Opinion
How to Turn Your Employees into Brand Ambassadors

How to Turn Your Employees into Brand Ambassadors
By Michael Deane — Contributing Writer for Inland Empire Business Journal
If we told you that a happy employee makes for the best brand ambassador, would you buy it? Well, if you’ve been in business for a while and are familiar with all the lefts and rights of prosperous business-ing, you know we’re telling the truth. Actually, you don’t even have to have extensive experience as an entrepreneur; you just need to be someone who gets the bigger picture.
Although unhealthy competitive attitudes are still encouraged at the majority of workplaces around the globe, treating your employees right (read: as human beings rather than nothing but numbers that bring profit) goes a long way. The happier your employees are, the more productive they’ll be, which ultimately means a bigger profit for you and your establishment.
On top of that, the happier the employee, the bigger their enthusiasm is to spread the word on how exultant they are at their workplace. And, out of nowhere, you’ve got yourself an authentic brand ambassador. Voila! But, are things as easily achieved as it seems?
Yes and no.
Say you are in a relationship for a year; your partner treats you right, and you are happy to come home. Like in every relationship, there are ups and downs, but you’ve found a way to solve them. The majority of the time spent together is time spent with ease, support, love, and mutual understanding. When you talk about your partner, you get that warm fuzzy feeling inside, and your face lights up. Is this a relationship you want to continue being in? We should hope so!
Well, the same relationship math goes for a workplace. When your employees work in a climate that encourages group progress over individual KPAs and are given chances for personal growth within a supportive collective, you get employees who are appreciative of the company that invests in their development, health, and business growth.
With the right structure and support, your employees can be your most valuable marketing tool. It’s constant teamwork on both ends, but it’s worth it.
Here are 4 steps you can take to turn your employees into your brand ambassadors:
Communicate the vision
Every teamwork starts with an adequately communicated company vision. To make sure your employees understand your company goals along with the value you provide to your target customers, communicate that message clearly, and regularly.
The same message should be consistently reinforced by both managers and senior leadership, so the employees clearly understand where things are going and what’s expected of them. It’s essential that everyone in the company is coming from the same place when it comes to who you are as a company, what you do, and what your objectives are.
Let employees contribute
Creating an ideas-sharing environment is key to building an atmosphere of joint progress and support. Encourage your employees to contribute to the company’s goals by suggesting new ideas and approaches to project delivery. Also, make sure the employees understand that there’s no such thing as a stupid idea; instead, there are only ideas that work or not within the general company business plan.
You can also encourage your employees to share any relevant company content on social networks. Whether it’s blogs, photos from team buildings, notes from brainstorming sessions, or their thoughts on the general atmosphere at work, let them know that by helping promote the company, they too are building their own brand. Social media sharing is a powerful tool of any personal or company branding, but if you feel there is a specific language that shouldn’t be used, make sure they know that.
Provide clear guidelines
Transparency is the best way to give everyone the feeling of inclusion and bring company goals and ideas closer to the employees’ understanding. When your employees know where the company is going and what their collective targets are, they’ll be more ready to contribute with their ideas, engagement, and overall approach to work.
Furthermore, when asked about the company, they’ll know what to say, and, in doing so, contribute to building a clear and positive image of your company.
Organize team-building activities
While some might argue that team building activities are a capitalist way of making the exploitation of work more bearable by paying for a few beers or outdoor activities, team buildings are actually a wonderful way to get your team in one place and encourage bonding where bonding is due.
People get to enjoy themselves, connect over outside-of-work interests, and even build friendships… and then link all those joyous memories to the company they work in. Hence – positive company branding!
Employees who enjoy what they do are always eager to spread that excitement to others. By investing in your employees’ happiness, you are investing in your company’s branding without any additional cost to your marketing budget.
Michael has been working in marketing for almost a decade and has worked with a huge range of clients, which has made him knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has recently rediscovered a passion for writing and hopes to make it a daily habit. You can read more of Michael’s work at Qeedle or follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/qeedle_
Career & Workplace
California’s Population Decline Continues to Hammer Labor Supply

State’s Workforce Contracts Again In Latest Numbers; Unemployment Rate Ticks Up
California’s labor market grew modestly in the latest numbers. Total nonfarm employment in the state expanded by 8,700 positions in September, according to an analysis released today by Beacon Economics. August’s gains were also revised down to 8,900, a 19,000 decrease from the preliminary estimate of 27,900.
As of September 2023, California has recovered all of the jobs that were lost in March and April 2020 (the beginning of the pandemic), and there are now 436,400 more people employed in the state compared to pre-pandemic February 2020. Since that time, total nonfarm employment in California has grown 2.5% compared to a 3.0% increase nationally. On an annual basis, California increased payrolls by 1.7% from September 2022 to September 2023, trailing the 2.1% increase at the national level over the same period.
California’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.7% in the latest numbers, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The state’s unemployment rate remains elevated relative to the 3.8% rate in the United States overall. Moreover, California continues to struggle with its labor supply, which fell by 17,700 in September, a decrease of 0.1% on a month-over-month basis. Since February 2020, the state’s labor force has contracted by 216,300 workers, a 1.1% decline.
“Census figures released this week reveal the extent to which households continue to leave California,” said Taner Osman, Research Manager at Beacon Economics. “The state’s population has fallen by half a million people over the past three years and this is filtering through to the economy, where the labor force has shrunk and employers are struggling to find workers.”
Industry Profile
- At the industry level, job gains were mixed in the latest numbers. The Health Care sector led the way with payrolls expanding by 18,200, an increase of 0.7% on a month-over-month basis. With these gains, Health Care payrolls are now 9.6% above their pre-pandemic peak.
- Leisure and Hospitality was the next best-performing sector, adding 11,300 jobs, a month-over-month increase of 0.5%. With these gains Leisure and Hospitality payrolls are now 0.4%, or 8,500 jobs, above their pre-pandemic peak.
- Other sectors posting strong gains during the month were Retail Trade (3,100 or 0.2%), Construction (2,200 or 0.2%), Real Estate (600 or 0.2%), and Management (500 or 0.2%).
- Payrolls decreased in a handful of sectors in September. Information experienced the largest declines, with payrolls falling by 7,300, a contraction of 1.3% on a month-over-month basis. However, this decline was driven by the strikes in the Motion Picture and Sound Recording sub-sector, which has shed 30,800 positions over the last year, a 18.2% decline.
- Other sectors posting declines during the month were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (-5,900 or -0.4%), Administrative Support (-5,500 or -0.5%), Manufacturing (-4,600 or -0.3%), Finance and Insurance (-2,200 or -0.4%), Other Services (-1,100 or -0.2%), and Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (-500 or -0.1%).
Regional Profile
- Regionally, job gains were led by Southern California in September. Los Angeles (MD) experienced the largest increase, with payrolls growing by 8,700 (0.2%) during the month. The Inland Empire (5,900 or 0.4%), Orange County (5,400 or 0.3%), San Diego (1,400 or 0.1%), and Ventura (800 or 0.3%) also enjoyed job gains. Over the past year, Orange County (2.1%) has seen the fastest job growth in the region, followed by Los Angeles (MD) (2.0%), El Centro (1.8%), Ventura (1.7%), San Diego (1.5%), and the Inland Empire (0.7%).
- In the San Francisco Bay Area, growth was mixed. San Rafael (MD) (1,000 or 0.9%) and Santa Rosa (1,00 or 0.5%) enjoyed the largest increase during the month. Vallejo (600 or 0.4%) also saw payrolls expand. On the other hand, San Francisco (MD) (-4,100 or -0.3%), San Jose (-1,800 or -0.2%), the East Bay (-1,600 or -0.1%), and Napa (-300 or -0.4%) all experienced payroll declines during the month. Over the past 12 months, Santa Rosa (3.4%) has had the fastest job growth in the region, followed by San Rafael (MD) (3.0%), the East Bay (2.0%), Vallejo (1.9%), San Francisco (MD) (1.4%), San Jose (1.3%), and Napa (0.5%).
- In the Central Valley, Sacramento experienced the largest monthly job gains with payrolls expanding by 2,200 (0.2%) positions in September. Payrolls in Bakersfield (700 or 0.2%), Modesto (700 or 0.4%), Redding (500 or 0.7%), Visalia (400 or 0.3%), Stockton (200 or 0.1%), and Chico (100 or 0.1%) also jumped during the month. On the other hand, Madera (-300 or -0.7%) and Merced (-100 or -0.1%) had payrolls decline. Over the past year, Yuba (2.6%) has enjoyed the fastest growth, followed by Hanford (2.4%), Fresno (2.3%), Sacramento (2.1%), Visalia (1.4%), Chico (1.3%), Bakersfield (1.0%), Madera (0.7%), Stockton (0.7%), Modesto (0.2%), Redding (0.0%), and Merced (-3.6%).
- On California’s Central Coast, Santa Barbara (400 or 0.2%) added the largest number of jobs in September. Salinas (300 or 0.2%) and Santa Cruz (100 or 0.1%) also saw payrolls increase during the month. On the other hand, payrolls in San Luis Obispo declined (-300 or -0.2%). From September 2022 to September 2023, Salinas (4.2%) added jobs at the fastest rate, followed by San Luis Obispo (3.1%), Santa Barbara (2.9%), and Santa Cruz (1.7%).
Bizz Buzz
Colton Resident Receives Free College Tuition and Books Through Walmart’s Education Program

By Saul Martinez, Contributing Writer for IEBJ
#bizzbuzz
This year marks the five-year anniversary of Walmart’s Live Better U (LBU) education program. Over the past five years, the company has saved associates across the country nearly half a billion in education costs, reflecting the company’s commitment to creating a path for everyone to learn and grow. In California, we’ve seen 5,620 Walmart and Sam’s Club associates participate in Live Better U over the past five years.
One such success story is Robert Gay, who lives in Colton, CA, and earned his college degree – fully paid for by Walmart. Robert was stuck in a stagnant position at his previous company, hindered by the absence of a degree that prevented him from advancing further. However, upon discovering the Live Better U benefits offered by Walmart, he decided to take a leap of faith and join their team with the intention of completing his degree. After successfully graduating with a bachelor’s degree in October 2020, he now takes immense pride in his accomplishment of accepting a promotion to associate general manager. Throughout his journey, Robert received overwhelming support from his local team, who not only empathized with his workload challenges but also aided when needed.
Most individuals typically encounter Walmart through its retail outlets. The Inland Empire Business Journal had the opportunity to explore a consolidation center of Walmart situated in Colton, California. Our visit left us deeply impressed by the remarkable cleanliness and impeccable condition of the facility, almost reminiscent of a high-end showroom.
While on the tour, we observed the diligent measures taken by the leadership to maintain employee motivation and awareness regarding the daily, weekly, and monthly performance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the facility. These KPIs were prominently displayed on digital monitors throughout the premises. The Colton leadership created a mascot and call their team the Colton Eagles.
We found ourselves deeply impressed by this aspect of Walmart, which is often hidden from public view. Walmart unquestionably stands out as a company that not only offers excellent career opportunities but also boasts a remarkable 100% tuition reimbursement program. If you are seeking a career in the Inland Empire, this proves to be an exceptional workplace choice.
Whether someone is chasing their first job or the opportunity that will define their career, Walmart is committed to creating pathways of opportunity for everyone.
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