Social Media - It’s not ‘if’ but ‘when’

The aim of these tools is to foster human connection by transforming employer- employee monologue to dialogue - that is, by providing an online communication venue which allows both the organization and employees to be part of the conversation.

So is social media a nice ‘to have’ or a ‘must have’ for organizations? As the uptake of social media tools increases, so do the studies to identify or validate their value and usage as effective communication tools. According to a recent study by Watson Wyatt, "social media tools are helping employees actively participate in creating and sharing information". IBM also recently published a research paper titled "Motivations for Social Networking at Work" which indicated employees were motivated to engage in social media for three reasons:

Caring - connecting on a social level with colleagues
Climbing - the use of the employee social network helping people advance their careers
Campaigning - used to help gain support for ideas and projects

An Economist Intelligence report concluded that employee social networks will become pervasive… it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

So where to do companies start? Our belief is that companies need to take small steps into the social media arena and identify tools that match their values and communication objectives. Basic ‘intranet 2.0’ tools such as internal wikis (a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it), blogs, and social network tools can be designed to help employees participate in company wide dialogue. This can result in:

Faster distribution of information
More effective communication to teams off site
More sharing of customer experience information
Improved idea generation and promotion of innovative ideas
Reduced office politics
Improved company wide communication at all levels

From our experience, companies can utilize these tools to aid their company and employer branding initiatives. For example, success breeds success and social media provides an excellent medium for employees to collaborate on how the customer experience can be improved, or to share success stories on how the brand is lived and breathed throughout the organization. Social media tools also provide a fast and furious way for employees to communicate when an organization isn’t living up to its brand promises! So organizations beware… authenticity is the key.

The following video exemplifies how an organization can integrate social media tools into their communication strategy. In the words of Best Buy, they are "getting set up for the next generation of employees" and have implemented some rather unique communication tools.

At the end of the day there needs to be a commercial tie back and for Best Buy it is using the insights, inputs and feedback to improve serving their customers and reinforcing their brand promise.

The Right Group’s core areas of expertise are brand strategy, research and people & culture. Our research services are often engaged as part of our work in brand strategy or can be commissioned separately. For more information, visit Branding Management.