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ISSUE 11.9
The future of employee engagement
cover story
Social networking
The future of employee engagement
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T
he use of social media has spread like wildfire in the corporate world. More than 75% of companies globally use social media networking for business, a recent survey by the Proskauer International Labor & Employment Group revealed. Of these businesses, 70% only started doing so in the last three years. The use of social media clearly has its advantages. It opens up new channels for feedback, and companies that HRM spoke to reported high levels of collaboration and employee engagement through its use. The appeal of social media is in its interactive and approachable nature, says Patricia Lalisan, Social Media Guru, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (Asia Pacific). “People are more likely to reach out if they feel they are being heard, or if there is potential for dialogue. This makes it an effective tool for an HR department to use.”
“Digital information has a way of coming back to haunt you so you have to be more careful with what you post or share” Damien Cummings, Online & Social Media Director – Consumer & SMB at Dell on social media usage
Cruising the social media highway
Social media is rapidly becoming a preferred platform for employee communications. Understanding its benefits and complexities along with its inherent risks can enable HR to build a more engaged and empowered workforce By Sumathi V Selvaretnam
HR must be able to adapt to the changing face of social media in order to connect with the employees it seeks to develop and manage, says Lalisan. “At the heart of social media is conversation and the cultivation of relationships. If HR is able to implement social media with this in mind, it can possibly result in a more empowered workforce, an effective HR department and fruitful recruitment processes.” Alcatel-Lucent uses several social media tools in its business, including internal social media networks created specifically for employees. Within this framework, employees can engage and converse with each other about pretty much anything. “We’ve had people enquire about recruitment processes, share innovative ideas that the department could use in the future and express their opinions on company policies. It’s a great way to get employee feedback,” she says.
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Developing a social media policy + Creation – Do you have a policy in place? If not, decide if you want to engage an external specialist (preferred) or develop it in-house + Training – Teach employees how to use social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and company blogs + Delegation – Appoint an employee or team to manage the company’s social media efforts + Monitoring & measurement – Regularly review social networking activities to ensure compliance with the policy
At Dell, social media is becoming a part of everything that employees do, says Damien Cummings, the company’s online and social media director for the consumer and SMB market. It is used in internal collaboration, product development, social commerce as well as talent acquisition. Some of the social media tools embraced by Dell include Salesforce.com’s Chatter tool for internal social networking as well as a number of internal blogs and instant messengers. “These are great for sharing information, forming project-based or interest-based groups and generally breaking down the silos you’d expect in a large organisation,” says Cummings. The company’s founder, Michael Dell, is also a huge advocate and often engages personally with employees through the corporate blog, Twitter page and Chatter, Cummings says.
Avoiding casualties
The freewheeling nature of social media coupled with an absence of guidelines can expose a company to indiscriminate posts that affect its reputation. Stupid or inappropriate behaviour can often be amplified by social media, says Cummings. An employee’s rant about having a bad day can be captured permanently. “Digital information has a way of coming back to haunt you, so you have to be more careful with what you post or share,” he says. From a company perspective, brands can be harmed and the public relations fallout can be damaging. (See case study) Domino’s Pizza in the US faced a social media nightmare when two employees posted a video prank of themselves tampering with customers’ food on YouTube. The company’s president then posted a video response to the incident and also set up a Twitter account to answer queries from concerned customers. Despite the risks associated with social media, 45% of all businesses in the Proskauer survey said that they do not have a social networking policy in place. More than 40% of the survey’s respondents also said that they had to deal with employees misusing social media websites.
Setting limits
In order to harness the benefits and minimise the risks of social networks, employers need to set distinct and specific policies and practices for their use, says Betsy Plevan, co-head of Proskauer’s International Labour & Employment Group. “Relying on employees to exercise good judgment is simply not enough.” Should companies restrict access to social media sites altogether to protect An effective social media policy their reputation? Probably not. The reality is that employees can access should explain what social media is, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter on their mobile devices what platforms should be used, and anyway. “Up to 60% of social media usage is mobile, so having workplace how and when someone should restrictions on it really doesn’t work,” says Cummings from Dell. Employees identify themselves as an employee, will resent the company for taking away their “rights” to communicate with says Cummings. Other points to family, friends and colleagues and find a way to gain access, he adds. consider include the tone of voice and style of communication, how to
Should social media websites be banned at work?
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respond to customer service issues and how to adhere to company policies. Companies should also have standing instructions disseminated to all employees about posting any sensitive work-related information on the Internet, says Jenny Tsin, Joint Head of the Employment Practices, WongPartnership. “Employees should be educated on these policies and made to sign them to signify the agreement to the same.” Companies could also monitor internet traffic periodically to see if corporate information or sensitive information has been wrongfully released, she adds.
Social Media Congress 2011 – Essential Workplace Strategies 19th October 2011, Grand Hyatt, Singapore This one-day congress will enable you to harness the many benefits of social media, whilst avoiding potential pitfalls. Experts from Facebook, WongPartnership, Alcatel-Lucent, Aviva and Dell will share many useful, take-home strategies. + For more details, please visit www.hrmcongress.com
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cover story
CONGRESS
SERIES
www.hrmcongress.com
SOCIAL MEDIA
CASE STUDY
Employee fired over Facebook comments reaches settlement
ESSENTIAL WORKPLACE STRATEGIES 19th October 2011 Grand Hyatt, Singapore
Social media also opens up a new legal minefield and companies need to In 2009, Dawnmarie Souza, an employee with American learn how to protect Ambulance Response – an ambulance company in the US themselves. For – was fired for making derogatory remarks on Facebook example, if a company about her employers. The National Labour Relations Board, has an official forum, however, raised a complaint against the company, arguing disclaimers could be a that the woman’s comments were protected speech under useful means of federal labour laws. Both parties reached a settlement this protecting itself, says year where the company agreed to change its policies that Tsin. “The company banned employees from criticising the company or its could also consider supervisors on websites, blogs, and in online having official communications with one another. moderators present to moderate discussions on such forums.” Lastly, educating employees on social media usage and etiquette could help prevent hiccups in the long-run. Dell has established a Social Media and Community University to teach employees how to effectively and correctly engage in social media. The programme consists of a number of training modules that cover the basics of social media to courses on how to use platforms like Facebook, RenRen, Twitter and LinkedIn. “So far we have over 10,000 employees trained and we are still going strong!” Cummings concludes.
Attend this intensive one day HRM Congress to harness the many benefits of Social Media, whilst avoiding the potential pitfalls. Featuring Social Media Expert Speakers: Madan Nagaldinne Head of HR Asia Pacific FACEBOOK
Damien Cummings Online and Social Media Director DELL
Patricia Anne Lalisan Social Media Guru ALCATEL-LUCENT ENTERPRISE
Recruitment 2.0
Jenny Tsin Joint Head of the Employment Practices WONGPARTNERSHIP
More HR departments are realising the power of social media as a recruitment tool. Social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have millions of users, opening up recruiters to an untapped talent pool. “A lot of recruiting and HR departments don’t have the budget for a large amount of recruiters and staff. Social media is inexpensive and allows you to have that reach without adding headcount,” says Conrad McGinnis, Senior HR Project Consultant, Toyota Financial Services. People also trust their own networks and this makes is easier for recruiters to determine the quality of candidates based on their connections, says McGinnis. The instantaneous nature of social media also allows for quicker responses, he adds.
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Tony Tan HR Director AVIVA
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