Converting the Disengaged to the Church of Social Media
Just the other evening, On Episode 55 Steve Boese had a guest that reminded me of the first HR Blog I ever read. I would also be remiss in not mentioning that Suzanne Lucas also started the Carnival of HR. I am not exactly sure when that was probably about 4 years ago or so. It got me to thinking about how far this whole medium has come in a very short time. The Evil HR Lady did and still uses a Google blog. Today Google blogs are viewed as somewhat less than feature rich, and when she started blogging, at that time adding pictures to a blog site then was really pushing the envelope.
Now when I compare that to what is going on today, with things like HR Happy Hour and Drive Thru HR (Both on Blog talk Radio), plus video feeds that are used daily in blogs,on you tube, Facebook as well as the other video outlets, it is really amazing how fast all of this technology has come to fruition. Further, today there is a seemingly endless supply of HR blogs, now, adding me to that list.
This really isn’t news to those of you who follow this, but it did get me thinking about the naysayers. Those of us who are dues paying members to the Church of Social Media know and get that this. All of this is stuff is fascinating, intriguing and really fun. Mike VanDervort speaking at HRevolution said something about blogging that I took to heart. Mike said, It keeps me learning.€ That is about as succinct as it can be. But how do we push this to those who are disinterested in Social Media, or to use an HR term disengaged.
All of these tools and things that we (the converted) play with in blogging, social media and the like all have legitimate business purpose, if you know how to use them. Herein lies the disconnect; they (those who have not been proselytized) don’t understand this. They do not see ROI here..
Today, literally any person can shoot a video and put it up on Youtube. Young children are posting on Youtube. Should not a college educated professional be able to figure this out? These are employee communication TOOLS, available to everyone. Even a CEO or CFO (maybe with a little help) could record a podcast/audio message and distribute it to the entire Company, that way all employees could hear the same thing from the Company’s top executive. It’s green (no paper) too! There are many options available that are free for the taking, google blogs, youtube, linkedin groups, Facebook pages/groups. They are all there for free via the internet AND if you are not using them you are going to be left in the weeds, or said another way. You will be scratching your unemployed a–, trying to figure out what you should have done.
So if you have any friends in HR that are dead set against this Social Media stuff; send them a link to this post, while they still are still employed and have email at work.
Our honest & controversial guest blogger on Blogging4Jobs is Dave Ryan. Dave has been in HR since it was called Personnel. Dave is active with SHRM in many different aspects. Dave is also a certified U.S.A. Hockey Official and a frequent speaker at local colleges who speaks about H.R. topics and social media in the workplace. Dave enjoys reading blogs, staying current on H.R. topics, officiating ice hockey, golf, computers and all gadgets electronic. You can find Dave on LinkedInDavetheHRCzar. and on twitter, @davethehrczar.
6 Comments
Yep, it’s here to stay. The inherent ROI is in recognizing that that’s how people communicate these days: http://ls-workgirl.blogspot.com/2010/07/got-passion.html.
Good for Evil HR Lady for sticking to Blogger (although I wish they’d support trackback).
This post inadvertently hit the nail on the head by virtue of the reference to the Church of Social Media. That is it exactly. Those IN the church do so on the basis of faith and belief, not facts and data, and describe those outside of the church as people who do not “get it, the one true way”.
That’s typical of religions, we know, you don’t, and I’ll tell you it’s all both insulting and wrong. The reason many reject social media as business tool is that the data to support it over other alternatives is either very poor, misinterpreted, or completely absent, and if you actually look for them, you will find thousands of businesses who have tried social media, failed at it and quietly left. Nobody talks about those.
That’s not to say that social media is useless. It has uses, but not even close to what the reverends contend. That will become evident in the next few years. It’s based on hype and hope just the way it was in the 90’s for the web in general. By and large the claims and hopes were bogus then, as were the business models,and thousands of people suffered as a result.
It is kind of funny that as an HR person it is infinitely easier to leverage the new technology platforms like blogs, podcasts, etc. for your own personal development that it is to utilize these same tools and approaches inside your organization, or at the ‘day job’ so to speak. I think things will move in that manner inside more organizations, but I do think it will be a slow process. Thanks for the kind mention of the HR Happy Hour show – tell two friends about it today!
Ann -thanks for your comments.
Steve – thanks for you comments and your efforts; love your show!
Robert – thanks for your comments, while we may disagree on a few points we do agree there is a certain amount of “faith” needed to make the leap.
I have found social media applications good for employee searches, networking and helping to market our products. I feel they will continue show ROI for business. So to this point mine is a success story. Perhaps your efforts have not been as fruitful as mine. – The Reverend! 🙂
Actually, Dave, no doubt some businesses will get ROI, though there will be almost NO GOOD data to support that position. Most will not, and most ARE not, which is why they have been abandoning their accounts in droves, without telling you.
I’m at the point where I believe even people such as yourself who claim ROI either haven’t measured it, haven’t calculated the input costs, or simply do not know themselves what’s going on with their businesses. Seriously. You may be the exception.
Apostately yours.
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