I am putting the finishing touches on a social networking presentation to the South Puget Sound SHRM Chapter and I wanted to get your take on this question: What do HR people need to know about social media?
- What networks should they be on?
- What opportunities are there?
- What dangers are there?
- Where should they start?
Considering most of the HR pros I’ll be talking with will have limited experience with it, how would you sell the advantages of it?
Throw your take either in the comments or send a message on Twitter with @thelance in it and I’ll include the best ones at the end of the presentation.
I do plan on sharing the slidedeck after the presentation so you can steal it then.
April 12, 2010 at 7:52 am
What networks should they be on? — LinkedIn and Twitter for general purposes.
What opportunities are there? — (1) Twitter is a huge time saver. Last week we needed the new W-11 form from the HRIS to get employee affidavits under the HIRE act. One of my colleagues went to the SHRM site, one went to Google, and I went to Twitter. Guess who found what we needed in less than 30 seconds? The form didn’t turn up at all on the SHRM site. (2) Networking. I’ve now met a number of folks face-to-face that I connected with first on Twitter. These connection are with people all over the U.S. and with people that really have interests that are common to mine. E.g., I’m meeting @jenbenz for coffee tomorrow while she’s in DC for the Metlife conference.
What are the dangers? People do need to remember who is signing their pay check. It would be easy to post something that you might later regret. I’ve also been hearing about people being stalked on FourSquare. Nothing you can’t avoid by exercising a little common sense and only sharing information via location based services with people you know.
Where should they start? With Twitter, I followed the Tweets from the 2009 SHRM conference. After a couple of weeks, I started Tweeting. Nine months after that, I strated blogging.
I’m looking forward to seeing your slides. I’m always trying to get more of our staff to experiment a little. It’s surprising how reluctant some folks are.
April 12, 2010 at 8:24 am
Social media is a lot about marketing. If you watch The Apprentice, it’s all about figuring out your demographic or audience. Who are you marketing to? Find out who your audience is and who you want to attract and what social media tools they are using. For example, Gen Y’ers may be on Brazen Careerist but professionals may be more likely on LinkedIn.
Just because many people are on Twitter, it doesn’t mean you have to jump on the bandwagon. Know about each tool and what it’s uses are and be strategic about which tools you start using.
April 12, 2010 at 8:52 am
HR People need to know about how to “Control It!”
Just joking.
It would be good to point out they first must undertstand (1) what their business does, then (2) understand how their employees are using Social Media, and (3) use 1 & 2 to identify where they should be i.e. FB, Linkin, etc. oh and point (4) let them know they should get off the mind-set of trying to “Control it”
Good Luck
April 12, 2010 at 9:51 am
What networks should they be on? Twitter and LinkedIn are 2 great first steps but any of the communities like ERE or recruiting blogs would be great steps too. The goal: to get their feet wet.
What opportunities are there? Networking with colleagues, learning from other professionals and access to so many resources – article and journal links, ideas, other people’s time, blogs.
What dangers are there? Dangers? Time management gone south – can be overwhelming at first and eat up hours on end. Use common sense – - – know who you are connecting with, don’t say anything on line you wouldn’t say to someone’s face and be professional at all times.
Where should they start? At the beginning and take it in small bites. Follow some blogs, set up a twitter account and make one connection at a time.
April 13, 2010 at 3:18 am
A recruiting strategy should not revolve around social media tools. Twitter and Facebook won’t fill your requisitions. That’s just dumb.
April 13, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I think one thing to emphasize is to take it slow. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with just reading and watching what others do. I did that for a few weeks before I ever tweeted or left a blog comment. Once I had left some comments and had my tweets under me, I thought I could add more to the conversation and started the blog (almost a year ago today!). There are so many amazing tools available for free. The benefits I’ve received from my own participation are many, but most of them center around better, more personalized information gathering and personal networking.
There are people out there who have already conquered the problems you are currently facing. Social media can help you to find them and save yourself a lot of trouble!
April 13, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I use Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace, and ZoomInfo. I work in Workers Compensation Risk management. They are great for finding out what people truly value, if they are just drama queens, or if they have some serious professional side, and truly care about their career. If you want to really know the candidate, or employee, the more information you have,the more sound decisions you can make.