10 Easy Ways To Build Social Media Into Your HR Practice

Each time I travel and meet new people at various speaking engagements, people ask for ideas on how they can incorporate social into their HR practice or their business in general.  There are more ways than I can possibly list, but I came up with ten that are relatively simple to implement.

My plan is to give a brief description today, then provide more detailed posts about the steps to actually accomplish each one.

10 Easy Ways to Build Social Media into Your HR Practice:

• Tweet your jobs-  It’s becoming common for companies today to have a company Twitter account.  Make sure that at a minimum, your recruiters are sharing their job openings on Twitter.  They should also tweet reasons candidates would want to work at your company, share awards or recognition the company has received and in general, any positive messages about the organization.
• Engage with candidates on Twitter and Linkedin-  The key to closing a candidate on a specific position is the ability of the recruiter and interviewers in connecting and engaging with the candidate.  Connect proactively with the candidate on sites like Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Find HR resources on Twitter, then connect-  Twitter has a “Lists” feature where you can search for specific types of people who use the medium.  Search for other HR professionals or recruiters then start following.  Even if they are not following you yet, “tweet” at them and introduce yourself. It’s a great way to build your network and add valuable HR resources to your practice.
• Strengthen your employer brand with FourSquare- Make sure that your organization, or each of the locations, is listed on FourSquare.  Encourage employees to “check in” each day and once they do, encourage them to leave “Tips” on why it’s great to work there.  This is a great way to strengthen your brand and you can easily reward employees who are most active.
• Reach out to passive candidates via FourSquare–  One tactic I’ve heard about may be a bit controversial but in times where there is a talent shortage in certain skill sets, you may need to try innovative ways to connect.  Post open jobs in locations near your target candidate market.
• Use a blog to communicate HR news- Not everyone or every company should have a blog.  However, if you have at least one person (exec or HR team member) who is committed to writing, a blog is a great way to share HR news.  The key is also having someone who can respond to comments and questions that come in from employees.
• Create podcasts for employees- Do leaders have regular meetings about the health of the organization?  Do you have HR activities like annual benefit enrollment, merit increases, performance reviews and such?  If so, you can use podcasting as a way to save key information in a format that is easy for employees to listen to anywhere and with minimal time needed.
• Post YouTube video showing what it is like to work at your company–  Another way to strengthen your brand is to ask employees to record videos of what they like about working at your company.  These videos can be posted on your intranet, on the company site or via sharing sites like YouTube.  It’s a great way to engage both current and potential employees.
• Reward employees who share positive company messages using social platforms– Instead of being the company that monitors social platforms to catch employees posting things that are considered wrong, catch them posting messages that are positive about the company.  Set up an incentive program to encourage positive participation on social media.
• Create a LinkedIn Alumni group-  LinkedIn is the one platform employees and employers tend to agree is the most business focused.  Since membership is on the rise, take advantage and set up organization groups to drive interaction.  Specifically, don’t forget about your employees who are leaving the company.  Ask each one to join an alumni group and use it as a way to remain connected, share company news, and provide information on the industry.

There you have it- ten quick things you can do to amp up your HR team’s involvement in social media.  Stay tuned over the next two weeks for more detailed “how to” posts on each of the items.  

What have you done to get your HR team involved in social?  Share in the comments.