A World of Possibilities

Let us start with the facts that people are spending more and more time on social media…during office hours and at home. People Love social media… Some people love to tweet and others enjoy the social interaction on Facebook. You might be pleasantly surprised to find out that your employees are a gold mine of energy and enthusiasm when it comes to social media…now the trick is to harness that power during work hours to help the company stay top of mind and make your team feel even more excited about their jobs. Maybe the person doing your filing or answering the telephone loves to read and write outside of work and would be thrilled to help with the company’s social media efforts.

Maybe it’s time to re-visit all those resumes only this time look at them from a social media point of view…and if you’re writing a new resume maybe you should start including little items you never before thought important, social skills that compliment your current talents.

One of the fabulous ideas I’ve seen and read about recently is how employees are being included in the social media plan by having them write about their department. Not only does it educate other employees but it allows for a better understanding of the diversity of each area within the company. This gives the company a much fuller existence and is very intriguing to a lot of people while being highly educational.

Slowly leaving the corporate world are the jobs belonging to just one person. Today a “Jack or All Trades “is a popular and valuable employee.

What I am talking about is utilizing social media by being inclusive of all the people on your payroll. Collective contribution of the employees. Making each person feel needed and important within their role at the company.

How it works

You will need to create an overall GOAL for your company’s social media….really think about what is important to the company and what you are trying to carry out. Once you have completed this first task consider having a group gathering where you ask everyone to comment on your preliminary goals. Ask your employees who is using social media already and ask those who are not if it is something that is of interest to them.

You definitely need to bring in a social media consultant to talk with your  team about each aspect of social media and how it can help power a company’s marketing or keep the company brand top of mind to loyal costumers and future business.

Once you have an idea of how your team feels begin a training schedule and do not overwhelm them with too much, take it easy, make this a six month goal… but make it fun, adding more work to anyones already large job jar is not enticing and will be looked at as pressure….

Taking Advantage of all the Tools

In today’s social media world there are some fabulous tools available to watch your success and check what is working and what you don’t feel is having any impact on business. You will know and you’ll be amazed at how social media within organizations have created the new chat around the water cooler.

Get a company blog going and feed it into your company Facebook Business Page, integrate Video to add more variety, statistics tell us pictures and video are number one when it comes to what people like to view on social media. Send your Facebook posts into your Twitter as a Tweet…. Create a dashboard with Hootsuite and get some training, it is unbelievable what you can do today. Don’t miss valuable marketing time by thinking social media is going away..It’s Not!

The most important message is look within your own company at the value your employees hold, they are a gold mine of resourceful marketing ideas and talents.

On May 16th 2012 there is an incredible opportunity for your company to get started…SocialHRCamp Vancouver  Why not sign a group of your employees up for the Social Media HR event of the year in Vancouver…this is definitely a place for them to learn and get excited about social media for business…and guess what you’ve included your most valuable resource…your employees…

Have too many to choose who should go..run a contest or draw names from a hat…just do it!…show your own enthusiasm and lead by example.

Cheers!

Heather Clifford lives in beautiful Nanaimo BC and teaches hands on social media clinics and consulting all around this gorgeous province. Follow me on Facebook for all the latest tips and tricks “Keep It Simple Social Media”