When Employee Advocacy and Intranets Come Together, Culture Soars

Companies are filled with many different departments and teams working on a myriad of projects and tasks. But at the end of the day, all those teams are made up of people. Because beyond products or services, a company’s most valuable asset is its people. 

Employees are the heart and soul of any organization: that is where the core of a brand is and where the power of employee advocacy comes into play. When strategically combined with a robust intranet software solution, the potential for positive cultural transformation skyrockets.

The Power of Employee Advocacy

Employee advocacy is all about employees championing their company, its products, and its values. It’s about empowering employees to become brand ambassadors, sharing their positive experiences and insights with their network on social media and beyond. 

This isn't just about forced endorsements; it's about fostering genuine enthusiasm and providing employees with the tools and platforms to authentically express their pride in their work. It’s this kind of ambassadorship that transforms brands and organizations from the inside out.

The benefits of a thriving employee advocacy program are numerous:

• Increased Reach and Visibility. One of the most immediate benefits of employee advocacy is the substantial increase in brand awareness and reach. Employees collectively possess networks vastly more extensive than those of the brand itself, with connections who trust their recommendations and personal testimonials more than corporate advertisements. This expanded reach is not only wide but also deep, penetrating markets and demographics that are often beyond the reach of conventional marketing channels.
  
  
• Reduced Marketing Costs. Employee advocacy is also a cost-effective solution to your struggling marketing efforts. Consumers and online users are growing skeptical of ads and want to see more from companies. They want to see authenticity and commitment, and investing in an employee advocacy program means empowering your employees to make an effort to amplify your current marketing effort, with only minimal investment as a cost.
  
  
• Improved Employee Engagement: When employees feel valued and empowered to contribute, their engagement levels rise. Employee advocacy programs provide a platform for employees to connect with the company on a deeper level and feel a sense of ownership and belonging. Advocacy naturally fosters a sense of community and strengthens the bonds between employer and employees, building culture and meaningful engagement.
  
  
• Attracting Top Talent: A company with engaged and vocal employees is a magnet for top talent. Prospective employees are drawn to organizations with a positive culture and a strong sense of community, both of which are fostered by employee advocacy. An effective employee advocacy program showcases a company’s culture and values through the genuine voices of its employees, making it more human, people-centered, and authentic. Giving a face to your brand is crucial to building a positive image online and building trust.
  
  
• Boosted Sales and Lead Generation: Employee recommendations can significantly influence purchasing decisions. Their authentic endorsements can drive traffic to the company website, generate leads, and ultimately boost sales.

The Intranet: The Digital Heart of Company Culture

Your company’s intranet, especially for organizations that operate under a remote or hybrid model, is the dynamic hub for communication, collaboration, and community building. It serves as the digital heart of the company, pumping out critical information, connecting employees across departments and locations, and providing a space for knowledge sharing and communication. 

Key functions of a modern intranet include:

• Happiness through purpose and productivity: Intranets—especially those powered with AI—help make employees’ work days easier and better. They can more easily search for information, get answers, connect with colleagues, share wins and important information, stay connected to the organization’s mission, vision, values, and feel more secure during times of change.
  
  
• Centralized Communication: Internal alignment is necessary to go to market in a unified, organized, focused fashion. Your intranet serves as the central platform for company announcements, news, and updates, ensuring that everyone is on the same page. It can truly transform your organization from the inside out.
  
  
• Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Intranets facilitate collaboration by providing tools for project management, file sharing, and team communication. They also serve as a repository for company knowledge, making it easily accessible to all employees. Modern intranets take on much of the same user experiences that people are accustomed to, including two-way threads, emojis, and reactions.
  
  
• Employee Engagement and Recognition: Intranets can be used to drive employee engagement by recognizing achievements, fostering social connections, and building a sense of community. Features like employee profiles, forums, and social feeds encourage interaction and engagement.

Intranets as a Catalyst for Dynamic Employee Advocacy

A well-functioning intranet creates happier employees, and happy employees feel more loyal to the brand, the company, and are propelled by the purpose and fulfilment they feel every day. Those happy employees then use their intranet, in turn, to share more knowledge and the value of the platform grows exponentially over time. Enthusiastic and organic employee advocacy is the destination, and the intranet is one of the key channels to pave the way there.

Here's how the synergy between employee advocacy and intranets works:

• Amplifying Employee Voices: Intranets showcase employee-generated content, such as blog posts, articles, and videos, further amplifying their voices and demonstrating the company's commitment to employee advocacy.
  
  
• Creating internal enthusiasm and support. By showcasing employee voices, intranets also turn the spotlight on employee advocates’ success stories and foster enthusiasm for advocacy, the commitment to the company and its values. That, in turn, supports internal buy-in.
  
  
• Facilitating Communication and Collaboration: Intranets connect employee advocates with each other, fostering a sense of community and enabling them to share best practices. They also facilitate communication between advocates and the company, ensuring they are kept informed and aligned with company messaging.
  
  Intranets like Happeo that include Channels or a comms function means that you can share news from your teams and projects, learn from one another, and grow together and as individuals.

• Gamification and Recognition: Kudos! An intranet can be used to gamify the employee advocacy program, rewarding employees for their contributions and recognizing the achievements of our colleagues, further motivating employees to participate and become active advocates.
  
  

Building a strong company culture is more important than ever. One study found that in 2025, over 80% of workers consider company culture important when job hunting, and 76% of companies report that they are working to rebuild culture in a post-pandemic world. Without a strong culture, employees are less likely to advocate your brand and your business.

By strategically integrating employee advocacy with a robust intranet, organizations can unlock the full potential of their employees and create a thriving workplace where everyone feels valued, engaged, and empowered. This powerful combination not only enhances brand reputation and drives business growth, but also fosters a positive and productive work environment where culture and employee happiness truly soars. It’s a win-win for both the company and its employees, creating a virtuous cycle of engagement, advocacy, and success.