6 Tips for Increasing Your Corporate Alumni Engagement

With the success of several well-known boomerangs, former employees that are rehired by an organization, and the use of social media networks like LinkedIn, corporate alumni programs are becoming more popular every year. But just because your organization has an alumni network doesn’t mean that it will be successful. Many companies focus on ensuring that their current employees are engaged, but they forget about their alumni. Alumni engagement can be just as beneficial to an organization as employee engagement. These benefits include increased organization brand awareness, referral programs, and a shared pool of knowledge. But how do you keep your alumni engaged?

Here are 6 tips for increasing corporate alumni engagement…

1. Start at the beginning

With the steady decrease in individual job tenure, organizations must assume that they will lose employees throughout the year and they want to use these departures to build their alumni network. To get ahead of this decrease in retention, some organizations are pushing their alumni programs before the employee ever decides to leave, even as early as the recruiting and onboarding process. They have found that many employees see the alumni program as a benefit.

2. Benefits of the Alumni Network

While many employees see the actual program as a benefit, a great way to keep alumni engaged is to offer them additional benefits. These benefits would go beyond the traditional benefits of the program and would be considered perks. Some organizations offer benefits that only company employees get, like discounts on cell phone providers or vacation packages. For example, Microsoft offers their alumni access to the employee-only store.

3. Events Throughout the Year

Events are a necessary part of any successful alumni program. These events help alumni remain connected and engaged throughout the year. While some organizations have a few larger off-line events, we recommend that you also incorporate several online events to engage your alumni across the globe.

4. Content is Key

A key factor in keeping your alumni engaged is to have a continuous flow of content that you provide to them. This content can be in the form of a newsletter, blog, video, webinar, or even social feeds, but it must always be fresh and relevant to increase engagement. Another great way to engage through content is by setting up forums for your alumni to interact with each other.

5. Raise Visibility Through Organization Leaders

Be sure that your leaders are involved with your alumni program. Have them attend events, provide content, and promote the program to current and past employees. This will increase your alumni network’s credibility and have more alumni engaging with the information being shared.

6. Implement Alumni Software

While there are some people that believe social media channels are a great way to run your alumni program, we disagree. In our experience, successful alumni programs are run using alumni software to provide a secure, branded network. This is a safe place for you to communicate with your alumni by sharing key content and important events. You will not only be able to run your program and increase your alumni engagement, but you can also manage your organizations objectives.

Read more about top alumni software features that promote  engagement in our blog, 10 Alumni Software Features that Increase Alumni Engagement.

If you are ready to start your alumni network or to improve your current network, Insala is here to help. Please visit our website and schedule a demo today.