Social Media Is Turning Your Company to Glass
Digital reputations permeate our lives, so it’s time to make sure nobody is throwing stones.
As a hiring authority, you need to invest energy in monitoring your organization’s social media reputation. Why is that important? Well, there’s no denying that social media plays an important role in influencing potential candidates and dissuading potential employers. Unfortunately the burden falls on employers’ shoulders because you simply can’t make your company page “private” like employees can.
When candidates are knee-deep in the interview process, they will search for your company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites. This gives them a glimpse at your company and (hopefully for them) a look backstage. Customers, former employees and fans comment on your organization’s profile for all to see with seeming impunity. Besides reinforcing the need to foster a positive brand experience, this transparency affects future interactions with candidates and consumers.
There are three important reasons to manage your company’s social status:
- Engagement. If you find that nobody is discussing your brand, that’s a problem. Social media exists to allow a reach beyond traditional business methods. The social media market is crowded, but if you don’t appear on a person’s radar, you might as well not exist.
- Brand-building. So you are being talked about—in a good way. What do you do with that positive word of mouth? Let everybody else know how good you are.
- Brand-fixing. On the flip side, what if a former employee or customer is saying something negative about you? Research shows that companies who quickly address problems have a better chance at successfully building a positive reach for their brands. If you spot a problem, fix it.
Before your marketing or HR department gets anxious about measuring social media analytics, reassure them that plenty of tools are available. For example, LinkedIn provides a free webtool that lets you measure how many people are engaged with your company. There’s also Glassdoor’s Employer Center, which lets you see what current and former employees are saying about you on the Web. This lets you address problems and highlight achievements to optimize future hiring processes.
A more in-depth discussion of your company’s social media reputation gives you great tips for taking the bull by the horns.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
