Is social media relevant to the HR pro?

If you are curious about social media, have been to an HR conference, or a local SHRM meeting you’ve probably heard plenty about social media. Did you bite though? Did you sign up for a Twitter account?

Or maybe you just wrote it off as a fad?

Well, social media isn’t a fad.

Social media has done a lot for me and my career. As I’ve detailed before, having a big network with tons of connections is a great thing regardless where you are at in your career.

But I don’t think social media is the answer.

What?!

Stay with me. Here is the key, if you want to be successful on social media you have to be:

a great networker
or aspire to be a networker
or at the least be outgoing, open-minded and interested in other people

By the way I fall in that last category. I still struggle with the networking thing because I tend to be a bit shy; I’m not a born net-worker but I am open-minded, somewhat outgoing and have an interest in people.

The people who fit in the above categories are the people who are successful at social media. It is because they put effort into connecting with others, they would be successful regardless if it was online or in person.

The act of signing up for a Twitter account will not change anything. You have to be willing to interact with others. You have to be willing to follow others.

By the way, signing up for a Twitter account, locking it down and/or logging on once a week is not engaging in social media. I hate when people do that and then say “I tried Twitter, it was dumb.” No. You didn’t try Twitter; you made a half-ass attempt.

So to answer the question Anita is asking: “Do we need social media in HR?” “Is social media relevant to HR?” The answer is Yes and Yes! But only to the extent that you go into it with the right mindset.

Social media is not going to cure the following recurrent HR ills: crappy candidates, being the policy police, lack of an HR seat at the table or the general lack of respect HR gets.

But it will give you access to an extraordinary number of people who are willing to talk about and share their struggles and triumphs in HR. The kind of people who want to help their employees and their organization and they do that in a ton of different voices: sincerity, sarcasm, snark, humor and in serious tones as well.

Trust me, these are conversations you don’t want to miss! If you aren’t already follow me on Twitter, or connect with me over Facebook or LinkedIn.

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Melissa Fairman in Social Media 1 Comment

No Second Chances

This post originally appeared on Project Social HR. Unfortunately, the site is no longer active but you can still view past posts on HR and social media, I would encourage you to check it out it out when you have a minute.

When you make the decision to venture into social media keep in mind that HR is always held to a higher standard and should be. Think about it: we work with people at their highest and lowest points; we are the standard bearers of company ethics. It’s only right that we should be held accountable to the same standards or even higher. Once your credibility is shot you don’t get a second chance to rebuild it.

With that said there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to participate in social media as many people do. It’s just that there are a few things I want you to keep in mind:

Be prepared: Your tweets, blogs, status updates, etc.; will be scrutinized. Before you post something think about how it could be construed if someone read it at your company. Frustrated by an employee relations issue? Don’t post about it if the employee’s identity could be ascertained. You are running the risk of violating privacy and ethics rules. Rule of thumb: If your message could be misconstrued don’t post it.
Don’t overshare – it’s a fine line on this one. Nothing wrong with posting pics of yourself having a good time but you probably want to leave out any pics that involve you and a stripper pole. Rule of thumb: a picture of you drinking an adult beverage is no big deal, every other picture of you with an adult beverage (or doing shots) not so good.
Make sure you understand how to use social media. Many people have gotten tripped up on Twitter, thinking they sent a DM (direct message) when in fact they sent a public Tweet. The result was not good. Rule of thumb: Understand how social media sites and their privacy settings work. I don’t post something unless it’s suitable for public consumption. Save your non-PC rants for your family!

I’m going to stop here now because I don’t want to scare you away. Being in HR and social media isn’t brain surgery, just use some common sense. You know your company better than I do so think about those boundaries before you post. Remember you never get a second chance to build credibility! One it’s gone, it’s gone!