Social media has changed much about the world of work in the last few years. It has implications for the way we recruit, the way we manage internal communication, build our employer brand, even the way that we learn. Internal social media networks are on the rise, as are Social CEOs.
But it doesn’t stop there. Social media has profound implications for a subject close to the heart of many HR professionals and business leaders: employee engagement.
Gemma Dale has previously blogged here on myhrtoolkit about employee engagement and employee experience.
Whichever definition you adopt, employee engagement is all about the relationship between an organisation and its employees. A brief look through the theory will tell you that individual engagement is influenced by many factors, including engaging leaders, strong organisational narrative and organisational integrity. It’s true to say it’s also about communication, working environment, company culture, and of course, the individual employee experiences that take place every day.
Another key driver of employee engagement is employee voice. Put simply, employee voice is the ability that employees have to put forward their views on the organisation. This voice may be heard through a trade union, an employee engagement survey… or perhaps the employee’s favourite social media platforms. It is inevitable that employees will talk about their work on social media – that’s one of the reasons having an HR social media policy is so important.
On social media, voice works both ways. When employees are engaged, they will be more likely to share your content or talk about you positively – spreading your brand message and promoting your jobs. Research shows that people consistently trust the shares and views of real people over a corporate website. Your employees could be your biggest social advocates – if you encourage them.
More and more organisations are launching internal social media platforms such as Yammer or Workplace by Facebook. When used to their best effect, these networks can help to create the conditions for collaboration. The impact of internal communication on employee engagement should not be underestimated. Social media can help create and share the organisational story, as well as allowing employees to connect outside their immediate teams and departments. Internal social media is all about building relationships.
More and more leaders are beginning to understand the power of social leadership. Social media is a brilliant tool to allow senior managers to put a face to their leadership, talk directly to the people that work for them irrespective of geography and hierarchy, and yes, listen too. Leaders who tweet, share or blog and are present on the same networks as their employees, can be inspiring – and more importantly, support employee engagement.
As you can see, social media and employee engagement truly is a winning combination. So if you want to get more social at your organisation in order to gain those employee engagement benefits, what can you do?