In this white paper, you’ll learn the importance of a well-structured onboarding process and how you can build your very own onboarding process for employee advocacy.

1. Orienting Your
Employees to Brand
Advocacy

2. INDEX
Introduction
Induction vs Orientation
vs Onboarding
The Importance of Onboarding for
Employee Advocacy Programs
Creating a Program to Onboard Your
Employees to Brand Advocacy
Best Practices to Onboard Employees
& Increase Participation
Tips to Help Your Employees
Succeed at Advocacy

3. INTRODUCTION
The words Employee Orientation and Induction are used very commonly within the working
community. But what do they mean exactly? Is there a difference between the two? And most
importantly, how does it apply to an employee advocacy program?
In several blogs and other sources of content on employee advocacy, you’ll see time and again
the “tip” to start small with your employee advocacy program. What you really need to pay
attention to though, is how you orient the chosen few, and those that follow after, to the program.
In this publication, we’ll discuss the difference between an induction and orientation, the
importance of the two and the best ways to structure your own employee advocacy orientation
program.

4. Induction
ORIENTATION VS INDUCTION
VS ONBOARDING
For most HR Executives, attrition happens to be a major concern. Aligned to the same thought
process, those that run an employee advocacy program fear low participation the most. Or even
worse still, disengaged employees. Because, let’s face it - no participation from neutral
employees is still workable.
Commonly misunderstood as the same thing, employee orientation is very different from an
induction. While employee induction usually takes place on the first day of joining, orientation is
a continuous process that acquaints the new joinee to his new role, the requirements and
objectives, and the tools that he/she will need to use in order to achieve set targets.
Together, induction and orientation come together to form an onboarding process.
A good employee onboarding to your advocacy program helps develop a happy contributor and
ensures longevity and loyalty to the program, and hence should not be overlooked. As a
continuous process, orientation includes constant communication, feedback and performance
reviews. It follows the employee lifecycle in the advocacy program for mentoring and
development needs and properly transitions the employee from the “new joinee” phase.
• Explain the vision, mission and values.
• Background and objectives of the program
• Policies and business guidelines
• Introduction to key members of the program
Orientation
• Training material and information sessions
• Introduction to tools that they’ll be
working with
• Setting achievable goals
• Feedback and Q&A sessions

5. THE IMPORTANCE OF
ONBOARDING FOR EMPLOYEE
ADVOCACY PROGRAMS
- SHRM
Although low participation in an employee advocacy program is not
the same as turnover, the outcomes are strikingly similar - they’re
both disastrous for a company.
New employees who atteded a well-structured onboarding orientation
program,were 69% more likely to continue on for up to three years.
Employee orientation and onboarding in many ways sets the tone of the employee’s tenure
within the department. There’s nothing worse than wooing an employee during the recruitment
process and then having them show up on the first day to a receptionist who isn’t even expecting
them.
In terms of an employee advocacy program, orientation lays the groundwork in terms of
what is expected from the employee. Without a proper orientation, the employee will more often
than not feel confused, alienated and uncomfortable with the concept of employee advocacy,
and as a result take a longer time to reach their full potential or drop off participation altogether.
A good orientation -
• Provides the new participant with concise and accurate information to make them more
comfortable with the task.
• Encourages confidence and helps them adapt to the new process faster
• Helps manage productivity but outlining a work and advocacy balance
• Promotes communication between employees and the administrators
• Improves employee participation

6. CREATING A PROGRAM TO
ONBOARD YOUR EMPLOYEES
TO ADVOCACY
DO THE PAPERWORK THE DAY BEFORE
Nothing is worse than having to sit there while someone reads and fills out a
form.It’s just a waste of time. Instead, finish off with all formalities before you
begin the onboarding process. This will make sure that you have your
employees full attention when explaining the program, and not have them
doodling in boredom.
EMPHASIZE THE VISION AND MISSION
The orientation time is when you share the company’s vision and mission with
the new joinees. By understanding what the ultimate goal is, they will be better
poised to help you achieve it.
SHARE OBJECTIVES AND SET GOALS
This is when you inform the employees you’re onboarding what is expected
from them. It is important that you be as specific as you can at this time and
refrain from generalizing. If your objective is to achieve more leads, set goals
with employees that they would be expected to deliver 20 leads per month
through the advocacy program.
DELIVER ADEQUATE TRAINING
You have to recognize that employee advocacy is a relatively new concept.
Employees need to be familiar with every aspect of, not just the program but
the platform you’ve chosen to host it on too. Another thing that you’ll need to
focus on is the policies and guidelines that they need to comply with while
sharing brand content.
COLLECT FEEDBACK
Once you’ve finished the orientation and training process, focus needs to be
placed on collectingfeedback from the employees who participated. In doing
so, you give yourself room to improve for future batches. Like we said, it’s an
ongoing process.
Like everything else, the onboarding process needs to have a set structure to maximize the hits
and minimize the misses. Here are some guidelines to create your own robust plan -

7. BEST PRACTICES TO ONBOARD
YOUR EMPLOYEES TO
BRAND ADVOCACY
Design & implement formal
orientation programs1This one’s always going to be number one. Just assuming that you can “wing it” when
it comes to the onboarding process for employee advocacy isn’t going to cut it. A
formal, structured employee onboarding program gives you room to showcase the
importance of the advocacyprogram and the benefits it can bring to both, the employee
and the company.
Utilize technology to facilitate
the process2Using a SaaS provider like SocioAdvocacy to facilitate your employee advocacy
program is highly recommended. Not only does it help you to better implement the
overall program, but it makes things easier for the employees to adapt to a new
program.
While onboarding employees to an advocacy program, both - the little things, as well as the big
things - matter. Research shows that the trajectory for employee participation in the long run can
be set as early as the first two weeks. Orchestrating a perfect first day goes a long way in paying
you back great dividends in the long run. It may just be another day in your long running
advocacy program or it may be the first day for your pilot batch, either way it is the first day for
the new joinee and they’re going to remember it for sure.
Here are a few best practices to make sure that your employees are off to a stellar start.

8. Implement basics prior to the first
day on the job3Create a buzz around the employee advocacy program before you start conducting
onboarding sessions. This will build excitement over the program among employees,
giving them a reason and motivation to participate in the program even more. If you’re
considering using an employee advocacy tool, make sure that the login ID’s are all set
before the first day of onboarding.
Keep the terms of onboarding
clear - Who, What, When & Where4Having a formal onboarding process to employees new to your advocacy program is a
necessity, but it’s still important to keep in mind the smaller details. More often than not,
it is the attention to the finer details that will convince an employee to either be a fervent
participant or not.
Include and engage key
stakeholders in planning5The presence of senior management or a key stakeholder will embolden the way the
employee advocacy program is perceived. Not only will it give the participants a sense
of purpose, but it will also go a long way in creating a buzz for those employees who
may be part of the program at a later stage.
Recognize onboarding takes
place over time6This is a key element of the onboarding process, and one that most companies fail at.
Even after the initial orientation process is completed, and the employee has been fully
introduced to the program, the job is still not finished. Progress and participation, both
need to be captured.Feedback on both sides must be sought and implemented. One of
the easiest ways to do this by implementing milestones; 30-60-90-120 days works just
fine.

9. It’s all about the first day
First impressions are lasting. By conducting spot contests and adding things like a gamification
element to the program, your employees are going to be more motivated than ever to start their
journey as brand advocates.
Make participation fun and easy
While contests and rewards are a great way to break monotony, you should also focus on
aspects that make the whole process of advocacy easy. Features like one-click sharing, cross
device logins, customization and easy password resets all contribute towards a more fun and
easy experience for the employee. c that you may offer your employees are great for improving
employee advocacy. Contests are exciting and break away from the monotony of day to day work
activities.
Limit your social media platforms
By limiting your social media platforms, you are leveraging the platforms that your employees
use the most, which will award you a wider reach and increased engagement. Ensure that you
conduct your research prior to find out which platforms your employees already use to actively
share your brand’s content.
Creatively incentivize the program
No two employees within the organization are alike. Their likes and preferences are going to
differ too. The CMO of the company isn’t going to be motivated by the same things that would
entice a junior marketer straight off the college boat. Range your rewards from monetary
compensation like gift vouchers to training or conference seats or a rest and relaxation day.
TIPS TO MAKE
YOUR EMPLOYEES SUCCEED
AT EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY

10. SocioAdvocacy is the quintessential Employee Advocacy tool that lets your employees discover
your official marketing communication and share it with their external social networks, in turn
generating positive conversations and sales for your company. It also allows you to make a
provision for your employees to earn reward points for engaging with and sharing the content.
Plus, you can track the effectiveness of advocacy marketing across social media, hence
improving it with real-time feedback.
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