What is an employee spotlight?

An employee spotlight is a form of content that many employers use to recognize great work or an employee’s accomplishments. You might also use a spotlight as an opportunity to help others on your team get to know more about someone by featuring them in the spotlight. Examples include promoting someone to a leadership role or onboarding a new team member.

There are many ways you can present an employee spotlight, and the media you choose should depend on your goals and workplace culture. While employee spotlights are primarily for boosting morale within your team and motivating your workers, they can also be used to build brand recognition and connect with potential clients. When you use a public format to present your spotlight, it tells people more about your company’s morals, ambitions and achievements while elevating a team member.

Benefits of employee spotlights

When considering whether you want to invest in your own employee spotlight program, consider the potential benefits for your business.

Employees feel recognized

While it’s true that different types of rewards motivate different people, everyone likes to hear “thank you.” Featuring someone in a spotlight gives them a boost in confidence, lets them feel they belong on your team and ensures they know you recognize their hard work and dedication. Some employees will even work harder so that they have a chance at being featured in the next spotlight when they see others’ hard work paying off for them.

It helps you establish your work culture

When you highlight intangible qualities you appreciate in employee spotlights, it encourages other people to exhibit similar behaviors and qualities. For example, if you feature an employee who excels at communication and teamwork in your spotlight, other people may start valuing communication and teamwork. You can use your employee spotlights to reinforce the work culture you’re trying to build or maintain.

It lets your employees get to know each other easily

Whether you’re recognizing someone who was recently promoted or doing a spotlight for a new hire, the information you include helps people start conversations with your spotlight’s subject. Having an icebreaker can make it easier for people to reach out, especially if they’re shy to begin with.

It humanizes your brand to the outside world

When you use employee spotlights externally, it lets potential customers see the human side of your business. It helps consumers connect with the employees who are working to make sure they’re satisfied with your products and services. People will notice the qualities and traits you highlight and connect with your business through shared values.

It helps you recruit new talent

If you’re regularly posting employee spotlights, potential recruits may choose to work for you based on what they read or watch. If they have a choice between your business and a similar offer, seeing that you value your team members enough to post spotlights could put you over the top and attract the candidates that you want to accept your job offers.

Employee spotlight examples

There are many ways you may choose to present your employee spotlights, so feel free to get creative. Many employers choose to use social media to feature their employees, enabling them to reach their audience at the same time. In some cases, you might even use more than one type of media so that you can recognize your employee in front of their peers differently than when you post publicly.

Consider the following examples when coming up with your own ideas.

Employee testimonials

In this type of spotlight, you allow your employee to do a lot of the talking for you. You can present it in interview format or post quotes throughout the spotlight that reflect how they feel about their role in your company and their personal goals within your organization. Testimonials are great if you want outsiders to get a glimpse of what it’s like to work at your company and to show what your corporate culture is like.

Recognizing promotions

If you’ve recently promoted someone to team lead or a management role in your organization, you can use an employee spotlight to help their new team get to know them better. Interviewing your employee with ice-breaking questions might give their new team members something to bring up in conversation. It can also help eliminate some of the awkwardness of getting to know people because it presents information you might learn during small talk in one place. 

Announcing new hires

One way to make someone feel welcome in your company immediately is to feature them in a spotlight as soon as they arrive. You can explain what skills and traits they’re bringing to the company and how excited you are to have them on board. If you include a short interview, this can help your existing team members get to know your new recruits faster.

Social media posts that promote inclusion

You could choose to highlight an employee’s contributions on a day when other people are celebrating inclusivity. Examples include employee spotlights during Women’s History Month, Black History Month or National Hispanic Heritage Month. These types of posts accomplish several important goals. They show that your company is inclusive while highlighting the value your employee brings to your business.

YouTube video spotlights

If your employee has been with your company for a long time and advanced through multiple positions during their time with you, it might be a good idea to create a video spotlight to showcase their achievements. In addition to recognizing your employee, the spotlight can let other people in your company see them as approachable and show newer employees they can advance within your business if they work hard.

How to create an employee spotlight

Now that you’ve decided you want to create an employee spotlight, the next step is to make one that leaves a lasting impact. While it’s easy to create and post content online, you might want to hire someone who knows how to produce content that appears clean and professional.

Choose the right employee

When you’re considering who to feature in your spotlight, make sure you’re not limiting yourself. While it’s important to feature executives that have had long, industrious careers with your company, it’s also important to feature people from all levels in your organization who do impactful work for your business. Before you select an employee, make sure they want to participate; consent is important.

Once you choose the employee you want to highlight and they indicate they want to participate, you can move to the next step. 

Choose employee spotlight questions

Select questions that reflect your company’s goals, culture and vision while still recognizing your employee’s contributions. Start with basic questions and ask follow-up questions when you think they will add value to the interview and allow your employee’s positive traits to shine. Starter questions to consider can include the following: 

• What is your role at the company, and how long have you been in your current position? If you’ve changed roles, what was your previous position?
• If you could change one thing about your role in the company, what would it be?
• Are there achievements or projects you’ve worked on that you’re proud of?
• What made you want to work for our company?
• Since joining our company, what have you learned and how have you grown?
• What advice do you have for others in the company who are just getting started or want to advance?
• Do you have a personal achievement that had a profound impact on your life or career path?
• What is one of your favorite moments you shared with your coworkers while working for us?
• What makes our company different than other employers you’ve worked for, and why do you choose to stay at our company?
• Who is your role model at the company, and what qualities do they have that inspire you?
• What are your career goals with the company, and how do you plan to hit them?

Add questions directly related to what the employee does for your business. For example, if you’re interviewing a sales representative, you might ask them about their favorite customer. If your spotlight is about a software engineer, you might ask them to describe a program they helped design that changed their outlook on your company.

You don’t need to follow an identical format with each spotlight. It’s perfectly fine to change the questions and format depending on who you’re putting in the spotlight and what your goals are.

Determine the spotlight format

There are several spotlight formats to consider, depending on the type of spotlight and who you’re trying to reach.

Newsletter spotlights

If you communicate with your team regularly using a company newsletter, you can dedicate a portion of the letter to employee spotlights once a month. These spotlights are normally short and to the point and may even link to a longer post on social media that’s available to the public.

Social media posts

Instagram and Facebook are common platforms you could use to post an employee spotlight, but feel free to explore other platforms too. When using Instagram, you can hire a photographer to take a professional photograph and then include what stood out the most during your interview. Facebook posts allow you to go into greater detail about why you’re recognizing your employee, and you can post them for the public to view.

YouTube videos

Producing video spotlights may be more expensive. Videos can deliver powerful messages, however, and you’re able to allow your employee to express themselves in a way that conveys how excited they are to be with your business. The people who watch these spotlights may feel the emotion behind your employee’s words, and when you post them publicly, potential customers can see the direct impact your company culture has on your staff.

Use the spotlight for internal and external goals

Make sure the spotlight format accomplishes your primary goals, whether it’s to inspire other team members, build your company’s reputation or motivate potential new hires to choose your business over another. You may be better served to choose different formats depending on your main goals, so don’t limit yourself to a single type of employee spotlight.