that the people recruited are likely to be of a higher calibre, better suited to the company, and more loyal to the position.

Hiring through an employee referral system is more cost-effective and quicker than generic hiring methods, according to The Undercover Recruiter. The candidate pool is often smaller and the calibre of talent is often more refined, with most employees only referring individuals they truly believe will fit in with the company, as supported by marketing professional Boryana Dineva.

Referred employees are 45% more likely to stay in the role longer than 6 months.

Individuals hired through referral systems are more likely to settle in, understand internal processes and get along with fellow employees in a shorter timeframe than people who are hired without any prior connection to the organization.

This is important for retention purposes, as, in 2013, individuals leaving their jobs within the first six months of employment made up 40% of those leaving employment voluntarily.

Whilst these figures may be convincing, it is still believed that human resources departments are failing to utilize social engagement to attract top talent and increase employee loyalty – with good reason.

Human resources departments do not believe that retaining staff is solely their problem, and they’re correct. Tim Sackett for Ere Media states that the responsibility for ensuring that employees want to stay with the company needs to be shared throughout the hiring process, orientation and everyday management.

This means that talent attraction and retention should also be a key factor in branding, digital marketing and customer engagement strategies.

There is still space to grow and opportunities to grasp onto in the digital era, with 74% of the average company’s workforce continuing to be disengaged from social media.

The potential to simultaneously grow your company’s customer and employee engagement is huge, as long as everyone does their part.

• How To Use Employee Stories for Talent Acquisition
• How the World’s Biggest Brands Showcase Company Culture
• The War for Talent Isn’t Over. Here’s What To Do About It.