Highlight the value of employee spotlight programs in showcasing staff achievements and boosting morale within your organization. Discover strategies for creating engaging employee spotlight content to enhance company culture.
By Brad Nakase, Attorney
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A company’s most valuable asset is its people, and an employee spotlight is a great way to highlight them. Your employees will describe their experience working for your company and the things that set it apart from competitors in their own words.
We will examine the employee spotlight, its advantages, and best practices while also looking at some great examples.
A spotlight on an employee can include details about their tenure with the organization, notable accomplishments, unique personalities, work anniversaries, triumphs, setbacks, and more. To strengthen your company’s reputation as an employer of choice and to foster camaraderie among workers, consider instituting employee spotlight posts.
Posts featuring employees can take several forms, such as a photo with brief text, a short video, or an interview in the form of text. The usual places for such postings are the company’s career page, social media accounts, and internal communication channels.
Employee testimonials and employee spotlights are very similar. There are two major purposes of employee spotlights: to show potential employees that the company is a good place to work and to promote the company internally.
Are you still unsure if it’s worthwhile to launch an employee spotlight program?
Here are some advantages to think about:
Showing appreciation for your staff
The employee spotlight highlights the outstanding contributions made by certain employees. When someone is recognized, it boosts their drive and morale, which makes them work harder and do their best. A highly motivated workforce is an engaged workforce that is more likely to remain with your organization.
Promoting an environment of gratitude
By highlighting employees’ achievements, both management and coworkers can see how hard they’re working, which fosters an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation.
Plus, it shows the outside world how great your company’s work culture is. When you upload photos of your staff having fun and working together, it sends a message to potential new hires about the positive work environment you provide.
Creating bonds among workers
Working in a big organization with several teams spread out across different regions or working remotely might make it hard for coworkers to bond.
To overcome obstacles between teams and coworkers in a hybrid or remote work environment, communication and teamwork are key.
Therefore, staff spotlights can serve as a springboard for dialogue amongst teams. Stronger bonds between people can emerge from these introductory discussions.
Teamwork and engagement levels rise as different groups establish more meaningful connections. Enhanced collaboration leads to higher output and improved financial results over time.
Genuine employer branding material
It isn’t easy to attract individuals who align with your employer branding and corporate culture. Everyone wants to know everything there is to know about the company they are applying to when they are job hunting. Their questions center on the possible perks and the people they might work with.
People looking for a job with your company are on the lookout for reliable feedback about working there. Compared to the company itself, customers have three times greater faith in your employees to divulge such details.
You may easily locate negative comments about your organization on job review sites like Glassdoor.
Creating a positive work environment requires resolving the concerns voiced by your (former) employees in performance reports. Another way to improve your company’s reputation is to launch an employee spotlight program that is both effective and creative. Employee testimonials can attest to the fact that your company offers a fulfilling workplace.
Additionally, at various points in the hiring process, publishing an internal employee spotlight will assist candidates in determining if your position and business are a suitable match for them.
A powerful sales instrument
Employee spotlights are multipurpose; they can boost sales and promote your company’s image.
Prospective buyers should read the About page of a firm if they have any reservations about the reliability of the business. You can trust a company’s goods and services more if you know its employees.
When comparing two products or services that offer identical features and costs, the customer’s preference for the business they perceive as being more pleasant to deal with is frequently the deciding factor.
Posting employee spotlights on your website is a powerful move in and of itself. Their value to your business, however, grows exponentially when shared on social media and seen by current and future employees as well as consumers.
Similarly, you might incorporate them into your business newsletter. Email has a better open rate than LinkedIn since it doesn’t have to compete with other companies for prospects’ attention. Since you are conversing with the consumer one-on-one, it is also far more intimate and personal than other forms of customer service.
Having read about the benefits of funding staff spotlights, consider these best practices for writing the posts:
Depending on your intended use of the content and target audience, you may choose the best format for your employee spotlight articles.
Employee spotlight videos are a smart move in view of the ever-increasing popularity of platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Even a basic smartphone can record and edit videos.
Podcasts are another popular format; they’re great for those who want to listen while they’re on the go.
Hire an expert if you can afford to do it and want the job done well.
After that, you can convert your movies and podcasts into different forms, such as blog articles. You may write a brief interview and post it online or put it in the newsletter for your business.
Also, turn your spotlight into something you can share on social media. Mix the employee’s photo with the remarks from the interview. Afterwards, post them on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
In order to come up with ideas for employee spotlights, you may also ask your marketing staff for advice.
You should aim to feature employees from all levels and departments (from interns to top leadership) in your employee spotlight posts.
Recognize everyone when they deserve it. But remember that they need to be game to join in.
Common themes for employee spotlights include company goals and objectives, leadership, culture of the firm, successes and failures, major projects or milestones, advantages and perks of the job, and chances for professional development.
A few examples of possible questions are as follows:
Relax and don’t worry about getting a perfect answer during the Q&A session. As an alternative, you could just sit back and let your employees chat. Also, don’t hesitate to ask a follow-up question if you feel the need to explore a topic further.
Although it’s tempting to just follow your own Q&A format, remember that you want each employee spotlight to be special in its own way.
Use the many avenues we’ve already discussed—company blogs, social media, and video platforms—to promote your employee highlight articles.
Don’t overlook the importance of promoting it internally through your company’s newsletter, Slack, or intranet.
Just a friendly reminder that these posts are a terrific way for employees to meet each other and increase morale.
Ask your employees for feedback after you’ve published and shared a few employee spotlights. Find out what they liked and didn’t like about the interviews and the pieces in general.
After that, you can modify the following round of employee spotlights based on the comments you received.
Find out how various social media and email post types fared. Then you’ll know which formats are worth concentrating on. Find out which format works best, for instance, if you want to drive traffic to your website from your social media accounts.
Are you looking for extra inspiration to write employee spotlight posts?
Use these examples as a starting point:
Cloud communications platform MessageBird showcases its employees (they call them “Birds”) from all around the globe in their Employee Spotlight Series on their blog.
One of their postings provides an intimate peek at Guila’s time at MessageBird, including her arrival, her reasons for working there, a “normal workday,” and her greatest accomplishments while there.
Her glowing review of MessageBird’s flexible work schedules and her unwavering faith in the company’s offerings all contribute to the positive impression the business has as an innovative place to work.
Delta Airlines promotes job openings on its Instagram account, Life at Delta, by highlighting employees.
The dedication of Delta to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) is the subject of this particular employee spotlight.
Joining the company’s Res and Care team was a joy for Wee (Victor) H., who was thrilled to return to work after retirement.
Whether you’re just starting out in your aviation career or are looking for a retirement job, this piece will further convince you that Delta is the best choice.
The photo of the candidate while serving is a wonderful touch.
Following Instagram employee Siobhan as she progresses through her tenure at E.J. Gallo Winery, we learn about her roles as Production Engineer, Warehouse Analyst, Start-Up Manager, and Product Owner.
This is a perfect example of how E.J. Gallo Winery goes above and above by hiring individuals and promoting from within. As a result, they will be happier in their jobs and more likely to stay put.
By highlighting Siobhan’s family life and hobbies, for example, the spotlight ‘humanizes’ the employee.
In honor of Women’s History Month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shared a number of staff spotlight pieces on its Facebook page.
P.E. Chief of Regulatory Branch Teralyn Murray shared invaluable advice in her employee spotlight: never give in to intimidation.
Teralyn defied the odds by pursuing a profession in engineering as a Black woman.
Furthermore, she advocated for the Chicago District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, highlighting its inclusive nature and urging everyone to submit applications.
Like many other companies, Staples cares deeply about its employees’ personal and professional development. Riley, the featured employee here, worked her way up the ladder from manager to director and is now VP.
She claims that anyone with perseverance, persistence, and the ability to listen to clients’ concerns may have a successful sales career, regardless of prior sales expertise.
The movie also showed how much she loves mentoring others and seeing their careers take off because of the personal and professional growth she fosters in them.
This employee spotlight takes a unique approach by allowing the intern, who was working as an intern for SHL, a platform for talent assessment and management, write about her own experiences there.
Starting a profession and locating that first stepping stone are difficult tasks, but they are also doable, according to Azraa.
The most important thing she learned was the importance of self-discipline when working from home. Take the risk and be yourself, she said to people just starting out in their careers.
A second suggestion for staff spotlights is to use social media posts to feature new recruits.
Upon hiring a new employee, AIHR takes the time to introduce them on LinkedIn and go over their responsibilities. That way, not only can their followers learn more about AIHR, but their coworkers can meet their new teammate.
If you want your business to succeed, it all comes down to your staff. They are the unsung heroes who toil away at tasks in the background on a daily basis, opening doors to new prospects and assisting others around them in their own professional development. An excellent way to highlight the internal and external activities of employees is through an employee spotlight.
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