Building thriving employees’ community: A glance into the consulting approach
Do you want to start a community for your employees or are you thinking about it?
Are you willing to better understand what the process of building a community looks like?
In this blog post, we’ll go over the benefits of organizational communities and which organizations should start such a community. You’ll also have a glance at what the process of working together with an external consultant looks like.
Why build an employees’ community?
In the hybrid workplace, people come in for each other to recapture what they miss: the social connection of being with other people, according to Microsoft Work Trend Index. That’s why the report researchers recommend creating a digital community with modern communication tools to fuel conversation. The community empowers people to express themselves, and connect leadership and employees.
Additionally, developing and preserving organizational knowledge is crucial, but not easy. It is necessary to develop a system where employees could share best practices for work processes. This way, your organization can save valuable resources such as money and time spent on employees’ training, and make sure workflows run smoother.
A community that gathers employees in the same role or interest can foster that. Your employees’ community will serve as a space for professional knowledge sharing, best practices, and tackling daily work challenges. For example, a community of your sales representatives can drive your company’s sales processes, through identifying pains in the sales process, exchanging tips, and starting a mentoring program, where senior sales employees will guide the new ones.
Another example is a community for senior women managers, who can support the recruitment and perseverance of women employees, by discussing and addressing women employees’ related challenges.
Eventually, satisfied employees will recommend their friends to work in your organization, and will happily share positive experiences from their daily work in social media, resulting in a better employer branding.
Want to learn more about the community industry terms?
What are the benefits of building an internal organization community?
Encourage collaboration — Helen Keller wisely said, “Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much.” And she was so right. When employees collaborate by sharing their knowledge and finding solutions together – your organization is the winner.
Create a sense of belonging — Not just the organization wins, but the employees do as well. The community serves as a safe space where they can express themselves and be heard, and be a part of something bigger. They can show vulnerability when having work challenges. They can reach out to each other and know they have someone to trust. And speaking about employees’ retention, by providing them a space for learning and growing, they might think twice before looking for the next job.
Foster productivity — If I have a challenge as an employee, by engaging and reaching out to other professionals within the community, I can overcome the problem faster. It helps employees focus on working instead of wasting time on finding the solution on their own.
Which organizations should start a community for their employees?
If your organization is seeking a way to connect employees to help them work better or to foster your company’s culture and value, a community might be a good fit.
If you are ready to invest in the community so you’ll see results in the long-term, you should consider building a community.
What shouldn’t I do? Start a community just for the sake of creating one. But if you’re ready to explore it, continue reading.
What does the process of working together with an external consultant look like?
The community consultant’s job (A.K.A. me 🙂), is to guide you in the process of building the community.
First, we have to understand how the community will drive your organization’s goals and whether your organization has the capacity and the resources to support one. I believe in creating meaningful communities to drive your organization’s transformation, so I’m dedicating my time and yours to invest in reliable communities or establishing a pilot one. Community is a long-term investment for your organization, and we’ll discuss how it aligns with the overall organizational goals, culture, and values.
Once we figure out what in general the community is about and how it can help you, we’ll create a roadmap that outlines the key steps, milestones, and timelines for building the community.
First, we’ll develop the community strategy, step by step, based on a methodology I created.
Together we’ll define the community mission, goals, and decide who the community members should be. We’ll set measurable and achievable goals for the community, such as improving communication, knowledge sharing, or employee development.
Based on these goals, we’ll also determine how to engage the members through content and activities, and which platforms and communication channels will serve as a space for the community.
This process includes speaking with stakeholders in your organization, and employees who might benefit from the community. We might conduct some surveys and interviews, depending on what was done prior to our work together, what assumptions we need to check, and more.
Finally, based on the community strategy, we’ll create a work plan and content strategy. Usually we’ll launch a pilot of 2-3 months while tracking our KPIs. It is crucial to be patient, as results from the community won’t appear immediately as in a marketing campaign.
However, this process is NOT a Ph.D thesis, as I believe in the lean approach. A short and effective process will define the community strategy. Together, we’ll brainstorm, do homework, and collect all the information and data necessary to create a successful community. But at the same time, we’ll launch a pilot without having all the answers and learn by doing.
Looking for ideas to engage employees remotely?
What else does working together look like?
Besides guiding you in the process of developing the community’s strategy, we’ll also make sure your organization’s stakeholders will be aligned with the community’s goals, its potential contribution for the company, and clarify that they will support it.
Additionally, I’ll train the community leaders from your organization so they can understand how to manage the daily operations of the community and how to engage members in the best way.
I’ll be there to guide you with how to nurture the community by regularly updating content, facilitating discussions, and organizing relevant events or activities. We’ll also make improvements based on feedback from the community members — the involved employees. Moreover, I’ll help you solve challenges raised during the way. We’ll continuously monitor and evaluate the community’s performance to ensure its long-term sustainability and effectiveness.
Bottom line: We’ll learn a lot, your employees will benefit, and at least I will enjoy helping another organization with creating a thriving employees’ community.
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Have an idea for a community in your organization and would like to discuss it together?
Or ready to develop your own community? Let’s talk.
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