Post-pandemic, in combination with the global war for talent, we witness the explicit surge in employee power. Employees expect organisations to have a greater emphasis on what is now important to them and have equal concern their wants and needs may not match their employers’. More confronting is the willingness of employees to change organisations if their needs are not met. With the abundance of jobs on offer, this is easily done.

So, who better to assist in understanding and having sway with the collective employee gaggle than your influencer? The workplace influencer now sits supremely at the top of the organisational chart. Perhaps, only visible to those in the know, regardless, they reign.

Change managers advocate recognising laggards and early adopters, for they too are workplace influencers and harnessed adroitly, play critical roles in successful organisational change. Take it up a notch in our distanced, less visible, more informal, less structured, and hierarchal world and these influencers form a pivotal role in your business. Whether you desire it or not, it’s occurring.

How do they do this? Trust. Without the traditional power position, the workplace influencer is a leader without a team. They garner buy-in and support through trust, authenticity, and respect. They are not self-serving, and the genuine interest in colleagues and their success makes them mighty.

The workplace influencer takes many forms. They are the cultivator, who plants the seed and spreads the word, the cheerleader, championing the cause and injecting a powerhouse of enthusiasm, or the counsellor, an enlightened mediator, who acutely feels the pain of both sides and adeptly bridges the gap. Of course, equally, there is the energy zapper, with a disregard for Pollyannas, intent on a ‘higher purpose’, draining and deleting morale and potential.

With remote, hybrid and flatter structures, these roles are increasingly accessed by your team for advice, support, guidance and more. It is common for 3-5% of employees to account for 20-35% of the value-added collaborations in workplaces. With such capacity to impact positive change, how to identify and leverage? Of course, keen observation of whom colleagues listen to and take note of is essential, but you may be surprised. Consider when conducting performance reviews or surveys to ask, aside from their manager, who are the people they go to for advice.

They may be the highly social person in your team or your longest standing employee. Or not. Don’t assume the influencer as being the extravert, either. It is nothing to do with particular personality traits. The most ‘quiet’ people in history changed the world, Albert Einstein, Rosa Parks,  Eleanor Roosevelt, Isaac Newtown and much more. A great workplace influencer listens, hears, understands intuitively and is less prone to bias.

Discovering the hidden power source in your organisation is one thing. Exacting your influence is another ball game altogether. This is where leaders and managers misappropriate the value of the influencer. It isn’t about the influencer having your back or belief in your company cause or your culture! They are free agents. Rather, the influencer can elevate your understanding of the workforce, far more valuable than pushing through an agenda.

Of course, an added benefit would be positive support exerted through their influence. This can also be achieved, but only authentically. Just as trust is the lifeblood in the influencer’s relationships with your employees, so too must it be for you. In achieving authenticity, be prepared to be challenged by your influencers. They have to feel comfortable doing so. Otherwise, transparency which is the gift from these employees disappears.

Workplace influencers serve the people first.