The global HR community has been quite slow to adopt social media into their business practices.  It’s not the latest HR “aha” but it is a call to action.  Tick tock.  There are many reasons and perspectives on why and what to do next and we’re shaking it up and shaking them down in this He Said/She Said discussion.

He Said is the voice of Jeff Waldman, Founder of SocialHR Camp, and She Said is the voice of is Salima Nathoo, Founder of Glow Consulting & SocialHR Camp Organizer.

The Proverbial “Seat at the Table”

HE SAID: Sigh… how many times have we heard about this?  HR deserves a seat the executive table.  I believe, successfully adopting social media into HR practices strategically will absolutely get that seat.  Social media positively impacts so many core functions within HR (talent attraction, new employee orientation, performance management and more) that the results can be off the charts.

SHE SAID: HR already has a seat at many tables.  It’s embedded in conversations about productivity, workforce planning and high potential talent.  The problem is that the shiny new seat at table is rooted in a conventional paradigm—where it seems more appropriate to listen long before leading.  HR is still playing the cost center role instead of taking its place as a center of innovation in every aspect of the strategic and tactical HR leadership job description.

WE SAY:  “Rear view mirror” thinking creates tunnel vision and organizations can’t afford to consciously stay in the dark about social media adoption.  It’s no longer just a war for talent, it’s a global battle for business development and market penetration, and HR is on the frontlines.

Brand is EVERYTHING

HE SAID: We live in a “brand everything” world.  Brand strength is one of the biggest core competitive advantages that any organization can possess.  Brand dictates purchasing decisions because it hits right at the core of each person; that “gut feeling” that we all have about anything.  It does not matter if you’re making a decision to buy a new laptop or picking your next company to work at.

SHE SAID: We all have a brand, already—all of us—as individuals, enterprises and causes.  But does our brand read like a story?  Does our organization’s brand breathe like the people whose individual identities are storylines of the biography of the company?  Good brands have a pulse.  Are your customers and talent feeling the beat on the social street?  It’s about time they did.

WE SAY: A strong brand is what matters, one that has elements of universal connection (shared values), and that can be discovered when and where it matters.  Social media is about conversation and its reach is instantly global.  Make your brand talk in a way that community, candidates, and customers listen.  Imagine the impact it has your organizational vitality.

We’re All Passive/Active Candidates.

HE SAID: I believe that any single person would change organizations if the right opportunity came along.  We have one foot in and one foot out, all the time.  Most people have multiple online profiles: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, About.me splash page and so forth.  Why would a hiring organization not go to the social platforms to hunt down the myriad of public profiles that includes best possible candidates out there?

SHE SAID: Of course we have one foot out the door all the time—we’re career candidates, it’s how we live—constantly testing the waters to see if it’s the best temperature to dive in and catch the next wave to ignite our potential.  Those waves are social conversations that are started by organizations that mean what they say and sell what they mean beyond the job board and career site.  HR has the power to be the wave that people want to ride.  PS It’s a social sunset.

WE SAY: Social media is the single most impactful communications channel today.  The level of social media engagement directly correlates to the quality of future talent that your organization has access too.  It’s time to speed up your social media adoption.

You Community is the Jury

Your organization is always in the Google gossip column.  What’s being said is not always determined by what you are doing in social media as an organization, it’s often, and in many cases, more often than not, driven by inaction.  HR is a social brand catalyst and a set-it and forget-it, slow-roast approach to engagement is not sufficient.  Tick tock.  Get to it.