Employer Brands and Social Media - Paul Harrison's presentation from The Year Ahead Conference

Last week I started a mini-series of posts about the key elements from each speaker’s presentation at the Enhance Media the Year Ahead Conference.   Paul Harrison, Managing Partner of Carve Consulting, spoke about “Employer brands: the opportunities and threats of the social media”. 

During his presentation Paul talked about how sites such as blogs, social networks/business networks, wikis and other user-generated media such as YouTube are being used (with or without the employer’s consent) and how they should be used for employer branding.

He started by showing some pages from Facebook about Sainsburys.  Whether they know it or not Sainsburys already has a significant presence on Facebook (over 500 groups).  There are user groups for disgruntled employees, people from specific stores posting stories, and discussions around “the worst manager”.  After we’d all had a (in some cases uncomfortable) laugh about the Sainsburys example Paul then moved onto the more serious case of an Argos employee who was sacked after setting up an anti-Argos Facebook account.  Interestingly there was a delegate present from Argos who said that they have a very strict internet usage policy in place and in fact they have had to sack around 30 people for similar activities.

Paul then talked through some of the reasons why he thinks social media conversations matter.

1. External Perception.  For anyone reading this sort of thing can have a negative impact on their perception of the organisation.
2. Internal Perception. There is no question that the some of the material he skimmed through could undermine staff morale, foster discontentment, and encourage the wrong type of behaviours.
3. Damage to online employer brand.  He suggests that around 90% of candidate applications are made online so the online channel is critical at the “point of sale”.  Negativity here can hit candidates before they engage – to the point where they no longer wish to consider the potential client.
4. It’s the future.  The social media, as they evolve, will become a key battleground in the war for talent – and if your organisation has no understanding of the dynamics of these spaces today, then it has little prospect of prospering tomorrow.

So now that we all understood why social media is critical to employer brand and candidate engagement Paul suggested how to move forward.

Firstly organisations should listen to social media.  They should create responsibility for regularly checking key environments and use web tools for automatic monitoring. Once you know what is taking place you have the opportunity to do something about it.

Organisations should define a strategy. As Paul says there are no gurus and your organisation needs to choose its own path. However, his tips are to:
- Remember the context in which the material is being posted
- Remember that online interactions remain searchable. So think before you act
- Demonstrate you’re listening and try to counter negativity
- Identify small problems before they become big ones
- Encourage positive contributions (eg, create a space for employees to speak about your organisation in a positive way via blogs, Facebook groups, etc)
- Create a dialogue with potential candidates and existing staff – a blog is an easy way to start

In conclusion Paul says that social media should be embraced, and that the risks are outweighed by the opportunities to develop broader, richer, deeper relationships with your stakeholders   You should create an achievable roadmap (what you want to see happen).  Finally, listen, learn and engage at every opportunity. 

This week’s newsletter contains a summary of Westley Gillard of Zappy Media’s presentation from the Enhance event. 

Comments

[JumpToJobs.co.uk]

I fully agree that organisations should embrace social media by encouraging positive contributions from employees.

I think that by giving the opportunity for potential candidates to communicate with existing staff via a blog is a fantastic way for employers to seek new and fresh talent in a very positive manor.

Richard

JumpToJobs.co.uk