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In an increasingly interconnected world, influence networks form beneficial relationships for professionals and students alike. Often, students will find that the networks established in school lead to career-defining opportunities later once they enter the workforce. Active alumni networks at universities provide an invaluable service for the school’s reputation and fundraising efforts. These networks represent the good standing of a university by conferring reputation equity based on individual students’ achievements both academically and professionally. Ultimately, this emboldens current and prospective student motivation and establishes a symbiotic relationship between higher education and the corporate world. On the other hand, businesses create strong personal networks within a core team to improve employee retention and increase the social and professional resources available to each employee. Consequently, employees’ work quality increases, and companies invest further in developing a network of influence.
Cooperative learning, or students working together to build social ties around the learning experience, improves the collegiate experience. And it is not just students who benefit from building an influence network: faculty can leverage connections with peers, corporate relationships, and fellow academics to improve the quality of their research and teaching ability.
Businesses can leverage their social capital in a variety of interesting ways to tremendous effect. Much like at colleges and universities, alumni maintain a strong sense of loyalty to their previous employers. In fact, 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies have some sort of alumni program. Like any successful business model, there must be a return on investment. Investing in a lifelong network leads to undeniable benefits such as a 2.8-time increase in revenue per employee, a 4.5-time increase in product innovation, a 6-time increase in employee attractiveness, and a 10 percent increase in brand sentiment. Due to their loyalty and investment, alumni network members represent the ideal customer.
Alumni networks also make recruiting, hiring, and retaining employees more efficient and more effective. Specifically, alumni networks save organizations more than $5 million in annual cost savings for recruiting. In fact, the rehire rate can increase from 2.4 percent to 8 percent with a strong alumni program. Likewise, 85 percent of jobs are filled by networking with personal and professional connections, with employee referrals accounting for 40 percent of all hires.
For any professional, networks form the essential channels of communication, negotiation, and collaboration. Researched benefits of professional benefits include informational interviews, assistance in making a career change, and access to exclusive job postings, resume reviews, and free resources. While colleges leverage alumni for fundraising, corporate alumni groups provide multi-faceted benefits such as increased sales, a boost in business development, and access to a select labor pool.
College students and professionals alike should think of network members as relationships that should be maintained so that when the time comes they will be eager to provide assistance in return. Likewise, like with any network, alumni network members need to be motivated to participate to engage with their network by their alma mater or parent company. Stay connected with your networks for measurable success.
Infographic provided by: AcademicInfluence.com
