Customer Experience

By adaptive - March 21st, 2014

Don’t be the business that makes a bad mistake when implementing a vibrant internal social media strategy

This series has looked closely at how corporations can leverage social media principles internally to improve efficiency right across their enterprises. In this concluding article, we ask organisations to share the pitfalls and mistakes that need to be avoided when implementing an Enterprise Social Network (ESN).

The RSA Group launched Yammer, an internal social networking hub, 12 months ago and now has 6,800 users of which over half are actively engaged by Liking or posting a message every day. You can read a more in-depth analysis of their success with Yammer in the first article in this series.

For Jenny Burns RSA Global Head of Social Media, it is vital to the success of any internal social tool that it is seen as a pull rather than as a push channel. “We’ve let Yammer grow organically and, other than a very clear Terms of Use policy, there is no other corporate control. Managers join conversations rather than lead or create them,” she says. “Internal social media can increase employee engagement and one of the biggest drivers of this is the ability to share views and have them listened to, and acted upon. Social provides the perfect platform for this.”

Michaela Clement-Hayes, Content Manager at FusePump adds a new dimension to this, one that every business needs to be aware of moving forward: “It’s crucial to emphasise that an internal social media group or platform is just that – internal,” she says. “As long as people are aware of this, then it should remain a positive asset to any business.”

Trust is important. Corporations need to trust that their employees will behave appropriately on social media channels and they need to be clear about any forms of monitoring that are used to moderate or manage social networks that are in play. The rules need to be explained and staff who are not accustomed to social media, or who don’t recognise the benefit, should be given time to adapt and learn.

A guiding hand

A recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development ‘Social Technology, social business’ found that many of those surveyed had the view that social media leads to information overload and, according to HR professionals, the most common reason for restricting or banning social media was IT security, followed by concerns about employee productivity.

“This suggests that in most organisations, our mastery of the technology is not yet developed enough to make social media a very reliable communication tool across the board,” says Jonny Gifford, research advisor at CIPD, “And to either a lack of trust or a view that social media is superfluous to people’s jobs.”

There is also the mistake of rejecting or ignoring constructive feedback through these forums, especially if they don’t attack the company. Benoit Thorp, Social Media Strategist at Cafe2U, says: “This creates uncertainty and a lack of trust and a lesser feeling of belonging. Talk to, don’t talk at.”

Trust is not the only issue that needs to be addressed while forming the boundaries and guidelines of your ESN. According to Thorp there needs to be a tight social media policy that gets into the hands of the internal audience and explains exactly what type of engagement is suitable, what is actively encouraged and what is out of bounds.

“Your stakeholders need to know that this isn’t a forum of negativity,” he adds. “Not engaging or listening to the concerns of your internal audience is also a big no-no. You must set up a pipeline that allows your franchisees to regularly share their news with you which makes for great content and also helps personalise the brand.”

The big Instagram

It’s also probably a good idea to explain to your stakeholders exactly what is planned, how it will work and why it will add value to the business. Giving them the chance to become involved with the implementation of your internal social media systems from the outset will be far more inclusive and likely to inspire participation.

Jacqui Walford, Director of Marketing and Business Development at HLB Mann Judd says: “Involve key stakeholders early and provide them with the big picture. The reasons why you are introducing internal social media and the expected benefits to the business. I would also advise you to recruit people within the business to be ‘champions’ and explain to them how you would like them to use it.”

Add to that an intention to train the users and to not assume that everyone will be comfortable with the technology from the outset. Some users may feel intimidated by the learning curve and this has the potential to foster negativity and stop people from engaging with the systems you just spent a lot of money implementing.

Louise Dunckley, Online Marketing Manager at Bishop’s Move adds: “Forcing people to adopt an internal social network and setting too many terms and conditions to its use are a big mistake. Many people are already on Facebook, Twitter and Google and simply do not want to have to learn another system.”

That said, with the right training, encouragement and support, a successful ESN can bring staff from different departments together. It can allow for interactions across rooms, continents and countries and put names to all the faces floating in the corporate sea. The potential is there, but corporations need to adopt a solution that fits with their work model, employee age, mindset and budget. The advantages of collaboration, transparency and efficiency are too good to miss in today’s competitive economic climate.

[Image Source: Freedigitalphotos.net]