When launching a new culture, the gap between where you are starting and where leadership wants to go can often seem vast. While top-down strategies have their place, true adoption often requires a more organic, employee-driven approach. Enter the concept of employee ambassadors – influential employees who champion your organization’s values, embody its culture, and catalyze change from within. When strategically implemented, an ambassador program can be the key to unlocking the full potential of your culture, bridging the gap between leadership vision and everyday employee experiences.

The Case for Employee Ambassadors

Ambassadors are a powerful tool for activating and driving your desired culture from within. Launching an ambassador program provides powerful grassroots support for cultural launch, activation and adoption. Advantages include:

• Gain a Sounding Board: Expose and test messaging and key initiatives on this audience prior to sharing with the broader organization.
• Elevate the Voice of Employees: Employee Ambassadors provide real-time insight into how cultural initiatives are being received, allowing leadership to better understand employee experiences. This feedback loop is crucial for refining and adapting strategies as needed.
• Amplify Key Messages: Ambassadors help spread cultural messaging throughout the organization in an authentic way, ensuring that initiatives resonate at every level. They translate high-level concepts into relatable, day-to-day actions for their peers.
• Activate Champions and Defenders of Culture: When ambassadors contribute to your cultural efforts and gain a deep understanding of your intentions and future direction, they become better equipped to live and breathe your brand. This transformation turns them into role models and defenders of the culture, helping others see how the company’s principles can be applied daily. Through their actions and attitudes, they embody the desired behaviors, inspiring and guiding their colleagues to embrace the culture in their own work.
• Generate Grassroots Support: Ambassadors generate buy-in from their peers, fostering greater engagement and encouraging employees to actively participate in the company’s cultural journey. Their influence can turn skeptics into believers and passive observers into active participants.

Keys to Building A Successful Ambassador Program

To ensure your ambassador program succeeds, it’s important to follow these best practices:

• Assign Sponsors and Ownership: Before launching an employee ambassador programgroup, it’s crucial to assign an Executive Sponsor and a Program Manager. The Executive Sponsor should be a senior leader who champions the program and communicates its value to the leadership team. The Program Manager, often from HR or Communications, oversees the day-to-day management of the ambassador group, ensuring their activities align with broader company goals.
• Define the Scope of the Program: It’s essential to clarify what your ambassadors will be responsible for. Will they serve as a sounding board for leadership, a “fun squad” for team-building activities, or role models for the company’s values? Defining their role from the outset ensures that the program has clear objectives and that both leadership and ambassadors understand their responsibilities.
• Determine the Best Method for Ambassador Selection: There are many ways to identify the best ambassadors for your program. Some companies use surveys to identify internal influencers—those employees who others look to for advice and guidance. Others seek recommendations from managers or department heads. Whatever approach you choose, make sure the ambassadors are respected and influential voices within your organization.
• Allocate Sufficient Time and Resources: Successful employee ambassador programs require commitment from all sides—leaders, managers, and the ambassadors themselves. It’s critical that ambassadors are given the time and resources they need to participate fully. 
• Rotate and Equip Ambassadors: Consider a 12- to 18-month tenure for each cohort of ambassadors, allowing fresh faces to rotate in while maintaining continuity. Provide training and development opportunities to equip ambassadors with the skills they need to succeed.
• Make Feedback Actionable: An effective ambassador program isn’t just about receiving feedback—it’s about making that feedback actionable. Ambassadors need to feel confident that their insights will be considered and that changes will be made based on their contributions. Be sure to close the loop by reporting back to the group on what actions have been taken in response to their feedback. This transparency builds trust and motivation among ambassadors.

In Conclusion

As you embark on your culture-building efforts, remember that your most powerful allies are often already within your organization. By identifying, empowering and supporting employee ambassadors , you can create a ripple effect of positive change that extends far beyond what top-down initiatives alone can achieve.

Ready to create a new employer brand strategy and launch your ambassador program? Contact us to learn how we can help design and implement a program that will fuel your employer brand’s success and drive lasting cultural change.