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?

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July 31, 2008 | Filed Under Jo Jordan, Uncategorized 

Comments

2 Responses to “Social media and HR strategy”

  1. Asha Treacy on August 1st, 2008 6:04 pm

    Hi Jo

    Thought I’d get my pennies worth in, being in HR and that..

    Couple of the leading HR journals (Personnel Today and People Management) last summer published a huge amount of articles relating to HR and Social Media. Why companies/HR are engaging in SM and why they are not….a huge mix bag of opinions.
    I agree with you some HR departments do not have a strategy when it comes to thinking about SM and employees, and like everything else written and already said hundreds of times, it’s the fear, the unknown and uncertainty. Some of my friends work for companies who have policies in place so they do not have access any social networks sites in work time. HR may implement the policy but are they the drivers behind this rule? I believe senior managers, IT all play a part in this too and how will this enhance ers/ees relationships? You’re automatically putting an issue there with trust. As working people surely employees are mature enough to know where to draw the line and act ‘reasonable’. If you stop employees accessing websites, shouldn’t this be consistent with everything that takes us away from the work mode for a few mins….smokers, the nattering while brewing the coffee, just to name a few…

    HR should be at the forefront of where they add value to deliver core business objectives, without this you may as well give up. This means taking the time to overcome this fear and lack of understanding of SM, learn the advantages and filter this through organisations business models. McDonalds recently put computers in all their crew rooms for employees to access networks and do their personal bits while on their lunch breaks. I used to work for Mac’s so have a lot of close connections there, so I asked for feedback with this and was told that employees seen to be a lot more relaxed and happier when back off lunch because they were able to take care of their own stuff without having to worry about getting it done after work.

    I’m currently a generalist but my role will be changing to solely recruitment and I have the green light to pick apart many of our own processes and work towards a more technological approach to shape the way we recruit and manage our process. With this I’ll be encouraging to change mind sets and the way we work…hmm. I crossed my own little hurdle today with my Director and asked him what he had to lose in terms of time and money if I posted a link on Linkedin for a couple of our own vacancies. Small, I know but a start nevertheless…Hopefully we won’t be left hanging on some lemon..

  2. Jo on August 2nd, 2008 4:02 am

    Thanks Asha

    Good luck with this experiment.

    It all comes down to community again, doesn’t it? Where do the people you want to recruit hang out?

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