One of the major outstanding issues in Spanish public administrations is having internal communication strategies, an issue I already addressed in an article on this blog, which you can read by clicking here.
While many believe that investing in internal communication is useless and is done because it’s “trendy,” the reality is that if companies invest in internal communication, they do so because, among other reasons, it increases productivity by 20%, according to a study by How Social Technologies Drive Business Success.
These data have been one of the main reasons why companies have opted to implement internal communication strategies in their organizations in recent years. The case of public administrations, however, is very different, as not only is there no commitment to internal communication, but even external communication continues to be ignored.
It’s curious how, in these same public administrations, committees are created, meetings are held, and debates are held about how to improve productivity. In many cases, the solution lies in investing in software and applications that improve productivity. However, what percentage of these results are achieved? 5%, 10%?
Well, here we have a tool that tells us we can increase productivity by 20%. Shouldn’t we at least consider implementing and developing it?
If companies increase productivity, it’s because the people who work there “increase” their productivity, and they do so motivated by internal communication actions that help improve the work environment, trust and communication among members of the organization, as well as the sense of belonging and motivation.
Developing an internal communications strategy is a comprehensive plan that encompasses various actions and activities. One of the steps you can take to achieve both internal and external communications objectives is creating a network of employees who become brand ambassadors.
But what is a brand ambassador?
A brand ambassador is someone who is passionate about a company, brand, or institution’s product or service and has no problem spreading the word through various channels, both offline and online.
Many companies have realized that there’s no one better than their own employees to be responsible for sharing their company’s corporate content. And they’ve been aware of this because figures show that when employees share messages, they have greater reach and impact.
A study by MLS Group indicates that “brand messages have a 561% greater reach when shared by employees on their own social networks than when shared through corporate social channels.”
What if we transfer this to public administrations?
My proposal is to develop internal strategies to create public employee programs that become brand ambassadors for their public administrations.
What are the advantages of having a brand ambassador program in a public administration? Among them are:
1 Increase our digital presence
If a city council has a Facebook profile, it only has one Facebook profile. If you add up all the profiles of all the people who work at that city council, you’ll add the profiles of all its employees to the institutional profile (simple, right?).
What this does is nothing more or less than increase a public administration’s presence on social media. This may seem obvious, but if everyone working at a city council helps disseminate that city council’s content, it will reach many more people than if it’s done solely through institutional profiles.
This, although basic and fundamental, is nevertheless the exception. I find in the training courses I teach that most people who work in public administration not only don’t share content generated by their administration, but they don’t even know if they have a presence on social media.
The objective of a brand ambassador strategy, therefore, is to share through the social networks where we operate, encouraging and incentivizing public employees to share content about the public administration in which they work so that it can be widely disseminated.
To implement this action, it is essential to understand that the content and communication generated by public administrations constitutes public service information, not political content.
This is related to the implementation of a new communication model in public administrations, which we discuss here.
2 Improves the image of the administration
If public administration employees share content from their own administration, they are giving greater credibility and value to the work carried out in that administration.
Public administrations, whether we believe it or not, are deeply discredited by a significant portion of society. The first people who should be interested in changing this are the people who work in them.
And all for a matter of dignity, since our work and our professionalism are linked to the image of the administration in which we work.
And no matter how much some people insist on saying that everything we do in public administration is wrong and that all we care about is lunchtime, this isn’t true.
3 Disseminate information
We are living in a time of information overload, which often means we are unaware of what is happening in our town’s municipal offices, the official language school, or the municipal library, even if we live nearby.
Well, if each of us who works in a public administration, in addition to sharing photos of Sunday paella or the latest kitten video, shares information we think might be of interest, we will be raising awareness about the work we do in public administrations.
I did this when I worked in the public employment service, for example, sharing job openings or any assistance for the self-employed. Now that I’m at Calp City Hall, I share information about the city council, for example, organizing cultural or sports activities.
It’s not about “telling” how well we do things, but rather about “sharing” what we do. For example, if the application period for the school voucher has opened in my town and I share it on my social media, I’m helping my followers, friends, and fans by providing them with information that may be of interest to them.
4 Empower public employees
If a public administration commits to its employees serving as brand ambassadors, and does so in a coordinated and planned manner through a brand ambassador program, it will create a team of motivated and proactive people who will help improve the administration’s external and internal communications.
These could be the four main advantages that a brand ambassador program can bring to a public administration. At this point, we can consider what aspects we need to consider if we want to develop a program of this nature.
These are some of the issues we must consider to ensure this program is not only a reality, but also a success.
a) The protagonists are the public employees
The first thing to keep in mind when launching a brand ambassador program in a public administration is that it’s a program by and for employees, and neither management nor politicians have a place here.
This is something that must be implemented not only in public administrations but also in private companies. Only those companies that have kept their management teams away from these ambassador programs have been successful. Therefore, let’s leverage this experience when implementing it in our organizations.
b) Training in social networks
If we want our public administration’s brand ambassadors to share content on social media, we’ll have to teach them how to use it correctly.
One of the main fears of people who want to participate in this type of strategy is that they don’t know enough about how each of the social networks works, and they feel insecure about making mistakes when tagging on Twitter or using hashtags.
To achieve this, it is important to provide them with training that will give them greater confidence in using these new tools.
c) Management support
One of the keys to a brand ambassador program is that the people who participate know they have the support and backing of management and that they won’t be left alone if something goes wrong.
To achieve this, it’s important that social media crisis management and what to do in the event of a crisis arise be included as part of this training.
We must be very clear that the more people interact on social media, the greater the chances of a crisis occurring. That’s why we must be prepared to minimize the negative impact.
It’s also necessary to have a short manual on what to do in the event of a crisis on social media, which can be included in the social media communication and management plan.
d) Coordinación desde el departamento de comunicación
The implementation of the ambassador program, as well as its coordination and training, falls under the responsibility of the administration’s communications department.
This department must assist brand ambassadors by offering them graphic resources (infographics, photographs, videos, etc.) as well as links and information from different departments within the administration.
They also need to be there to answer questions and help brand ambassadors.
This would be a function to add to those assigned to the communications department and which we have included here.
e) Involvement of the human resources department
This is one of the key factors for the success of a brand ambassador program, as these actions must be accompanied by rewards for participating.
And that’s where the human resources department comes into play.
Applying incentives in public administrations is more complicated than in private companies, so imaginative measures must be sought that go in the direction of the so-called “emotional salary.”
Some of these measures could be:
- Participate in training on social media or any other aspect that helps in the program
- Being able to dedicate a few hours of the workday to participate in the ambassador program
- Attend congresses, conferences, workshops or events related to your work
- Gifts such as tickets to a play or any activity organized by the public administration
f) Voluntariness
Brand ambassador programs are voluntary, and those who participate do so because they believe in it and want to participate without pressure.
Many will say that this is difficult to implement in a public administration, but I can say no.
One example I’ve experienced firsthand was the creation of the SERVEF blog (now Labora), the first blog opened in the Valencian Government. When I proposed launching it, many people said no one would want to write for it because they’d have to do it in their free time, and no one would do it “for nothing.”
Well, quite the opposite. Not only did it open, but it’s still active, and the technicians and counselors who work in that public service write there. Training was even provided on how to write a blog (one group in Alicante and another in Valencia), with nearly 100 people participating, who wanted to learn how to write a blog and contribute to it.
In my experience, the most important thing is to identify those people within the public administration who want to participate in a program of this nature. And once you’ve identified them, nurture them, help them, and motivate them to do so.
Is it easy to implement a program of this nature in a public administration?
No.
And I’ll say it right now, it’s not easy. Especially at the beginning, since you’ll have to fight against all the internal and external reluctance you’ve ever had and will have.
However, I am convinced that the advantages they can bring us in the medium and long term far outweigh the disadvantages that implementing a program of this nature may entail.
And from here I challenge you: are you up for launching a brand ambassador program in your public administration?
If you need help implementing your city council, provincial council, university, public company, or ministry’s brand ambassador program and communications plan, here’s the “Guide to Creating a Communications Plan for a Public Administration.”
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