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

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