I could be rehashing a topic that has been addressed many times before, but recent conversations within my own organization have resurfaced this for me and I know it is something that other peers are still sorting out as well. Companies are very much implementing social technologies to engage audiences externally, but still struggle with the advantages of implementing it internally. And this is something that I, in particular, am very passionate about. So, I’ve updated a blog post that I had written late last year focusing on this topic and have included what I hope is some fresh, relevant information and resources. Enjoy!
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I love how social media has made our world just a little smaller — bringing people together across the globe who might not have met otherwise. For business, one of the biggest and most under-realized advantages to integrating social networking tools is its ability to humanize a corporate workforce beyond just the typical four walls of a cubicle or office. Without social networking tools, companies risk problems not being resolved, ideas becoming stagnant and employees feeling underutilized or underappreciated. So, if you’re a company wondering how you can unify your global workforce, social technologies are an excellent step to building a more collaborative, productive and HUMAN workforce.
Tagged as:
Employee Engagement,
enterprise 2.0,
internal communications,
social technologies
Original Post: Using social media to improve internal communications, simply-communicate.com
As a social media agency, FreshNetworks is often asked to help clients develop and implement a social media strategy.
This was the case with Vets Now – a provider of out-of-hours veterinary care for veterinary practices across the UK. The goal was to engage internal stakeholders through social media.
Vets Now is the type of business where employees work not only alone, but also unsociable hours. By using social media, Vets Now hoped to increase communication and engagement amongst employees who don’t get the opportunity to interact with each other in person, let alone with anyone else.
Vets Now also hoped that increasing interaction among internal staff and stakeholders would help with knowledge sharing that would, in turn, help regulate and improve clinical standards and best practice across the industry. By doing this the aim was to position themselves as global experts in veterinary Emergency & Critical Care (ECC).
As Vets Now also wanted to use social media to help sell their internal training courses and to recruit staff, FreshNetworks felt that the best solution for them was to build an online community for their internal stakeholders.
The first stage was to help Vets Now pin down their objectives for the project so that the content – and the way the community was developed – helped to achieve their key aims. As Vets Now already had an intranet site, the community was integrated within that site so that all internal web-based communication tools were aligned and located in one place.
Tagged as:
case study,
Employee Engagement,
simply-communicate.com,
vet now
At Unstructure.org’s 5th Annual Global Meet in Orlando last week, Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies, delivered an extremely compelling message in his Opening Address. He described how, in the new reality for any organization to successfully attain business goals in a post-recession world (“The New Normal”), it must first invert its value pyramid and place employees at the top, creating an environment where the employees are the initiators of transformation and the managers are the supporters who make that transformation reality.
Although, you might think this is not a novel business approach, within the context of Unstructure.org’s MENSA-type thought leadership discussions and within the context of the “The New Normal,” this message really resonated into four main points at a much deeper, more personal level.
The New Normal 1: Value is Created in the Interface of the Employees and the Customers
The learning from HCL’s transformation journey started five years and seven days ago, and is very relevant in addressing the new normal. The value zone in manufacturing was very closely aligned with the control zone. With this philosophy, what happened is that you have the control leg and the value leg and both of them are working together. And you run faster than everybody else. However, over time, what really happened is that things changed. The service economy and the knowledge economy grew. What changed? The control zone remained where it is but the value zone moved closer to the customer. So, what is the value zone? Value is created in the interface of the employees and the customers. Whether it is an airline industry or an IT services industry or a retail industry, that’s a value zone. Once the value zone moves away from the control zone, organization structures became irrelevant.
Tagged as:
Employee Engagement,
HCL Technologies,
The New Normal,
unstructure,
value pyramid,
vineet nayar
In driving social technologies within an organization, the number one question that I hear from top level executives is “what problem would this be solving for us?” And trust me, it’s hard for me to contain myself when posed with this question and not stand up on my soapbox about how social media can drive engagement and collaboration. But, the bottom line is that the successful integration of social technologies within a corporate enterprise isn’t just about innovation or enablement, but it is also the ability to fill a business need. And, from an internal communications perspective, finding the right balance between social technologies and existing communication channels is especially important. When you’ve identified this, that’s when you see the biggest executive support, employee adoption and measurable results.
For just a moment, separate out the business strategist within you from the social media geek. And, take a look at some of the following issues that often need to be addressed in order for social technologies to gain a foothold within your organization:
Business Priorities versus Enablement Enthusiasm
I have never been able to see a social media strategy get executive support without it being directly tied to a business priority or strategic imperative. I repeat… NEVER. It’s extremely easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the social media whirlwind, but it’s essential to make it relevant not only to the employee, but also to the business.
Tagged as:
Employee Engagement,
internal communications,
social media,
Strategy
Original Post: Social Media and the Internal Brand
Here’s my take on why companies are using social media internally:
1. To inform employees. In its most straightforward way, social media can be just another medium to communicate and inform employees. Blogs in which departments inform their staff, a newsletter with options for employees to give comments, twitter as a micro instant communication channel to employees.
2. To create a shared vision. This takes internal communication to the next level. Using social media to engage with your employees with the objective to embed the company’s mission, vision and values. A CEO internal blog in which he discusses the vision, seeks feedback for improvement and explains how staff can become internal brand ambassadors.
3. To increase productivity. This is all about using social media as a collaboration tool. Social media helps bringing documents, people and planning together. in the form of sharing documents, sharing feedback and synchronising project tasks.
4. To engage employees. Engaging in open conversations is the essence of social media. Like companies are opening themselves to their clients, with using social media for internal communications, management are opening themselves for their employees. Which means that employees are enabled to talk about how they feel, what they like to do and how they like to work together. Management has to actively engage in these discussions.
Tagged as:
ambassadors,
Employee Engagement,
internal communications,
social media
