Yes, you should actively be sharing your stories right now. Right now! Lauryn Sargent, who knows a thing or two about employee stories, makes a solid case for telling more stories now, not less. Whether the news is good or bad, telling stories turns anything into a more human experience, one that gets more eyeballs and sticks in the brain longer.

This is how you can get your customers to do your job for you.

Further evidence that you and your marketing team should be spending more time together and occasionally taking long walks on the beach: employee advocates are the new “influencer.” In a lot of ways, influencers made a kind of sense in a world with a million options (or products, services, lifestyles, etc) because they acted as a kind of “native guide” to these things. A Kardashian can point to weight loss products and fashion because it’s something they know about. But as influencers as a celebrity become stale, the new advocate is the insider, someone with the inside view on things. They have a more credible voice and are seen as more real than marketing and can change people’s minds about your company (both as an employer, and as a vendor).

Pop quiz: what’s the one thing that adds authenticity to your brand claims? When actual employers align to those claims. Even more so when they can internalize those ideas and even talk about the less-attractive aspects of the brand (all traits have good and bad features, and every strength becomes a weakness if taken too far). Charlotte Marshal breaks it down.

Who’s in charge of your company’s employee activation? Chances are, it’s no one. So I guess it’s up to you. But here’s an idea. Rather than think about employee activation as the best way to get your most authentic and credible employer brand narrative out into the world (which it most certainly is), what if you were to think about the rest of the organization first? Who are all the departments who would love to tap into that resources? If you want to make yourself invaluable, manage this ideas for them first (and your outcomes will come all by themselves).