Employees as drivers of a company’s online reputation

More and more company employees, particularly in sales and advisory roles, are being “googled” by potential clients before entering into a business relationship. This trend forces not only the company but also its employees to take action on their online reputation. Hence the value of carrying out this 5-step collaborative project on the online reputation of the company’s employees.

1 – Raise employee awareness

With the growth of the Internet and social media, the image of the company and the image of the employee are increasingly linked.

On the one hand, online reputation is today the number 1 risk for any company, which must stay alert to the influence of the six players that impact its online reputation. “In 2012, 84% of crises had origins internal to the company. Out of 32 crises recorded, 47% came from the communications department, 18% from the marketing department and 15% from the company’s employees or former employees,” reveals Nicolas Vanderbiest(1).

On the other hand, any employee is likely to be searched for on Google to learn more about them, about their private life as well as their professional life, and particularly before any business relationship. Indeed, 71% of French people are fans of Googling, which consists of running a Google search on one of their contacts. It goes without saying that a “negative” photo of an employee on Facebook, or an employee’s criticism of their company (15% of employees gossip about their company on social media, according to the Hopscotch-Viavoice survey (2)) can have harmful effects for both the employee and the company. According to a study by McAfee(3), 6% of respondents have already been confronted by their employer or future employer about embarrassing online content, 8% have already been fired because of posting messages or photos, and 6% have already witnessed a dismissal at their company for the same reasons. It is therefore essential to launch an online reputation assessment across the entire company.

2 – Assess employees’ online reputation

More and more companies and organizations (Altran, City of Paris…) are launching initiatives to raise awareness among French people and their employees about the challenges of online reputation.

3 – Improve employees’ online reputation

To improve their online reputation, all an employee has to do is click on the “Recommendations” tab next to the online reputation dashboard. They will then be prompted to create or improve their various profiles on social networks such as LinkedIn, Viadeo, Google+ or on corporate presentation platforms such as About.me. The more present they are on social networks and other Web 2.0 platforms, the more their online reputation score is likely to grow.

Improving online reputation is also the company’s duty. A Franco-Finnish study (4) shows that, to improve their online reputation, companies have more to gain from increasing the overall transparency of their information and their working conditions than from strictly regulating (which most often proves counterproductive) what employees say online. Hence the value of collaborative work on online reputation!

4 – Involve employees

A company’s online reputation depends more on the way it manages its employees than on the existence of a team dedicated to social media. Each employee is a tremendous sounding board for the company’s online reputation. Employees who are satisfied with their company are the guarantee of eliminating online reputation risks on the Internet and social media. Employees who are happy in their work are the guarantee of benefiting from their commitment and support. To achieve this, more and more companies are setting up training on the Internet and social media to educate their employees on good Web 2.0 communication practices. Others involve them and give them an increasingly active role in strengthening the company’s reputation and in the process of creating meaning for the company.

5 – Turn employees into company ambassadors

The Franco-Finnish study (4) also reveals that “when companies trust their employees, treat them fairly, and respect their rights, the latter are more inclined to work for the good of the company, to share their experiences and to support the company on social media”. Companies that encourage their employees to engage on social media thus benefit from “authentic and humanized” conversations. This requires putting in place a transparent social media policy rooted in the company’s DNA. The employee is thus encouraged to relay the company’s information on their own social networks to boost the company’s visibility. In the end, by having employees who are “ambassadors and evangelists” of the brand, the company gains an undeniable advantage in the event of a crisis.

Sources:

1. Nicolas Vanderbiest “La gestion de crise et l’e-réputation des entreprises” (Université Libre de Bruxelles).

2. « Salariés et médias sociaux », survey conducted online from December 13 to 17, 2010 among a sample of 1,000 individuals from the public and private sectors.

3. Study by software vendor McAfee – MIS Research conducted in January 2014 among 502 French respondents.

4. Study by Aalto University (Finland) and NEOMA Business School (France) among senior and middle managers in three Finnish companies – respectively in the food, banking and business consulting sectors.