As 2011 comes to a close, many people begin thinking about the coming year and ways they can either lose old habits or pick up a new, positive one.  This year I’ve had the opportunity to speak with more CEO’s and CHRO’s than ever before and one question comes up time and again.  Should I learn about social platforms? 

The answer is a layered one, the first of which is easy.  Yes, as a CHRO, you should know about social platforms.  In reality, you do not need to be an expert, you just need to become and advocate and champion.  You need to be willing to hire HR and marketing professionals who know the intricacies of how to use social tools and the reasons behind using them.  You need to have an understanding of the value that is becoming more apparent as various sites enhance and refine their social services and offerings.  The reality is you need to be open to social because it is no longer a trend or an option, it is a valuable way to do business.

What are the top reasons CHRO’s need to embrace social?  

It’s a communication catalyst-  Being involved in social media platforms is a way to be involved in the conversation that is happening about your organization.  It is your way to have a real-time view of what employees, candidates and customers are saying about your brand. Leaders have struggled for years to get these same groups of people to give feedback via survey and now you can obtain this information on a regular basis online.

For collaboration and the wisdom of crowds-  Using the wisdom of crowds and achieving shared outcomes has to be one of the best reasons to get involved online.  Long gone are the days of only pushing information out to various groups of people.  Today, it’s about the conversation and the ideas shared both ways.  Social platforms are a way for you as the CHRO to not only be part of this conversation but to LEAD  and give direction to the conversation.  Additionally, capturing the ideas and expertise of a group of people for minimal cost and at increasingly faster speeds is the best benefit of crowd-sourcing  information for your organization.

To know thy competition-  Whether you are the CHRO of a large, global organization or a small business, one of the key components of running a business is knowing what the competition is doing.  Social platforms are  a perfect way to aid in monitoring.  Not only that, you may see what they are doing and have an idea of how to do it better, so it becomes a way of taking best practices and ramping them up a notch.  You can also see what their employees, candidates and customers are saying about them.  Believe me, if your organization is not doing this, your competition is likely already monitoring you and determining how to stay ahead in the game.

There are many more reasons and benefits for the CHRO to become a knowledgeable advocate of social media platforms.  If you were speaking with your CHRO, what reasons would you give them and why?  Share with us in the comments.

As a human resource leader and practitioner, there are few conferences and learning opportunities that grab my attention.  One that is continually at the top of my list is the Senior HR Executive Conference.  This year, The Conference Board has invited me to lead a session with my colleague, Steve Boese.  We have both attended the event several times and this will be an opportunity to contribute by sharing our knowledge on HR, social tools and technology when communicating with employees, candidates and customers.

How Social Tools Can Empower A Global Organization

We’ll cover ways platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other sites may be viewed as a distractions for employees.  However, as organizations continue to strive to work more efficiently with fewer resources, social networking is playing an increasingly important role.  Whether it’s idea generation, discovery or collaborating with the external and internal ecosystem of partners and suppliers, it is a mechanism that organizations will need to decide whether to embrace or be passed by.  We’re hoping to generate considerable discussion around this topic.

In existence since 1916, The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. They help their member companies by providing research and understanding around four key areas-  Economy, Markets & Value Creation; Human Capital; Corporate Leadership; High-Performing Organizations.  This enables the companies to have a trusted resource to provide the insight needed to make business decisions.  They also provide quality conferences and leadership experiences.

Steve and I hope you’ll join us in New York, NY on November 15- 16, 2011 for two full days of sessions.  There will be tracks on HR Strategies and Issues, HR Management and Process and one on Talent and Leadership.  You can join the Conference on LinkedIn, using the following link: Senior HR Executive Conference on LinkedIn or on Facebook, using the following link: Senior HR Executive Conference on facebook.

Are you using social platforms to enhance your organization’s recruiting efforts?  It’s a practice that is quickly becoming not only more acceptable as an avenue to reach candidates but a “must have” tool in your recruiting arsenal.  Early adopters of social media platforms had to use a trial-and-error method to determine how to identify specific candidates, the best ways to grab their attention and how to take the initial connection and turn it into a hire.  Social recruiting is about how to engage social media users, potential candidates, in conversation.  These conversations begin to build a relationship with your organization and the brand, ultimately to lead to hires from a new candidate pool.

Today, there are many ways to build the skill of social recruiting.  Recruiters can still join the various platforms and attempt to reach candidates in that same trial-and-error method. However, more organizations are trying to find training for their recruiting teams that is more effective and efficient when it comes to building the employer brand into a social recruiting strategy.

Why social recruiting?

It’s about more than having a Twitter or FaceBook account.  It’s about:

• using multiple sites to target a niche of candidates that you may not reach otherwise
• pulling them into your world, not just pushing information out to the masses

I recommend an upcoming, online series of sessions hosted by Brazen U.  The Social Recruiting Bootcamp will take place November 7- 18.  BrazenU’s Social Recruiting Bootcamp will teach you how to use social media to ENGAGE with your target recruiting audience, create the content and message to CONNECT with top talent, and implement the strategy to make the right HIRE, fast.

This course offers the flexibility to either participate in live sessions or access the program materials at a time that fits your schedule — all at a fraction of the cost of typical in-person conferences. And, the course has been approved for 6.0 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute.

Register today!

When is the last time you’ve thought about packaging and the way you package yourself?  Not only your look, but how you present messages?  It’s important to examine how you do this on a regular basis because we can all use a little improvement here and there.  Why?  Because so much of life is based on the perceptions of others.

Want a new job?

Want to sell your product?

Want to have someone take you seriously and get on board with your idea?

It all takes the right packaging.  If you or your message have “stale” packaging, you may not get that job, that sale, or get your idea moving.  Need an example?  Here’s one:

Picture someone in your organization who is not taken very seriously.  I can think of several in my career.  One that pops to mind is a very smart woman who dressed like she was still in 1980.  While that was a fun decade, wearing shoulder pads, tight pants and BIG 80′s hair now is noticeable in a distracting way.   She even still rocked the 80′s blue eyeshadow.  Now, I am sure she has some great ideas.  However, people in the workplace could not seem to get past her look.  They did not take her seriously.  Why?  Because her look was so outdated, they made the incorrect perception that her ideas must be outdated too.

Here’s another example.  Have you ever worked with someone that came across more like a used car salesman when trying to sell his message or idea?  No matter how good the idea is, most people cannot get past the way the person is pushing their message.  If you’re that “salesman”, then consider changing up your pitch.

My point is that even if you have fresh ideas, are you doing things to sabotage your messaging because the packaging is getting in the way?  If so, then NOW is the time to address it.

Regardless of what type of work you do, it does not necessarily take a lot of money to make a few simple changes to improve your chances of being taken seriously.  So, do you need re-packaging?  Does your message?  For some great tips on repackaging your message, check out HR Buoy’s post ‘How Packaging Can Change Your Message’.

Think it’s too late to update your look to better “sell” your ideas?  Well, after 40 years, Heinz ketchup changed their packaging.  If it’s not too late for ketchup, it’s not too late for you! If you haven’t updated your wardrobe, go out this weekend and buy a few simple, classic pieces of clothes (black dressy slacks, crisp white button-down shirt, new black dress shoes, a few key accessories).  Add in a piece or two of color.  Stick to some that will mix and match.  It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, but may help you change how you’re being perceived at work, in an interview setting, or when selling your product.  Worn your hair the same way for 10 years?  Time for a change.

What are some other ways we can revamp our packaging? Do you think it’s important?  Share with me in the comments or share stories of examples you’ve seen in the workplace where someone was held back because of the way they packaged themselves or their messages.