1. Is Resistance to Social Media @ Work Futile?
SEO Manager, Community Manager, Mobile App. Developer, Virtual Lead Generator and Recruitment Optimization
Specialist. Most of these jobs were unheard of ten years ago. The high rates of user adoption on social media
platforms have created new jobs to support technological development and new ways of working. Traditional jobs
have also evolved as social tools permeate into our day to day work. Companies have realized they need to embraced
social as part of their overarching strategy in order to remain competitive in the market. Resistance to social media
may not only hinder company performance, but can widen the skill gap between you and your competition in the job
market.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s take a look at Sales as an example. Traditionally sales people
spent a significant amount of time cold calling and cultivating
relationships to build their client base. There were limited ways of
tracking information, let alone mapping out connections. Social media
has revolutionized the approach to lead generation. Virtual networking
help sales people identify, learn and connect with potential and
existing clients by showing recent activity, new connections, job
updates, people movements, status updates, etc. The savvy
salesperson uses social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.) to market themselves, and
research people they want to get in touch in with before making a call. The picture above shows the correlation
between social media usage and lead generation.
Traditional Approach Savvy Approach
• Blind cold calling to generate leads Uses social to research leads/Leverages networks for introductions
• Relies on paper Leverages technology to get real time information on the go
• Manually track clients Leverages social /CRM to track information
• Not on social media Use social media to engage and communicate
How about Marketing? This one is a no brainer. The
introduction of targeted content marketing on the internet
and social platforms means messaging is reaching relevant
audiences. So, if you’re a sales professional you won’t see
job adverts meant for java programmers. Social media data
also provides key insights to understanding consumer
preferences, demographics and metrics around
success/failure of targeted messaging. Content marketing
has also evolved to become interactive. Savvy marketers
know that fostering engagement between the company and their audience through a social forum builds brand
awareness and relationships which can translate to new customers and customer retention.
Traditional Approach Savvy Approach
• Relies on push content strategy Creates an interactive content strategy to foster engagement
• Limited/static social presence Offers content types through a variety of social platforms
• No mobile strategy Optimizes content for mobile

2. Recruiting. Recruitment has typically been an industry leader using social
media for recruitment. New industry terms such as Recruitment 2.0, Social
Recruiting and Social HR have emerged to describe the shifts in recruiters
work and tool kit. Think about it. Job boards, applicant tracking systems and
staffing vendors were key sourcing channels to generate a just in time
candidate pool. However, high memberships on social platforms have
resulted in a shift to proactive sourcing to seek out the best candidate instead of just relying on the applicant pool. The
savvy recruiter participates in social media to promote their brand, connect, search through networks and leverage
managers networks to build proactive pipelines. Savvy campus/college recruiters understand that proactively
cultivating relationships with students and providing a forum to interact builds an emotional connection to the
company and brand.
Traditional Approach Savvy Approach
• Spends time screening out applicants Proactively searches and reaches out to candidates
• Requisition based searches Uses social platforms to build candidate pipelines for key roles
• Relies on career centre postings Cross promotes jobs on social networks
• Only interacts on campus Uses a variety of social platforms to interact
• Opts out of using social media Cross promotes company social media channels to candidates
One last point I want you to think about is the new work force. It
shouldn’t come as a surprise that young people have the highest
uptake on social media platforms (as shown). As they enter the
workforce they have an expectation they will use some sort of social
media platform (internal or external) in their job to collaborate
and/or communicate. The impact is companies have started to
transform the way they communicate, engage and collaborate
internally.
So, to stay relevant and competitive you need to be willing to
embrace new ideas and adopt change. The changing workplace
emphasizes creativity and innovation. Job descriptions now
incorporate using social tools as part of day to day operations. Whichever way you look at it, social media at work is
inevitable. Which means resistance to social media in the workplace is futile.
By Ann Barrett- Director, eRecruitment & Social Media Strategy