Employee advocacy

Employee advocacy describes a practice whereby employees communicate positively about their organization. As a specific type of corporate communication, such practice can be beneficial to organizations because it potentially increases reach and trustworthiness of corporate messages. While the representational role of employees has always been an important dimension of corporate communication, social media have enhanced the significance of this role in many different ways, especially because employees can use such communication for their own purposes. Extant research suggests that the willingness of employees to advocate for their organization depends on leadership style and quality of internal communication. Yet, control and social expectations are relevant too as they shape and define what employees communicate on behalf of their organization. To further advance knowledge and theories of employee advocacy, critical discussions of key concepts such as credibility, authenticity, and voluntarity are needed.