EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES TO AMPLIFY IMPACT

INSIGHT BEGINS WITH INQUIRY

To identify its influencers, the organization partnered with the Arketi Inside team to use a scientifically validated, peer-nomination process built around three simple questions:

1. Who gives you energy?
2. Who do you go to when you don’t know who else to ask?
3. Whose advice do you trust more than anyone else?

Through a digital survey platform, employees could select any colleague within the company. The results were presented in a heat map that illustrated an actual internal network for how influence was distributed across the organization.

The most frequently named individuals were rarely formal leaders. In fact, 98% of influencers identified were not managers. They were installers, analysts, and coordinators – or, as Sly and the Family Stone would say, “everyday people.” Their influence is typically behind the scenes and off the typical HR and leadership radar screens, but essential to how information and culture move within the company.

MORE THAN JUST NAMES ON A MAP

Once identified, these influencers became a strategic asset.
The company’s comms team began using them as an informal feedback loop by inviting them to focus groups, soliciting pre-roadshow insights, and following up with them post-events to understand what truly resonated. These employees were bridges to the broader workforce.

Additional survey data showed that influencers had higher engagement scores than both regular employees and even managers. When asked why, many said they felt a responsibility to stay informed because they knew others relied on them for answers. They were more likely to read internal comms and absorb strategy updates to better serve their peers.

HIGH STAKES AND STUMBLES

The value of these influencers became especially clear during an organizational downsizing. Some influencers were among those laid off or voluntarily exited. The aftermath was striking: nearly 40% of those influenced by one departed employee left shortly thereafter. A lesson the company took to heart.

In subsequent restructuring efforts, they used the influencer heat map to assess performance and relational risk: Who is at risk of leaving if this person leaves? This allowed the company to make more informed, people-sensitive decisions that better protected team cohesion and culture continuity.

A COMMS EXTENSION TEAM – WITHOUT ADDING HEADCOUNT

With Arketi Inside’s continuing support, the company embeds influencer insights into its internal comms strategy. These key individuals are now integrated into the planning and pulse-taking process. They provide immediate insight into what employees care about, understand, or need clarified.

Though these internal influencers lack formal titles, this 3% of the workforce effectively functions as a powerful, authentic extension of the communications team.