Understandably, this Web 2.0 World is moving very fast. There is a host of acronyms, applications, and terminology that can’t be found in a dictionary just five to ten years old. It is with that in mind, I have chosen to compose this post. Suddenly, there is a huge gap in whether companies are engaged in Social Media or Social Networking. The forward thinking company is doing both.
Social Media is how companies are managing their brands and persona in the marketplace. Corporations are joining the revolution by evoking a multi channel communication with their clients, consumers, and nay sayers via Web 2.0 technology (Blogs, MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, White label communities, etc.) They mine the data for product enhancements, new ideas, and support information. We all benefit from this. Companies that engage in this behavior range vastly span the gambit of stogie brands to the hip youth seeking ones you would expect. Some examples are Comcast, Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks, Dell, Tyson Foods, and Grey Goose Vodka.
Social Networking is different. This is entities engaging in connections to provide and share information to be able to perform a task faster, cheaper, and better. They may also be connecting for the purposes of simple social interaction. This still can be seen as building that “circle of influence”. The entities are typically individuals but corporations are increasing particpating.
This is all great. Why do you need to care? How will Social Networking make the HR professional’s life easier? How is it going to change the way you do your job each day and the lives of your clients, your employees? There are many reasons. They may all boil down to the simple need to connect with people that hold information critical to your success. Businesses today are more spread out than ever before. Regardless, if you are a multi national company like IBM or a small 50 person company with a host of remote employees, you can benefit from social networking.
As a Human Resources professional, it may be scary at first glance to embrace the world of Web 2.0. My advice is to take a deep breathe and relax. Many people felt the same way about corporate email and websites in the 1990’s. You are going to have some new challenges with the new web applications. In my opinion, the positives greatly out weigh the challenges.
Here are a couple of examples on how your employees can use the tools and applications to benefit their business. They can use their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts to announce openings your company has putting that referral program on steroids. They can use the same tools to help announce new products, press releases, marketing events, sales, and more. Guess what, that effort cost your company the fraction of the total cost of the employee’s time and they may have done it off the clock. Think about the difference in cost between a referral bonus vs. a recruiting company or an internet ad post. Which candidate is more valuable typically, the employee referral or the blind resume? Booz Allen has stated referrals are the number one best source for high quality new hires.
Smart employees are already use RSS feeders and a well defined Twitter stream to have a daily access to articles their peers inside and outside your company have seen as great content. This equates to daily motivation for professional development.
Let’s take this one step further. Companies like Dow Chemical, IBM, Deloitte, Eli Lily and more have created private corporate social networks to allow by invite only their employees, retirees, and alumni (former employees) to connect, share knowledge, and have access to pertinent information through their networks. You, as a company, own all the data on who is connected to whom. What are their skills, hobbies, and who do they related to within your company.
How do you use this information? Please consider a mid to senior level accounting job that is open. Today, posting this to an internet job site will flood your inbox with possible candidates. It will cost you time to sift through the applications and respond to the vast follow up calls. This will also spur on the calls from the recruiters wanting to do it for you at a 20-30% fee.
By first going to your corporate social network, a simple query might return John Smith. He left your organization five years ago now has the skills and experience to fill your position. John has indicated on his profile an interest in returning. Bingo! John is your proverbial “low hanging fruit”. You can also post this job to your CSN (Corporate Social Network) to have additional candidates and referrals.
Beyond this, statistics prove these “Boomerang employees” are more valuable than new hires as they understand the corporate culture, have connections within the company, and take less time to train. These Boomerang employees are 50% less expensive to rehire, 40% more productive in their first three months, stay twice as long, and have proven to be top performers. Now, think of an employee that has been kept in touch with in their absence… what will those statistics be? Hmmm… (By the way, I have “boomeranged” twice in my career. Both times, I was promoted and considered a top performer.)
If you are doing the reverse of hiring at this point, corporate social networks can help soften the blow by allowing your former employees to connect with each other and help each other find a new career. This allows you also to stay connected with them. It provides an easy access to the knowledge that they leave with as well. In the long term, you will want to be able to rehire possibly these same people or people from their network. Remember, there have been approximately thirteen recessions since the Great Depression.
The simple point is employees, customers, partners, clients, retirees, and alumni are engaging in conversations, connecting and discussing your company. How long are you going to let the conversation go on without you?
