ReadWriteWeb author Sarah Perez has given us some down to earth reasons a company might not want to dig into social media. Each reason is considered from the management’s point of view, and honestly, that’s not a bad idea.
One item, “You fight with your employees”, might seem obvious but I’d wager it’s not. If your big $ company is like employer, there are bound to be some disgruntled employees. Oh, yeah, you have rallies and lots of spirit rousing things going on. Maybe picnics, free concert ticket giveaways and what-not, but those unhappy ones are out there lurking. Trust me, if you go public in social media, they will be there to meet you.
Dealing with this might seem obvious as well. Heck, we all sign some sort of agreement saying we won’t talk about work outside of work. You know what, that only keeps the loyal ones loyal. * The rest of the folks, well, they’ll bitch and moan as loud as they can get away with. So what do you do? Well, you could walk away from social media and blogs and such, or you could come out and open the discussion with facts. Fact doesn’t mean sales figures, facts means what’s happening in the company from top to bottom.
This will mean that you’ll have to lay out some of the issues disgruntled ones feel drawn to talk about. Chances are those are wage or benefit related. What better way to defuse than to drag those topics out into the open. Talk about them with facts to back them up.
The key is not to talk to each individual about his or her issue, but to provide very public contact points. Provide real people they can contact. Real people to take questions. Real people empowered to make decisions and act on them.
Notice the key is REAL. Don’t outsource these calls. Don’t send to someone who can only say, “I’ll have to refer that to…” Big mistake I’ve seen in companies is people empowered to answer the phone but with zero authority to take action. This is what we call on the Internet, #FAIL.
The wonderful thing about this is that it’s easy to fix. It doesn’t require expensive web design, great typing skills, or even someone with a Masters degree. Just put someone there than can do something when they take a call.
In my experience that isn’t someone in legal or marketing. (just a hint)
I’ve not got all the answers, but real people is a big part of any answer and online experience. If you have a blog, social network presence or a full scale interactive media site, it needs some humans involved. A little heart.
Sarah Perez’s article can be found at RWW.
* I never discuss my employer online as I do not represent them as an online presence. If you have a question related to doing business with my employer, check their website.
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