If I were to say that social media is a panacea to many of the fundamental challenges faced by Human Resources now, and in the future, and a highly effective way of tackling the Great Resignation, there is a fair chance many would not deem it worthy to read beyond this sentence. But bear with me. I will explain why social media is already transforming HR outcomes.
Social media is the strongest, most used and most effective common communications denominator shared by companies, employees and future recruits. It is viewed unprompted multiple times a day. Put simply, the medium is the best there is for engaging with people, whether it is employees, or future recruits. An increasing number of HR departments are beginning to use it to great effect.
One of the key reasons employees started resigning in such great numbers is a lack of belonging, and wider job and company purpose. After everything they had been through with Covid, they weren’t seeing their role or company function working for them. The programmes to address ESG responsibilities, the ethical and philosophical qualities so increasingly sought, were absent, or simply not seen to be present.
Equally, when individuals are researching new positions, they look beyond job description and salary. They want to work for businesses that demonstrate positive philosophy, robust ESG, a sense of belonging among employees, good leadership and work practices. What is the best way to demonstrate all these characteristics – social media.
Social media has a unique ability to shorten the communications gap, make employees feel part of a recognised community playing a constructive role, and create favourable company image that attracts the best talent.
By using the principles successfully applied to strategic consumer social media marketing, it is possible to create resonating engagement with employees, and broadcast to prospective new talent a broad range of essential qualities:
The high value placed on staff
ESG strategy
Company leadership
Company identity and brand philosophy
What it is like to work at a company
Examples of work and employment practice
Company personalities
On average, there have to be five to nine touch points between an individual and a company or brand, before there is a value exchange. Typically, this is in consumer markets, but it applies to employer and employees too. Touch points that are increasingly important are sustainability and social responsibility. Some seek them as added value, others absolutely insist on them. They are credentials that are increasingly valuable assets. So too good employment practice, but they have to become known.
What matters to matters consumers, matters to employees. There is little disconnect. The most effective way to engage both at the same time is to create social media content in the form of storytelling based on long term strategy. Social media is an exceptionally good platform for narrative, and like all great story telling, there should be plots, heroes and villains. The villains could be single use plastics, the hero a particular company department, and the plot one in which the antihero is eliminated.
Stories does not have to unfold quickly. In some respects, it is more engaging if the audience follows a work in progress. It envelopes them in developments. Brings them closer. It is important not to reveal all in one off internal push statements. A standalone bulletin is like a message pinned to a noticeboard. It too often gets ignored.
Strategic planning is, however, essential, and should be based on psychographic and demographic analysis. An analytical understanding of audience and motivations, interests, and what bigger mission they want to see or be part of, reveals the critical ‘why’ of staff, consumers and future recruits.
In terms of recruitment, it should be remembered that Facebook users can be targeted by job title, and it is possible to aim a compelling picture of company at the best talent, and they will visualise themselves working there.
Without audience analysis there is no way of understanding what content will work and what won’t. Failed messaging equates to spam, the audience is lost, and once lost it is very difficult to win back. Losing the audience is an important factor in the Great Resignation.
The other fundamental to success is integrity. Virtue signalling is currently one of the nation’s pet hates, whether it comes from politicians, celebrities, brands or managers in sport. A cynical public has keenly tuned radar for bogus claims, and when identified there is little chance of redeeming credibility.
Making promises and announcing plans does not impress. Intention is easy. Substance is what counts, even if it involves small steps. Audiences will follow journeys from the beginning if intention is genuine, and told in the right way. They will also forgive mistakes if honestly made. They don’t expect perfection, and they know that a lot of the subjects concerned are unchartered.
Frequency rate of posts is important. With the exception of Twitter, messaging more than three times per week risks falling into the category of spam. What is of essential importance – and this goes back to why analytics is so important – is different content for different social media platforms. This is because each attracts a different demographic. Emphasis on one element of a story will be important for some, but less so for others. Each message should be tailored based on audience data.
Inevitably some within HR will look social media and see another commitment among a growing list. But there is another way to look at it. It is a great problem solver, and motivator. It is effective for employee retention and performance improvement, and the best showcase you can have to put before target recruits.
It should also be realised HR departments should not be alone in creating strategy and content. Because company social media will also be targeting consumer prospects, marketing departments have a shared role, plus any third party specialist social media consultants. There is no need to be left to run social media alone.
