Social Media - why should HR's take note?

To dabble in digital communication however is no longer an option – the time is now for business to recognise that rather than the enemy at the door, it is another tool in the mix – a communication channel that can be used to engage, share, discuss or deliver information within online communities. Many businesses are now joining the social media conversation in an authentic and transparent way to build relationships – internally and externally.

So what are we talking about? What are these new channels?

· Twitter – a social engagement network with an estimated 85 million active users including journalists, politicians and businesses. Twitter involves making short updates and communicating with other users in 140 characters.

· Facebook – a social network that lets friends connect and share content with each other with more than 750 million active users. Businesses are using Facebook (Fan pages) to engage an internal and external community.

· LinkedIn – a social network for 100 million professionals that allows business owners and employees to display their professional credentials. It also enables participants to set up and join groups and create a business page.

But this is just the start. Add to this corporate blogs, Yammer, BranchOut, the use of Skype, email, e-newsletters, Webcasts . . . and you can see this isn’t a time to bury your head, it’s a time to get involved.

Social media platforms enable employees to connect with each other - not just on a personal level but also using subjects or accounts with which they all have a connection.

For companies already using social media platforms it allows information to be connected together and they are different from existing intranet options as they use employees’ propensity to use social media and engage employees that are not centrally located.

The benefits and advantages of using social media for employee engagement are numerous. Social networking increases employees comfort levels with communicating ideas, resulting in a greater sharing and collaborative exchange. Instead of simply mass emailing information or posting to an intranet, in the hope employees will see (and read) it, social media is helping employees actively participate in creating and sharing information.

FIRST STEPS
However before throwing yourself headlong into the social media arena it is necessary to take stock. It is important to think about your organisation’s cultural readiness; think about the engagement purpose of the tools; clarify what employees can and can’t do and take a hands-off approach to marketing the tools.

There are five guidelines to using social media:

· be honest

· set a schedule

· start slowly

· be consistent

· become a resource.

MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES TO ENGAGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA INITIATIVES
The development of a Social Media Strategy for your company will contribute to create better relationships with your employees and stakeholders. While understanding how company strategies are evolving to use existing social media will not only be of use today it should also guide directors as they adapt to platforms developed in the years to come.

So how does a business go from no social media policy or activity to using these tools to engage with employees?

· Education is key to the success of motivating employees. Employees need to understand what social media is, how it works and what is the company initiative/social media strategy – objectives and goals

· Training employees to share their ideas, feel free to start a conversation, have an opinion and create a network with their colleagues will all support the buy-in process

· Good ideas and encouraging other employees to actively participate in the company’s initiative are equally as important and vital to its success.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
A social media policy should be designed to enable effective use of social media rather than to simply prevent problems.

Make is clear that your company and senior managers are supportive of employee social media use. Some managers need to lead by example so that employees know what effective social media use looks like.

Respect your employees’ desire to use social media for personal communication and expression and ask them to exercise simple good judgement around how their personal activities or comments online could reflect on your company.

Be clear that making smart use of social media is part of the path to career advancement and remember that employees are your best spokespeople.