Your Employees Are Getting Social: Are You ready?

I have always believed that the employees are the best ambassadors of the company, its brands and products. The companies need employees to be represented in front of customers, competitors, and even future employees. It is clear for all of us that if employees are happy, they will share it with the people around- in offline or online scenarios. Online, for example, they will share pictures of the company events or they will tweet about the good time they have at work. Their friends will get this info (and maybe they will get jealous, too) and they will ask for more information and maybe for a job in that “so good” company. Other case could be when your employee’ friends can be your customers, and they will be buying your products, inspired by the company guy’s comments.

With the reach of the social media, the messages that you employees are delivering are part of the company communication, in an easier, informal and yet more powerful way.

The power social media has given to employees can be intimidating for many managers, especially if they are not familiar with the new channels. If as a manager you are getting anxious and even stressed because this is something that you cannot control, it is moment to take it easy -to take it forward. You cannot avoid social media anymore. You cannot control the employees’ communication but, you can help them to understand the importance of their communication and the role they play in increasing your company online presence.

  

The debate about prohibiting to use or to check the channels at work or not has been on the table for a while. Prohibiting employees to take part of the conversation can be more a problem than a solution. Ignoring the role that your employees can play in this social media game just because they don’t master the channels is a fail, too. Instead, arranging some basic workshop on how to use the media, what kind of tonality is appropriate, etc. might help you to canalize the message in the right direction and especially, to avoid negative surprises in the future. The most important thing to remember is to use this workshop to encourage your employees and to improve their confidence in using social media.

The social media channels are inexpensive and give you access to the entire world. See social media as a networking channel which will help you spreading your message and get fans and followers. Employees can see what is happening around your product and in your business. They can also perceive the direction that the industry is taking, and therefore, react on time and innovate.

If you are in one of those industries in which social media is not yet a common practice, enjoy, you are very lucky. Don’t wait for the other companies to go ahead, you have the chance to show how to do it first. Social media is happening, you cannot avoid this anymore.

Your Social Media Channel Is Not Your Warehouse

The social media channels have been there for a while, however, there are still many companies just taking baby steps developing their social media strategy. It is never too late to start using those but, do not try to put all the information that you have accumulated during the last decades on the new channels. Social Media Marketing is not just about getting the traditional marketing material, the old content, on Facebook. We don’t want to have #throwback –everyday. 

Social Media is to think outside the box: 

 

I believe that social media is for fresh content. Do you agreed?


The good thing of these channels is that those have challenged us to see the content in a complete different way. Social media is about interaction, interesting things, new visual approaches, taking risks and a bit of urgency, too. Don’t forget to innovate, to think out of the box and especially, to have fun.

If you don’t know how to use Twitter yet, look around, is any digi-native out there? Put your pride on the warehouse and enjoy the journey. Social media does not need to be a torture. I can promise that, if you find your soul-mate “some” channel, you will love it to death.

I have been very lucky. I have had the opportunity to work in different business areas and to move from consumer oriented business to business-to-business (and vice versa). The way we do marketing and communication is quite different in both environments but, the truth is that the readers are all human beings, who will fall sleep and leave your site if you just give boring “yesterday news”. It does not matter how important that old picture or that old newspaper article is for you.

So, before writing your next 140 characters, take a deep breath and share something to shake your business and to engage new followers. Be patient and constant, you cannot get your first 1000 fans on one shot and therefore, you cannot get sales results by dropping two lines. Be realistic!

The Tone Of Your Internal Communication

During my days as communicator I (have) learned that managers don’t need to share everything they know but, they should always keep the communication open and positive. It encourages employees to take part of the company conversation and the development. It also increases their commitment. I know, I could go deeply and talk about the role of the cultural differences in this open and positive communication understanding, but let’s keep that for later…
 

My point this time is that even if the message is essential, the tone plays as important role as the message itself. If the tone is positive, you can see the results in the company atmosphere:employees are enthusiastic and optimistic. It is like they can get energy and good vibes from the message. However, if the tone is negative, everything will suck, as simple as that. 

The tone is the message:

• Keep the tone positive even in the most challenging times -especially in the most challenging times.
• Get the vision right and well explained: whatever you want to achieve with your company, with your team or even with your colleague, be clear. People cannot read your mind. Get it right, explain it, repeat!
• Focus: The only case in which you should be extinguishing fires everywhere is if you are you are a fireman. If you are not, quit this hobby. If you have problem focusing: select three main topics and talk about those. We humans cannot digest all the info at the time, we will not even remember more than three or four basic points.
• Share the right message in the right way: all your team members are different. Use different channels but, especially use the appropriate content and way of talking when you communicate with them.
• Increase urgency: If you are facing challenging time, don’t wait, prioritize communication. Use it for example, to push the team to get the goal, to inspire and to get the commitment. Don’t use the urgency as an excuse to talk about results or the lack of it. Don’t use urgency to be a pain or to push the limits (and the patience) of your team members.
• Remove obstacles: So if you see that something is not working. Talk! Stop ignoring the situation, stop complaining about it and find out –seriously- the obstacles. Take action.  
• Stop taking care of everything: the company communication is no a one man show. Let your team take part of it. Their way can be also a good way.
• Be consistent:  Sync your messages, tone and actions. Always!

Communication, formal or informal, should be a continuous process in any organization. Practice this often and seriously. If you are facing a challenge finding the right way to communicate or finding the way to develop your internal communication, look for advice. Communication is an investment.