101: Leveraging social media in the workplace
Businesses use social media to create public engagement externally, but they often overlook the effectiveness of using social media internally. Managers can especially benefit from utilizing social media to connect with their teams.
Facilitating real-time communication. Company-wide emails and intranets are ways HR departments connect with their employees, but internal social media channels can be more engaging while providing the bonus of direct employee input through comments and likes. “The feedback-centric nature of social media can also facilitate conversations between employees and leadership and can be a rich source of employee feedback,” Alex Cleary writes in a blog for software company ContactMonkey.
Strengthening team building. Work emails are the preferred choice for employer communication, but endless threads and overflowing inboxes can make employees zone out. By building closed pages for their teams, managers can provide real-time project updates, instantly communicate, and recognize the accomplishments of team members in a way that facilitates bonding. While there should be a clear divide between personal and professional social media pages, the community-building aspect of social media is an easy way to promote teamwork. “For these internal social networks to be most effective they need to strengthen teams and improve productivity. As important as it is to share progress updates and ask questions, workers should also be encouraged to use these networks to bond,” Ana Gotter writes in her article for Revive Social.
Recruiting future employees. Social media can improve recruiting strategies by showing what goes on behind the scenes. Audiences, all of whom could be potential employees, appreciate videos or posts highlighting employee achievements and humanizing the workforce behind the brand. The benefits of this online transparency are two-fold for managers. First, the recognition boosts the morale and loyalty of current employees. Second, employee-centric posts give potential hires a sense of the workplace culture. “Signs of a strong online brand presence include regular interaction from employees, customers and candidates, especially likes and clicks on job posts,” Niki Jorgensen writes for Forbes.
WBJ Web Partners
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