The 7 Traits of the Social Employee: Building Culture, Productivity, and Brand Eminence from Within
As the digital economy reshapes how companies communicate and compete, the role of the employee has evolved. No longer just a participant in the workflow, today’s employee has the potential to be the face—and voice—of the brand. In The Social Employee: How Great Companies Make Social Media Work by Cheryl Burgess and Mark Burgess, the authors outline a transformative framework for empowering workers to become active brand ambassadors. These social employees aren’t just plugged in—they’re purpose-driven, connected, and committed to driving innovation through culture and communication.
Rather than relying solely on external messaging, brands that invest in building social employees from the inside out see measurable returns in engagement, customer trust, and competitive differentiation. Below are the seven defining traits that shape this new class of employee—and what they mean for companies aiming to thrive in a social business landscape.
Table of Contents
Engaged: Investing in Meaning and Mission
Engaged employees deliver a +19% average shareholder return, while disengaged employees can cost organizations with a –44% return.
Gallup / Harvard Business Review as cited in the infographic
Engaged employees are not just completing tasks—they’re contributing to a larger vision. They take pride in their work and understand how their role supports the brand’s mission. This sense of alignment fosters a culture of purpose and accountability, which becomes infectious across teams and departments. When employees feel that their work matters, they are more likely to advocate for the brand, collaborate with peers, and stay invested over time.
Authenticity is key here. Engagement cannot be enforced through incentives alone—it must be nurtured through transparency, leadership trust, and opportunities for meaningful contribution.
Integrates the Personal and Professional
The number of organizations with mobile/remote employees rose from 24% in 2012 to 83% in 2014.
Citrix Mobile Workstyles Survey
Social employees are digital natives who blur the line between personal and professional identity. They work flexibly, use mobile tools to stay connected, and engage with workspaces that accommodate their lifestyle. This integration isn’t about work-life imbalance—it’s about enabling employees to bring their full, authentic selves to the brand, wherever they are.
The reported benefits for employers include a more agile and collaborative workforce, reduced operational costs, and stronger talent attraction. For employees, it means greater ownership over how and where they do their best work.
Buys Into the Brand’s Story
Brand eminence depends on social employee advocacy… social employees must believe in what they’re selling.
IBM, Apple, Coca-Cola employee brand strategy
Employees are a brand’s most credible storytellers—but only if they genuinely believe in the narrative they’re sharing. Social employees are aligned with the brand’s values and mission, which allows them to speak authentically and persuasively in their networks.
This storytelling isn’t about scripts—it’s about empowerment. Companies like IBM and Coca-Cola encourage employees to share brand stories in their own voice, leading to higher trust among audiences and a broader, more human reach across digital channels.
Born Collaborator
Promote a culture of idea sharing (rather than idea hoarding) and your innovative capacity will blossom.
Collaboration is the lifeblood of the social enterprise. Social employees are not isolated contributors; they are connectors who engage across teams, departments, and even industries. Brands like Google and Facebook host internal “hack days” and idea labs to foster this culture of cross-pollination.
When employees are encouraged to share ideas openly, it removes internal barriers and accelerates problem-solving. This dynamic leads to more resilient organizations and higher-quality innovation pipelines—because the best ideas don’t live in silos.
Born Listener
Listening is not waiting for your turn to talk. Listening is asking clarifying questions, offering feedback, and monitoring social channels to learn what customers expect from your brand.
In the age of social media, listening is not optional—it’s strategic. Social employees understand the value of tuning into customers, peers, and public discourse to identify opportunities, concerns, and new directions for the brand.
This kind of listening goes far beyond customer service. It’s about creating feedback loops that shape product decisions, messaging, and service improvements. Social employees use platforms not just to speak, but to observe, synthesize, and respond.
Customer-Centric
A customer-centric social employee: understands many customers are employees themselves, works to deliver meaningful outcomes, and knows he or she represents the brand.
Customer-centricity isn’t just a slogan—it’s a shared responsibility across the organization. Social employees view themselves as stewards of the customer experience. Because they are often both producers and consumers of the brand, they have a unique ability to see the business through the customer’s eyes.
This internal empathy leads to better decision-making, more thoughtful interactions, and a culture that prioritizes relationship-building over transactional outcomes.
Empowered Change Agent
Companies that outperform their peers are 30% more likely to prize openness and innovation through social cultures. 53% of CEOs plan to leverage social solutions to spark collaboration and drive employee empowerment.
IBM C-Suite Studies
Change isn’t something that happens to social employees—they are the ones who drive it. They’re empowered to suggest improvements, test new ideas, and challenge the status quo. This creates a feedback-rich, agile culture where innovation is continuous rather than episodic.
CEOs increasingly recognize this shift, with collaboration, communication, creativity, and flexibility ranked as top priorities for modern teams. Organizations that embrace the social employee model tap into a collective intelligence that can adapt and evolve faster than competitors.
The rise of the social employee marks a profound shift in how brands build trust, communicate, and grow. Rather than treating employees as passive brand executors, organizations must now see them as co-creators—ambassadors whose voices carry weight both inside and outside the company.
The Social Employee by Cheryl and Mark Burgess lays out a compelling roadmap for this transformation. Companies that follow it will not only improve their internal culture but will also unlock external brand eminence that is credible, scalable, and resilient in an era defined by change.
Are you ready to activate your social employees? Now is the time to invest in the training, tools, and trust that will turn your workforce into your most powerful brand channel.
Buy The Social Employee: How Great Companies Make Social Media Work
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