In the latest edition of Ask the Expert, we take a deep dive into the topic of employee communities with Tanja Laub, community strategist and founder of Walkabout Media. Tanja shares her extensive knowledge and experience in fostering and building internal employee communities.
My name is Tanja Laub and I have been working in the field of communities since 2006. I support people in setting up their own communities and entering into a better dialog with the target group. The communities can be aimed at internal target groups, the employees of a company, or external target groups, such as customers, interested parties and business partners. I support companies at every step of the process, from the question "Do we need a community?" - because a community is not always the best solution for the challenges ahead - through to strategic development. This involves questions such as: What should be achieved with the community? What motivates the target group? What measures are suitable for the community and what resources are needed?
An internal employee community is aimed at the employees of an organization. The purpose of such a community is to promote employee engagement and loyalty, strengthen the corporate culture and ultimately increase the productivity and efficiency of the organization.
The internal employee community can be fostered through various channels and methods, such as forums, groups, analogue meetings or specialized social networking platforms designed specifically for internal use. These platforms offer features such as discussion groups, chat rooms, file sharing, project management tools and so on to meet the needs of employees.
It is important to draw a clear distinction between a community and a work team. While work teams are usually focused on specific projects or tasks, with set goals and expectations, a community is characterized by the voluntary participation and intrinsic motivation of its members. In a community, there are no fixed goals or expected outcomes. Instead, the focus is on sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas in order to learn and develop together. This open and flexible structure encourages creativity, collaboration and a stronger sense of belonging within the organization.