Last week, I published a paper in Hotel Business Review (HBR) about the HR challenges created by social media. I believe that social media has made significant impact on almost every HR
function, including job analysis and job design, recruitment and selection,
training and development, compensation plans, performance appraisals,
discipline and retention management, social responsibility, and ethics. Here, I
am not going to restate my discussion in HBR.
I, however, would like to hear your thoughts on this topic by asking some of
the questions I raised in the paper.
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| HR Challenges |
- When companies are adding social media in their daily operations, what responsibilities should be added or deleted from current positions?
- What positions or departments need to be created or eliminated?
- Is it necessary to re-design a company’s organizational structure? If so, how can it be done?
- If it is necessary to create a position called social media manager, what tasks and responsibilities should be included in the job descriptions?
- To whom should a social media manager report to?
- Recruiting and selecting candidates on social media could be effective, but how can companies screen candidates without collecting their sensitive demographic information? Are companies able to defend their hiring decisions in front of EEOC (equal employment opportunity commission)?
- How much training should be provided to those who manage a company’s social media accounts?
- If some internal-communication content (e.g. benefits) needs to be shared on social media for targeted employees, how can it be done? Who should manage the content?
- How do companies design the rate structure for social media officers?
- Since the ROI (return on investment) of social media effort is not easy to measure, how do companies evaluate the performance of a social media officer?
- When every employee is “visible” for competitors on social media, what can a company do to keep its top talent?
- What is a company’s social media policy?
- Who should manage the content about social responsibility and ethics? PR? HR? Marketing? Or a new department called Social Media or Communication?
- What can companies do to ensure that the content about social responsibility and ethics are communicated effectively and efficiently on social media?
- …
What other questions do you have? To help companies cope
with these HR challenges, what suggestions will you offer?
In the end, I believe that companies must put every functional
and operational department, including HR, into consideration when they are
planning for a comprehensive social media strategy. Do you agree?
References:
The picture is downloaded from ArrowPartnership.com
Very interesting questions. Every manager that is thinking about creating social media strategy should really ask these questions. Unfortunately many of them do not. I certainly agree that HR should be included in every social media strategy. Many companies think that the only way how they can use Facebook or other social media is usual promotion. They are not willing to develop it further. This is a huge mistake. Or they have program that is fully outsourced. Then it may look professional, but they are not creating real contact with their customers - the biggest opportunity that social media offer. But in order to do that, you really need to hire right people.
ReplyDeleteRecently I have read good book covering this topic. Its author is Olivier Blanchard and the name of the book is Social Media ROI
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the book. I agree with you 100% and will check out the book. Indeed, social media is not just about marketing even though that's what most companies use social media for (46% of companies being surveyed have the marketing department to manage their social media activities).
DeleteIn the past, "experts" are supposed to know everything. I don't think that will be the case for social media. There are many news things and new discoveries ahead of us. I believe that social-media professionals need to raise questions and actively seek solutions with collaborative effort in the community. Social media is a place where creative minds meet and shine.
Some questions I have include the following: I find asking employees about their management is relevant and wii tell HR at about what these directors are doing to make employees unhappy and feel unappriciated. Why isn't each individual area looked into by HR? Evaluations from staff about management would be helpful, as they know more about their jobs than anyone including their managers. Why doesn't the staff know the duties of HR? Staff often doesn't know what HR does or why and if they should go to them with concerns. Does HR monitor or keep track of new employee training? I've never seen this happen.
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