Social media and HR strategy

Time for formal HR policies on social media

I have been meaning to sketch out the bones of an social media policy for HR and the time seems to be right to get on with it!

First, the HR strategy

The real issue when we talk about social media and employees is that many HR departments don’t really have a strategy. Not to be too unkind but they haven’t the foggiest clue what it takes to make money in their industry or to out compete the competition. I saw a report today from India that about 90% of HR managers are left speechless if you ask them about the business model of their company. From that platform of ignorance, well everything that follows is random.

What should already be in place and why

That said, firms “should” have a clear idea of what they are “buying in” when they hire some one, and what precautions should be taken for the sake of the business.

I once ran a policy that all stationery was free, whatever purpose you wanted it for. My reasoning was that we dealt with confidential material and I didn’t want people taking paper home for their kids to draw on. The rule was that all paper was shredded and the quid pro quo was we will buy you whatever scrap pads and pens you want - no questions asked.

I’ve seen really slack security, questioned it and been laughed at. And I have seen the same people all over the newspapers as journalists added 2+2=5 on the basis of what was found in the rubbish bins. I have seen worse too. Security merges into safety.

Extending my current policy to include social media

So I am not concerned about employees chattering on line. My HR Strategy and the downstream policies of training, induction, and things like stationery use have taken care of all that. An in-house chat channel should be sufficient for people to discuss what they want to post on line, what is wise to post, etc. etc.

I would make computers available to staff at work BTW, as a matter of course. It is much more sensible to help your staff keep on top of their personal business than presume they can take care of it between 9pm and 6am, which is what they would be doing with British commute times.

Then think about social media and the potential for a punchier HR strategy

With social media, the interest for me is more on the value it may add. When we look at the interconnectivity, geographical scope and ability to shift our business model from service to platform (which applies to non-internet business’ too), then HR strategists need to go back to basics.

Social media can change the answer to all these questions, if not for us, then for our competitors. New technologies disrupt business models and first movers have a huge advantage. Second movers often go broke as they are left hanging on to lemon.

If our competitors are deriving value from the initiative and energy of their employees, can we afford not to?

July 31, 2008 | Filed Under Jo Jordan, Uncategorized | 2 Comments