Here’s a new topic that Sharon Phillips and I have been exploring: employee activists. In this podcast, we defined employee activists as those who vigorously advocate for their companies and leadership to support or oppose a cause or issue.

After learning that Google’s employees sent a petition to their CEO, I recently wrote a blog about employee activists on LinkedIn, which sparked a great conversation. Here are just a few topics we discussed:

* The power of employees’ voice — and why they’re not afraid to use it

* Why employee activists are different than employee ambassadors

* Weber Shandwick’s study on employee activists’ profiles

* Povaddo’s study on the rise of employee activism in the workplace

* How communicators can respond

* And much more.

And we expect the employee activist will only increase. Just imagine those Parkland students entering our workforce in a matter of years. Sharon and I believe this will greatly affect crisis and employee communications. Do you?