1. Increased Visibility for Your Brand.

When your employees “like” and “share” status updates, they make them visible to their contacts. This is living proof that every employee is a brand ambassador. The more views your company page has, the more potential followers.  The more company page followers, the higher your page will rank in LinkedIn search results.

When your staff selects your company from the LinkedIn list when updating their Experience, they automatically show up on your company’s LinkedIn page. Your company logo shows up on their page with a link back to your company page. They also become automatic followers of your company.

Your company also benefits when your employees point to your web site in one of the links in their contact info. Their impressive profile becomes another vector to your place on the web

If you don’t have your employees on LinkedIn and you aren’t encouraging them to share your content – articles, promotions, videos, press releases – you’re limiting the reach of your communications.

2. Consistent Brand Ambassadors.

When someone looks at a profile of one of your employees, it not only speaks to their personal brand, but to your company brand as well. If you help your staff build stellar, compelling profiles and show them how to engage and stay connected to their brand community, you’re sending a message about your company brand to everyone who visits their pages or interacts with them.

If you’re in the professional services business, this is even more important. Think of each employee’s LinkedIn page as a product page – because your talent truly is the offering. Worried about poachers? You shouldn’t be, as long as you’re providing a rewarding workplace experience for these fabulous folks.

A key advantage of social media is that it has made business more human. The more human your brand becomes, the easier it is to build emotional connections and trust with clients and shareholders. Customer centricity comes from your people, not your products.

3. Improved Morale.

If you’re preventing your employees from accessing LinkedIn or are discouraging them from having profiles, you’re sending the message that you don’t trust them. And trust is essential for building strong relationships.  If your relationship with employees is defined by accusations, you’ll only make them want to leave.

Encouraging your employees to link to each other keeps them connected as well, and your company becomes the basis for the shared bond. The endorsements feature, along with recommendations, can also be helpful. Public praise and recognition are powerful rewards for great work. That level of gratitude not only reinforces the bonds among your people but is also a confidence builder.

Here are some of my clients’ best practices for unlocking the power of LinkedIn:

• Start at the top. Your leaders need to set the scene and the standard by creating top-of-the-line profiles.
• Get them when they arrive. New hires will be impressed when you integrate a module on LinkedIn profiles into your onboarding programs.
• Teach them well. Create talent development programs specifically focused on personal branding and LinkedIn. This will give your people the skills they need to build an exceptional profile and use LinkedIn to do their jobs better.
• Make it fun. Use incentives and competitions to encourage individuals and teams.

Fear impedes success; and fear is what’s usually behind a company’s resistance to LinkedIn. If your focus is on attrition, you’ll be ruled by fear, and ironically your worst fears will come true: you will likely lose your best talent. Instead, if you focus on loyalty and engagement, you can maximize LinkedIn to expand your company’s reach exponentially, while building stronger relationships with your people.