What employee advocacy used to look like

In an episode of Freakonomics last month, host Stephen Dubner asked former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer a very interesting question.

Dubner: Do you or anyone in your family use any Apple products?

Ballmer: We do now since Microsoft’s not in the phone business. I do have family members who use both Android devices and iPhones.

Dubner: What about you?

Ballmer: I’m sitting here with my Microsoft Surface open in front of me, looking down at Microsoft PowerPoint and Outlook. Come on. I’m dyed in the wool, man.

Dyed in the wool. . . my father was died in the wool. My entire family was died in the wool. We bled blue. . . as in GM blue. At one point in time, my grandfather, two uncles and my father worked for GM. My dad dropped out of college for a job at GM. That's how much a career with GM meant back then. He wore a dress shirt with the GM patch on it every single day on the job.

And I worked there for a brief stint, both as a comms professional but also as summer help on the line when I was in college. It was also a point of pride to have your college kid come back and work at the factory in the summer.

The thought of owning a non-GM car would have never even entered conversation. If we ever rented a car for a family trip, it had to be a GM brand. I'm not even sure we were allowed to compliment other car companies.

But GM put incentives behind this advocacy. They provided such great discounts to employees that it didn't make financial sense to buy another brand. You worked for GM. You bought GM cars. It was as simple as that. They even enabled employees to give discounts to neighbors and friends. As an employee, you wanted to see these close communities support the company you worked for.

This is what employee advocacy used to look like. Before we asked or encouraged employees to share links or images on social media. Companies wanted employees behind the wheel, literally and proverbial. Employees were their best advocates. I guarantee no one ever asked my father to fill out a survey.

This isn't to say what we're doing now with employee advocacy is wrong. But I think it's important to look back at its roots. It's organic. Did everyone love the company as much as my family did? Probably not. But most did. I saw it. And this was not exclusive to GM. I'm sure that Ford employees and employees of other manufactures felt the same.

And now? My father and grandfather have passed away. And both uncles have retired. What do I drive now? Acuras. The lesson here? You can't take advocacy for granted.