Notes from the Measuring Performance and Value session at the Employee Advocacy Summit in Atlanta, GA on September 15, 2014. This is one of a series of posts recapping the day and key comments from speakers and guests.
SPEAKERS
Susan Emerick
CEO & Founder, Brands Rising, LLC
Jeanne Murray
Partner, Brands Rising LLC
NOTES
A problem that is pervasive throughout marketing and PR, not just employee advocacy, is measurement and proving tangible business value. Susan and Jeanne share from their personal experiences, including IBM.
Goals
As a manager of an employee advocacy program, it is critical to set clear goals and lay out responsibilities. The success and scalability of an employee program can hinge on how employees understand their responsibilities are and what they mean for them, in addition to the overall business goals.
Creating a Measurement Framework
There has certainly been a maturity over the years of things that can be measured; however, most of these do not prove business value. There are two very simple things businesses care about: increasing revenue or decreasing costs. When creating a measurement framework about value for an employee advocacy program, think about what the program will achieve and how it will be done.
Metrics
A robust employee advocacy program will have employees from a wide variety of business units from within your organization. Just as in their jobs, they do not all have the same roles, responsibilities, functions and are not reviewed in the same way. Their performance in an employee advocacy program should be no different. Different employees will excel in different areas and should be measured accordingly. This is not a one size fits all situation. Marketing/Sales/PR/IT/HR/Finance may each need different goals as well as metrics for determining their success.
Engage Employees
Employees need to be equipped to understand their goals. While they should be aspirational and achievable, most importantly they need to be understandable and relatable. Engaging employees is important to not only ensure goals are met, but to help employees optimize their own performance by understanding shifts in the market and remaining motivated to stay involved.