LinkedIn has become an invaluable platform for professional networking and building your personal brand. With over 800 million users worldwide, it’s no surprise that many companies now encourage or even require employees to maintain a LinkedIn presence. However, questions often arise around how to properly recommend employees on LinkedIn in a way that provides maximum value for both parties.
As a manager, you want to ensure your endorsements and recommendations boost your team members’ credibility and help advance their careers. At the same time, you need to avoid inappropriate comments or awkward situations. Recommending an employee on LinkedIn may seem straightforward, but doing it effectively takes some thought and preparation.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through best practices for recommending employees on LinkedIn. We’ll cover:
– The benefits of recommending employees on LinkedIn
– What to include in your recommendation
– How to ask employees for recommendations
– Policies around employee recommendations
– Mistakes to avoid
– Examples of great recommendations
Follow these tips to write glowing and appropriate LinkedIn recommendations for your team members.
Why Recommend Employees on LinkedIn?
Recommending employees on LinkedIn offers benefits for both the employee and the company.
For employees, a recommendation from a manager:
– Provides an endorsement from someone with credibility, which strengthens their professional brand
– Highlights their skills, accomplishments and work ethic
– Helps them stand out during future job searches and career moves
– Expands their professional network by exposing them to new connections
– Gives them confidence and validation in their abilities
For managers and companies, recommending employees:
– Improves employee engagement, morale and loyalty by recognizing achievements
– Helps retain top talent by demonstrating you support their career growth
– Strengthens your brand as an employer by showcasing your excellent team
– Allows you to identify employees’ skills and accomplishments you may otherwise overlook
– Expands your own network by increasing your visibility as a leader
In short, recommendations are a win-win. Thoughtful recommendations boost employee morale while expanding professional networks and visibility for everyone involved.
What to Include in an Employee Recommendation
An impactful employee recommendation should provide specific details on the individual’s contributions, skills, achievements and work style. Avoid vague, generic praise that could apply to anyone.
Here are details to include:
– How you know the employee – State your relationship and the duration you worked together. For example, “John was my sales associate for over 2 years.”
– Projects and responsibilities – Mention key projects and responsibilities handled by the employee. This demonstrates their role scope and skills.
– Notable accomplishments – Highlight achievements that showcase the employee’s capabilities, such as “Exceeding sales quotas by 30% in Q3 2022.” Quantify results when possible.
– Skills and strengths – Name specific skills and strengths you observed, like “exceptional customer service” or “in-depth knowledge of tax codes.”
– Work style and attitude – Describe working relationships and company values exhibited by the employee, like strong teamwork or innovative thinking.
– Growth potential – Note capacity for taking on more responsibility or quick learning ability if applicable. Phrases like “eager to take initiative” demonstrate promotion readiness.
The most compelling recommendations provide vivid, varied examples of the employee’s contributions. Quantify achievements, use numbers and facts, and choose descriptive language.
How to Ask Employees You Want to Recommend
Before recommending an employee, always ask their permission first. Some may not feel comfortable having their manager post on their profile, or they may prefer you recommend them for specific skills only.
Here are some best practices for requesting employee recommendations:
– Explain the value – Describe how a recommendation can boost their brand and job prospects, so they understand the benefits.
– Share what you plan to highlight – Give them an overview of the achievements, strengths and skills you wish to feature so they know what to expect.
– Specify the platform – Clarify you plan to recommend them on LinkedIn rather than generally online.
– Ask for permission – Use phrasing like “Would you feel comfortable if I recommended you on LinkedIn?” rather than assuming.
– Offer them control – Note you can draft the recommendation for their approval before posting it publicly.
– Encourage reciprocity – They may wish to also recommend you on LinkedIn, so mutually beneficial.
– Allow declines – Do not pressure employees to accept a recommendation if they refuse. Respect their choice.
– Confirm before posting – Circle back once you’ve drafted the recommendation to get final sign-off to publish.
With this thoughtful approach, employees will appreciate you requesting their approval and providing an advance look at the recommendation content.
Company Policies Around Employee Recommendations
Some key considerations around company policies for employee LinkedIn recommendations:
– **Check if a formal policy exists** – Many companies include guidelines on employee social media recommendations in their employee handbook. Review policies to ensure compliance.
– **Require employee consent** – At minimum, a policy should require manager approval before recommending an employee publicly. Mandatory consent avoids awkward situations.
– **Limit distribution** – Policies may allow recommendations to be viewed only by mutual connections rather than your entire network, if the employee prefers.
– **Restrict specific content types** – Companies may prohibit recommending certain details, like confidential projects or revenue generated.
– **Include legal disclaimers** – Recommendations can include a disclaimer stating views are personal opinions and do not represent official company endorsement.
– **Add administrator rights** – Companies may request admin rights to employees’ LinkedIn profiles to remove any recommendations if employees leave on bad terms.
– **Detail promotion protocols** – Clarify if those recommending employees for promotions must follow specific HR protocols for internal candidates.
– **Specify audience** – Policies may dictate that recommendations must come from direct managers rather than co-workers or senior leadership.
While restrictions apply, the overall aim is facilitating recommendations that provide mutual benefit. The policy should offer clear guidance.
Mistakes to Avoid When Recommending Employees
It’s important to avoid certain recommendation pitfalls that can negatively impact employees or create awkward situations:
– **Too generic** – Vague praise like “John was a pleasure to work with” adds little value. Tailor details to the individual.
– **Exaggerating accomplishments** – Stretching the truth could hurt your credibility. Keep claims factual.
– **Commenting on personal traits** – Avoid mentioning personal details unrelated to work, like family status. Keep it professional.
– **Sharing confidential information** – Don’t reveal projects or developments not yet public. Honor privacy.
– **Recommendations too long ago** – People may discount praise for work done years ago. Better to focus on recent achievements.
– **Forcing unwanted recommendations** – Pressuring reluctant employees breeds resentment. Always make recommendations optional.
– **Recommendation “trades”** – Agreeing to swap recommendations can seem disingenuous on social media. Authenticity is key.
– **Typos and errors** – Proofread closely before posting recommendations. Sloppiness undermines the reference.
– **Lack of specifics** – Vague praise raises questions. Back up claims with rich examples and metrics.
Avoiding these missteps helps ensure recommendations are well-received by employees and respected by audiences.
Examples of Strong Employee Recommendations
Here are two examples of thoughtful, authentic LinkedIn recommendations for employees:
Example 1
John Doe worked as a Sales Representative on my team for over 3 years from 2019 to 2022.
In his time on the team, John consistently exceeded quarterly sales quotas by 20% or more. He drove $1.2 million in total new revenue through expert cold calling and account management skills.
John built strong client relationships and became a go-to resource thanks to his product knowledge and passion for finding solutions. He has an innate ability to turn client objections into opportunities for partnership.
I recommend John for any customer-facing sales role. He embodies determination, diligence and a drive to deliver results. I am confident he will continue to excel and make positive impacts.
Example 2
For the past year and a half, Jane Doe has served as Project Manager driving key initiatives across my department.
Jane oversaw the Smooth Sailing System Implementation that rolled out ahead of schedule, under budget and saw 20% time savings company-wide. She is able to gain team buy-in and drive projects to successful outcomes through excellent communication, follow-up, and stakeholder management.
Jane is proactive in identifying issues early and has strong analytical skills to troubleshoot and problem-solve. She keeps initiatives moving and motivates by setting the example of being dependable, resilient and results-driven.
I highly recommend Jane for any project or program management role. She raises the bar for excellence with everything she does.
Conclusion
Recommending employees on LinkedIn has significant benefits, but managers should follow best practices to ensure recommendations are valuable and well-received.
Key tips include:
– Describing specific skills, achievements, and work styles using numbers and facts
– Obtaining the employee’s consent before posting public recommendations
– Adhering to company policies around confidential data and other recommendation protocols
– Avoiding exaggerations, vagueness, inappropriate details and other recommendation pitfalls
– Providing examples to offer social proof of their excellence
With the right approach, LinkedIn recommendations allow managers to showcase their stellar team members, provide career boosts, strengthen employer branding, and build beneficial connections.
