Earlier this week, I attended a Gaspedal event in NYC on Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMMA) called "SuperGenius". I was looking forward to going. Not only did they have a bang up list of speakers and facilitators, it is always great to network and perchance to under cover a new potential customer or two. Ironically, I had started my prep for this about six months ago when I read one of the speaker's books, "I Love You More Than My Dog", by Jeanne Bliss. I had pulled it out over the weekend to re-read some of the case studies ... especially those about Zappos.com as their CEO Tony Hsieh was also keynoting.
This conference was suppose to be able how to get the word out about your company using "Word of Mouth" and specifically, social networking. However, one of the key underlying themes was about hiring the right people and promoting the right culture. Happy employees create a happy culture which will not go unnoticed by your customers. Good service -> no EXEMPLARY SERVICE gets noticed. Humans not technology solve other humans problems and heart break ... your employees hold your brand, your customer relationship, and can be the center of a solid WOM program. Social Networking applications and technology help facilitate human interaction. Be careful as you hire... Be more careful to make sure your decisions impact in a positive way your employees.
Case in Point: While running errands on Saturday, I popped into a local pet food store, The Feed Barn that has several locations to pick up some cat food and Frontline. While there, I over heard two employees that have been there quite awhile considering retail turnover about the owner installing web cams. Given the economy, I thought they may be experiencing a theft problem. I commented. I was shocked to find out the webcams were being installed around their time clock because while one employee was helping out the last customer perhaps 15-18 minutes after closing, Another one was punching them all out ... The owner thought this was because at 6:16 he had to pay them all another 15 minutes. So ... he has now not only lost the trust of his employees .. they have spread the word (although prompted by me) ... I have told others and used it as an example of what not to do! I also suggested the irony of the book by Jeanne "I Love You More than my Dog" and that they should buy it for him. One of the Five Principals discussed is "Decide to Believe". This starts with all your networks. Customers, Employees, Suppliers... However, your employees are always at the core.
Select people with your values. Choose people passionate about success. Happy employees radiate a glow and it shows with customers. Be human.
Zappos actually will pay people to resign if it isn't the right fit for new employees. No harm no foul... just don't pollute our culture with anything less than your complete joy in doing your job. What companies (large or small) do you feel do a great job at this?
So you are a smart recruiter or Human Resources person, right? You have all the tools and tricks to recruit and check out candidates on Linked In, Twitter, MySpace, and the social networking site de jour. You have a candidate fully vetted prior to picking up the phone for the first screen. Perhaps, you have already done confidential reference from a shared connection. BUT … Have you looked to see what candidates are seeing about you as an employer? What have your staffing decisions done to your employee brand? How will they affect your company's ability to hire quality talent? What if they did a reference on you with your former employees that held the same position?
My past experience in both social technology and recruiting leaves some very interesting stories at my door often. I am going to share one I learned about this week in my travels. I sat next to this woman on the train named Alice. We had a quick chat about the new movie "Alice in Wonderland" that I had seen and loved! In the hour long trip, we covered a variety of topics but after hearing about my professional background she shared the following story….
Alice had received an email from a stranger asking about their experience working a past company. This stranger had been contacted by a recruiter looking for him to explore leaving a solid job at solid company to seek out greener pastures. This candidate did his homework and found Alice on LinkedIn. The opportunity sounded exciting. Prior to risking his current job, he wanted inside information no recruiter or hiring manager was going to share. In the stranger's research, it was discovered a ton of people had worked in the same capacity as he was being asked to interview. All of the people had short tenures (averaging 6 months to two years). Bravely, this stranger started reaching out to these former employees to discover inquiry why? Alice was one of the individuals the stranger reached out to contact.
Alice told me about her mixed feelings about telling this stranger the truth. On the one hand, she had enjoyed working for the company. She had friends that still worked there. However, she wished she had been smart enough to push this fact herself. She had seen it prior to accepting the position. Alice had accepted their story and didn't double check the facts. The company in question had a history of hiring a new VP and people to do this task only to lay them all off within six months to year. Then in about another 6 months go through the hiring process and pay recruiters to do it all over again. This stranger deserved the benefit of the doubt she felt. Alice shared the following dialog with me:
Alice: I also looked at your LinkedIn profile. Are you still working at Company X?
Stranger: Yes, I am still employed there.
Alice: Are you happy?
Stranger: Yes, the only reason he was interested was the new skill set and potential larger to make an impact on this new company.
Alice: (hmmm sounds familiar she said to herself) Is there any pressing reason you need to make a change? More potential earnings for College tuition, moving closer to family, a burning desire to live where the company was etc.
Stranger: No
Alice: Then why on God's green Earth are you even entertaining this interview given the information you believe to have uncovered? You know the phrase "Where there is smoke there is fire" Honestly, I would tell anyone regardless of the company this if they had asked me. In this economy, why would you ever risk the happiness you told me about? Want a new adventure….try rock climbing! Listen to your gut, man!
The Stranger thanked her for opening his eyes and confirming without bashing the company his suspicions. He would be canceling the interview.
Alice told me had some of the answers been different about his employment status or happiness or compensation she may have encouraged him to take the interview. Alice just couldn't let someone else make the same error in judgment that had left her in a financial crisis. The lay-off had forced her to have to give up her independence. at close to 30 years old, Alice had to move back in with her parents for six month while she found another job and got back on her feet. It had not only impacted her career, her independence but had done a number on her relationship with her family not to mention her self-esteem and finances. Why people open up to me about these things? I have no clue. I guess I have a trusting face.
Here is the morale for employers… Remember, your previous actions on hiring, lay-offs, and serial turnover will have a huge impact on your ability to hire the best talent out there given the ease of connection with social networking and search. What will they see when they load in "YOUR COMPANY NAME" "KEYWORD = POSITION TITLE" and select past employees in LinkedIn. Will they see a pattern of serial turnover? Remember, your brand isn't only the company's product or service. It is your people and the people that have worked for you. They also continue to be a conduit of your brand. What will candidates discover by referencing you? Every employer that has been around a while has previous employees with an axe to grind. I am not talking about this one off wild chance. It is the patterns you need to be aware of creating and the poor messaging you create with potential hires. I have seen this myself with companies I recruited for in the temporary staffing market.
Here is a possible solution… Create your own reference list. Have past employees your candidates can speak with that will provide a good reference. It won't prevent them from doing what this savvy stranger did but it may help.
My head is spinning right now with which blog post to write after spending a quality hour with about twelve of my coworkers and our CEO, Kim Kobza discussing his philosophy on Network Competencies.
First of all, I am not talking about Networks in terms of routers and switches. I am talking about your networks. You as an individual have networks. Family, work associates, neighbors, classmates, people you volunteer with and beyond are all common networks we have. You can expand it out to a greater network being a member of a certain religion, tribe, or perhaps you are a vegan? These are different networks that overlap in increasing strange and wonderful ways.
Now, please take this to the business level. You as a company are made up of all different networks: Employees, Customers, Prospects, Partners, Resellers, Vendors, and you are a corporate citizen to the community in which you do business. Every individual member of your network drags along their own networks. Let’s take the most basic of these. Many companies declare their most valuable resource is their people or employees. Each employee brings with them their family unit and you have a direct impact on these other individuals’ lives. In the Facebook world think also of the “Friends of Friends” They in turn can potentially be customers, prospects, vendors and citizens of the same community. The question comes back to: How you INgaging your networks to drive results within your corporation? Remember this is a two way street! In turn, how are you providing value to continue to have the right to continue to INgage these people in a positive way?
Companies that are successful with a social strategy have answered these value proposition questions. They understand what deploying a community or social networking program is going to hopefully impact within their business. They also can jump into the shoes of the customer (and they do this continually in a successful deployment) and see the Raison D’Etre for INaging with them as a company in a conversation. If you as a company, can’t articulate both of these spend some time thinking about them. Simply ask yourself:
1) What can this organization learn and impact by listening and having a conversation that is archived with its constituents (employees, customers, partners…)?
2) What value will I provide this audience and what is the content that will incentivize them to spend time and effort to contribute?
Once these primary social science questions have been answered you can move on to discussing the finer aspects of a successful social INgagement strategy. Personally, this willness is a prime indictator I have a Social Buyer on the line. You noticed I haven’t mentioned a technology platform yet. These and other questions must be vetted and agreed upon from a cultural perspective to ensure your success as an organization. Otherwise your social effort is veering towards a disaster. I am calling them social science questions because a “social strategy” deploys technology to support the interaction of humans for a given purpose. From a business perspective, you are connecting like minded individuals to drive INgagement with a 360 degree value proposition. Does a friend that never helps you, provides you with any value and only takes from you and depletes your resources remain in your network? Will a customer, employee, or vendor? Social technology facilitates an INgagement with your intended audience to drive results for all involved. I have said it before… a social platform without a strategy and people to drive it is the same as a car without a knowledgeable driver and gas. It might as well be a garden gnome! They are quirky and cute but provide no measurable value to the lawn and in some cases detract from the overall curb appeal and hence value.
Working with a social solutions provider which leads with wanting to know and understand the answers to these questions and many more perhaps prior to bringing out the power point dog and pony show of their technology is important. They will then know how to help you steer towards a solution that will achieve your results. They won’t be selling you a ‘two seater’ sports car that is really cool when you live in Alaska and need to transport four kids routinely. The more the provider digs into the reasons why and how will you continue to drive the INgagement the better they can match and be a partner for you to be successful.
I am interested to hear your thoughts and want to thank Kim again for such an insightful discussion…
Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results., General George S. Patton
Yesterday, I thought I would celebrate President's Day with supplying my Twitter and Facebook audience with interesting, funny, and thought provoking quotes from our Past Presidents. Honestly, I stuck to some of my favourite Presidents and some of the obscure ones. Reading through some of the quotes, I was also trying to find ones I could boil down to 140 characters for Twitter. Some of the larger ones, I just couldn't resist to share went to Facebook. It got me thinking about what it takes to lead. Individuals which have the inner drive to lead is a strange quality. I have found especially working in cutting edge technology and human resources over my career. I am always a bit impressed with the people I know that have the ability to leave the corporate employment world to start their own venture.
This morning when I googled "Leadership Quotes" a list of the top ten came back. Two of the ones, I had read yesterday from past President's were on the list. However, this quote from General Patton stood out and reflected that this is the essence of understanding how to empower an organization to success in the new era of social business.
My post below discusses organizations that are ready to be social buyers. These organizations all have leadership which embodies the quote above. They either understand the business world has yet again evolved like it did with the advent of "company websites and email" or the trust enough the people they have put in place to make the right decisions which will impact the valuation of a company. The truth is the mistakes that companies make today are no longer going to be hidden. Yesterday's, Southwest incident is a testament to a company that understands it can't hide from the social lash back to a customer's frustration. (My own feeling is Southwest handled this very well even though I am not a fan of their seating method... I know many are and it works for them)
I have been very lucky to be in the presence of many top executives that understand they must find the internal fortitude to embrace a social business model. They must listen to the individual ideas, compliments, and critisim of their stakeholders and have the courage to turn their corporate ships to find the right winds to continue to be relevant in the marketplace. Are you going to be the company that after seeing Ford make the Model T say... " Nope, it is never going to catch on... I am going to continue to make luxury coaches". This correlation also supports the notation that older corporations are some of the huge success stories with embracing social media. Ford alone, in the American car manufacturers, is still viable on it's own and is one of the darlings of the social media world as a success story.
I know it isn't easy and in reality the ease and fast paced feedback will present many challenges for the "C" level at many companies. It will provide a real time understand of how policies and decisions impact your employees and customers. The question is do you have the stomach to lead in today's social business era?
The past couple of weeks, I have been reflecting on the types of people and companies which have been incredibly successful with their social strategy leveraging white label community technology for a variety of specific business purposes. It comes down to having a vision with a willingness and excitement for the unexpected success with social scores. The Buyer needs to embrace the gray areas of the social opportunity for success.
The successful social buyer has a game plan with multiple opportunities to win. Think of them as the “Social Head Coach”… Typically, this person has influence and exposure within the organization (either private or public). Certainly, they can have a “C” or a “VP” within their title. However, a vocal pioneer or maverick ready to blaze a trail and ask for forgiveness with an open minded corporate architecture for new opportunities can be just as successful. They understand the ultimate goal is to show results. Those results hopefully will result in an increase in revenue or a reduction in expense. However, they embrace the “tangible intangibles”. (thanks to Kim Kobza for the terminology). They understand the goal of social communication is to move needles and establish a method of continued access to their stakeholders. I.E. (employees, partners, customers, citizens, members, volunteers….) The Social Buyer is like a head coach and prepared for a change in the game plan when the “defense makes a score” or an important player is taken out of the game (Twitter, Facebook, etc… goes the way of Friendster and MySpace). They understand the importance is not just to talk to the social realm but to listen to them. They respond with a human response and not corporate double speak. The interesting thing is many old school companies are best positioned to sign on to a vision. They get that established success and maintaining their market presence means being on the front end of game changing technology and customer engagement. Not every trend will succeed. However, missing one can be death.
The “Anti-Social Buyer" is entering the social realm with the idea it is just another place to sell and promote widgets. They enter with full ear protection and a bazooka loaded with promotional garbage. When this buyer is asked in a conversation surrounding, what are the results or opportunities company x is looking for with a social plan… “Sell more widgets”… How about improved customer care, brand loyalty, product innovation…? “SELL MORE WIDGETS”. This is NOT your social buyer. They may still be on board with a decision but this has a low opportunity for a successful deployment and a long term partnership for both parties.
How would you change the view of this myopic individual? Can you?
Today, the terms "Social Media", "Social Networking", and "Social Marketing" are part of the business conversation. I have talked about in previous posts how I leveraged my network successfully to assist in my job search earlier this year. This could be considered the advent of "Social Recruiting" or "Social Hiring". This equates to leveraging information available through Search Engines and INgaging your network for additional resources and references.
I use same techniques daily in my role as a professional sales person and really, "Advisor" to companies looking to enhance their social footprint. The information is available online to complete a picture of who a prospective company is and who may be the players I need to access to be successful. Can I identify gaps in their social strategy which my business solutions can be accessed for mutual success? If not, why I am I bothering them, because that is what I would be is a pest! Gone are the days of Arthur Miller's famous character, Willy Lowman, knocking on doors without an understanding of the needs of the consumer behind the keyhole. Cold calling just got harder and easier at the same time...depending on your tenacity. For me, the information available today makes for more robust first conversations and solid pipeline of people looking to make the journey to being more proactive in the social marketplace.
Translate this into an overall company strategy. How is your area leveraging social channels to improve how it performs? Is your R&D department harnessing the power of crowdsourcing to assist and vet new products and service enhancements? How is your HR department using the social realm to make better, faster, and cheaper hiring choices in the global war for talent? Is your Customer Care team listening and solving the challenges your customers are laying down for you on consumer social networking channels. How does this effect the corporate brand?
Understand, not only is there solid data that companies with women on there executive team are more profitable, companies that have mastered the social conversation with their constitutes are winning on the valuation side hands down. There is an solid ROI opportunity in every business from your local mortgage company to the Fortune 100. The offerings I represent mostly translate to mid to large corporations. However, there is value there beyond them. It is my task to find the missing piece and translate into a business solution. Leveraging the social channels helps me get smarter about the companies I choose to INgage with daily.
How are you using social applications to move your career and company forward?
With the growth of my new company (INgage Networks formerly Neighborhood America), they have embraced the concept of remote workers. We have a host of new people that are working in geographic areas around the country. Some are commutable into one of our offices, some like me, are outposts. One of these new folks sent an email to the "IN Remotes" asking for advice on how to be successful. We have a lot of Atlanta natives so ... hence the Atlanta references. This is also where I truly began being a full time remote worker. Here is my answer, along with a couple of additions, from "our stellar team".
At INgage Networks, I have found a combination of Yammer and Skype to be very good at a number of different ways beyond traditional (wow think about that statement) email and phone channels to connect with coworkers. I also think that setting up a Twitter list to follow tweets coming from other coworkers is an excellent way to learn about our corporate outbound news. In addition, it also gives you a sense of who people are personally. For example, Gail (@GEMS222) is a runner. Courtney (@wileyccoyote) is a passionate follower of Dave Ramsey's financial advice. Me (@pbrannigan), well I love my dogs and B&W cookies from Juniors in NYC. I also recommend that optional team calls, brown bag lunch sessions, and other opportunities to connect with the corporate office are not optional unless there is a valid business reason to miss them like a client call, outage, or planned travel. It shows you are a team player and you will pick up stuff you can't at the water cooler in your own kitchen.
If any of you are new to being a remote worker period, I have some additional advice:
1) www.workshifting.com is a blog and community for people that don’t report to an office every day. It has a variety of postings for both the remote worker and the road warrior. (This is run by Justin Levy that works with Chris Brogan)
2) Get yourself a schedule. Don’t allow yourself to work in your PJ’s for at least the first 6 months until you have a schedule down. Shower and dress everyday in at least casual office attire. If you looked under my desk during an important conference call, I am in my power heels. a) Schedule… start time, lunch( take one regularly away from your desk), and understand when to shut the computer down on a typical day. b) Create a work area; preferably a separate room with a door you can shut. This is really important with children that are home at some point during your work day. c) If you are using your home line as a work number, call your provider and ask for a different number that can be a distinctive ring. When that rings, others in the house will know it is your business call. d) LISTS: Maintain a to do list. Write it every night for the next day or create it in a CRM system.
3) Leave the house at least once a day: Gym, coffee, lunch with a friend, go for a walk. It can get lonely. When, I first started working from home I lived in Kennesaw, GA. I would get ready for work just like when I commuted to Roswell. I would drive to Starbucks and get a coffee. I would then go home to start work. The action of driving around the corner helped put me in a work frame of mine. It was either than or the caffeine. Luckily, I lived in a neighborhood where about ½ of us worked remotely. We did social activities like others do in the office. It also helped when your internet provider was down but your neighbors was working. This brings me to #...
4) Find a go source for emergency internet, again… SBX, Atlanta Bread, a library, even your gym or best yet… a neighbor that also works from home.
5) Forget the household to do list. Push back on others in your life that think you can fit in errands because you work from home… YOU ARE WORKING. It will happen. My worst experience was after I started working at home and my parents decided to come to Atlanta for a week. My mom expected to camp out in my office all day. I printed off a list of tourist stuff for them to do and told them I would be happy to see them for dinner. "Out you go to Cyclorama, World of Coke, the Carter Library.. I don’t care but you have to leave the second floor." They now realize at 8:30 AM on Monday, Pauline is working. Schedule around it.
As a result, they had a much better experience. I even introduced them to another retired couple in our sub-division. They had a blast going to lunch and doing stuff together. This point was made in a number of ways from a host of “IN Remoters”
6) Find a remote worker mentor. They can help with ideas and your moments of truth. Better to find someone in your field but anyone with 3-5 years of experience is a worth tapping for advice.
7) When contacting people at corporate, be respectful and state your real urgency. If it can wait, tell them. Remember, regardless of your effort you are at home, they are not. The traffic you faced in the morning was tripping over the dog on the way to your desk.
8) Speaking of dogs, even the most well behaved dog will bark at the most inopportune time. Address it, and move on. Interruptions happen in offices with noisy birthday parties. I used to have a problem with a dog that has since passed away. He would bark his head off when my husband came home from work about 4:45-5PM. I was often on a client call with people on the West Coast. I would address it prior to it happening. Clients understand with the massive amount of companies with people working remotely all the time or part time. Yes, I miss having to make this apology.
9) Contact your tax professional to understand what receipts you should be saving and how you can take advantage of a home office deduction. You would be surprised at the stuff you can now at least partially deduct! Be rabid about itemizing receipts. The downside is the home office deduction puts a bull's eye on your back from the IRS. If you need a CPA in the Atlanta area, I am happy to give you my tax guy’s information. He still does our taxes even though we left Georgia 3 years ago.
10) Children are both a blessing and a challenge in the home office environment. Working from home will allow you to be around with your young ones more than traditional working parents. It is does present a challenge on the cohabitation of work and child play. My colleague, Michael Medina (@FCMedina), has an excellent set of rules for his young ones: a) My office hours are from X to X b) When my office door is shut, do not come in or knock unless it is a TRUE EMERGENCY c) If you need me, slip a note under the door (or text me) d) My office is my office. Don't touch anything on my desk. It is not a resource for craft projects. e) The BEST RULE: Take a break every day when the kids come home from school to discuss their day. Invite them into the office to sit on your lap and talk.
11) "Keep away from the kitchen or your favorite pair of jeans won't be". This one is from Courtney Wiley. Boy, do I agree with that one! This goes back to getting dressed. Make sure it is with a fixed waist band so that you realize that suit will be tight if you are grazing too much.
12) Overly communicative with any time you need to be away from the home office with your primary contact in the office and/or your boss. The first time you go out to lunch or run to Staples for toner, will be the time something needs immediate action. After one too many of these times, I invested in my first blackberry. The next time I had to read an email immediately, I could. So if you don't have a smart phone.... get one. Welcome to the new millennium.
Finally, Enjoy it. It is a skill to be successful at being self motivated. You will be amazed at the amount of work that you can get done.
Here is a link to our career page: http://ingagenetworks.com/careers Remote worker since August 2004. With 3 different companies and I have moved 3 times!
I thought I would write a quick post as I am feeling pretty good about my progress. I think I have lost somewhere around 4-6 pounds. More important, I feel better. My clothes are fitting better and although I am hungry at points. I am typically making good decisions or at least attempting to make them. Thanksgiving is over. I didn't do too bad.
I have rediscovered my bike on the trainer in the basement. On bad days, I make sure it is dvd with either George or Cipollini. They are enough to motivate any gal to spin a bit longer and faster. Water intake is certainly better and I have all but eliminated diet soda from my diet.
The breakfast / lunch thing is pretty well in hand. Vitamuffins are a GOD SEND! I have been pretty happy with the Smart Ones from Weight Watchers for lunch. Trying the recipes on the WW site have also proved a wonderful addition to the rotation.
The important thing is that I think I can continue with this for a long term effort. It isn't about losing the pounds ... it is about keeping them off. Our ten year anniversary is in September. I want my wedding dress to hang on me!!!
