Gone are the days of sending around a company newsletter or posting information on the office bulletin board. Technology has well and truly taken over the way businesses communicate and engage with employees. This has actually made it much swifter and more efficient to get in touch with a large workforce, especially for big businesses.
Some organizations might feel as though social media networks are an unwelcomed distraction which may impact productivity levels. However, if you build a robust internal network that encourages knowledge sharing and creative thinking, the pros far outweigh the cons.
Moreover, empowering employees to frequent social media platforms can also have a positive influence on clients and customers. In fact, this can increase exposure and improve reputations among both existing and potential clientele.
Introducing and Implementing an Internal Social Media Network
While there is a glitzy lure of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, an internal social media platform enables employees to focus on work-related tasks, such as mentoring or networking with colleagues. With this internal social media platform, employees can share and discuss tasks, pass on information to offsite teams, or even share information with teams located in different countries at little or no expense.
This internal social platform can also facilitate a greater collaboration and nurturing of ideas, helping to knit teams together and share expertise quickly and effectively. It can also help to arrange social activities among staff that boost morale.
Internal Social Media Networks
To escape the noise of public social networks, computer company, Lenovo, developed its own in-house platform called “Lenovo Social Champions.” This was designed to improve levels of employee engagement and advocacy by integrating news about products, advertising and executive speeches within their social media platform.
“It’s a celebration of being part of the company, it’s a rallying cry,” says Roderick Strother, Director of Digital and Social Care of Excellence at Lenovo. “The platform also increases my visibility since people can share things I write about. It helps my professional credibility too.”
Employee Activity on Public Social Media Networks
Businesses can highly benefit from allowing their employees engage with public social media platforms. By doing so, brands can gain more awareness and improve their overall reputation.
Among the written policies within staff training, a policy should be outlined regarding social media etiquette, as well as a schedule of future activity. This may include easy-to-share content and a schedule of future activity that will streamline whole process as a whole. In addition, a business should also have a sales performance management program that will provide measurable results as to how many customers reacted to the increase in your employees’ social media activity.
Public Social Media Networks
Of the world’s top 100 most valuable brands, Starbucks performs best in terms of social media engagement. The famed coffee chain does so by making social media a part of everyone’s job, but also emphasizing the quality of posts, not only the quantity.
“We live in the physical world with thousands of natural touch points, so when we laid out the vision for our social strategy, it felt like home for the brand,” notes Starbucks VP of brand and content and online, Chris Bruzzo. “It’s about the relationships we form with our customers, not marketing.”
So, if your business is struggling to boost employee engagement levels, consider utilizing the power and potency of social media. Empower your employees by seeing them as brand ambassadors and you’ll reap rewards, ultimately showing customers your human side and allowing your staff to shine.