SOCIAL MEDIA & HR. Contents

Transcription

1 10 Best Practices SOCIAL MEDIA & HR Increasing exponentially in usage and influence, a multitude of social media offerings can be leveraged by companies to further extend both their external brand awareness and the internal strength of the corporate culture. Social media offers companies, particularly human resource departments, many opportunities to reach out, assist and guide employees. This Benefitfocus Whitepaper offers an overview of both the vitality of social media as a resource and recommendations for how companies can effectively implement an internal social media strategy. Included are several best practice suggestions that HR departments can incorporate within a larger social media plan. Effective use of social media can allow HR to not only keep employees better informed about company activities, but also build corporate loyalty and provide a venue for employees to offer feedback. Contents 2 HR Friendly Social Media 2 Getting Started With Social Media in HR 3 10 Best Practices 5 HR Social Media Tips 5 About Benefitfocus Copyright 2013 Benefitfocus, Inc. All rights reserved. BENEFITFOCUS, the BENEFITFOCUS LENS LOGO, the (ALL YOUR BENEFITS. ONE PLACE.) tagline, the (SHOP ENROLL MANAGE EXCHANGE) tagline, HR INTOUCH and HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE are registered trademarks of Benefitfocus.com, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective companies.

2 HR Friendly Social Media Social media presents an opportunity for HR professionals to improve communication and connect on a more personal level with both associates and clients. There are many social networks available, each serving a specific purpose, from information sharing and promotions to research and recruiting. The popularity of social media has skyrocketed over the past few years. Here are a few examples: THe POpUlArItY of SOcIaL MEdIa SKy ROcKeTeD HAs 224 million LInKeDiN MEmBeRs 1 60% smartphones USeD for SOcIaL MEdIa 2 PInTeReSt4m VIsItS per DAy 3 58MIlLiOn tweetsperday ontwitter 4 While these facts demonstrate the growth of these different platforms, social media is not a onesize-fits-all solution for HR. Just like any other technology tool, it s important to evaluate the social media platform and choose the tool that will align with the HR strategies in place to meet your organization s overall goals and objectives. Getting Started With Social Media in HR Here are some quick guidelines for starting any social media program: Choose the right social media platform for achieving your overall goal Set up one social media account at a time and become familiar with it Brand each social media account with your corporate logo, colors and messaging Keep content fresh on a weekly basis Respond in a timely manner to get answers to your readers Copyright 2013 Benefitfocus.com, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 2

3 10 Best Practices In order to maximize your outreach efforts, here are 10 best practices for using social media in human resources. 1. Develop a Social Media Policy As an HR department, develop a plan for how and when content is to be delivered. Carefully manage this policy, keeping in mind that all social media posts are archived as a permanent online record. Limit risk by only sharing information that is appropriate with a general audience. Any employee involved in social media should follow guidelines set forth in their company s Social Media Policy. All questions or comments published on corporate social media sites must meet policy requirements as well. 2. Educate & Train Social media offers many ways to accomplish education and training. Take current training programs and identify which may be suitable for online learning methods, such as video and webinar training sessions. Afterward, create a series of modules that are accessible via a secure social media site, such as a keyword enabled blog page. Use the events functionality on Facebook to set up topical webinars or teleseminars on a variety of HR-related topics. Recording features may be available so you can repurpose sessions for new hire training and onboarding initiatives. 3. Build Employee Loyalty & Corporate Culture Build employee loyalty with a strong corporate culture that will improve employee engagement and corporate knowledge. Make sure employees know how their organization is involved in the community by publishing related content on your company s social media profiles. Recognize achievements in the employee population at every opportunity. Use social networks as a source of inspiration and employee idea sharing. Encourage employees to retweet or participate in their organization s social media posts. By allowing all team members to contribute, you can strengthen your corporate culture and align employees activity with company goals. 4. Corporate Branding As mentioned previously, building employee loyalty and culture brings positive light to an organization s corporate brand. Reward employees for being positive brand advocates on social media platforms. Encourage employees to share posts and emphasize what makes the company a great place to work. Keep employees informed by creating groups on LinkedIn and Facebook such as an alumni group for former associates. A large part of branding includes open communication between all departments. Make sure to monitor online discussions and develop a strategy to reduce conflicting information from being shared by different sources. Copyright 2013 Benefitfocus.com, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 3

4 5. Recruiting Over the past few years, recruiting has taken a giant leap forward by implementing efforts across multiple social media platforms. In the past, recruiters relied only on previous employers, references and expensive background checks to validate the qualifications of candidates. Now a recruiter can simply do a Google search and find a wide range of information provided by candidates for a more effective recruiting strategy, generating more potential job candidates as well as those of a higher quality or match. Social media is beginning to tailor offerings specifically for candidate recruiting. For example, LinkedIn now provides a full suite of recruiting tools, including the ability to accept applications directly from a candidate s LinkedIn profile. 6. Open Enrollment & Benefit Options In an effort to cut health benefit costs, social media can be used to facilitate compensation and benefit programs. By leveraging social media before, during and after open enrollment season, employees can be kept up-to-date on important topics as well as gaining an increased awareness of an organization s benefits and wellness incentives. Also, employers can schedule a live benefit and enrollment Q&A session on Twitter, followed by responses posted on the organization s Facebook page. 7. Health & Wellness Promotion Use social media to promote health and wellness initiatives through organizational programs, corporate events, benefits information and community resources. Blogs are a great way to promote these offerings to employees. Develop a theme for a corporate blog around a wellness program and include success stories from employees who have transformed their lives by taking control of their health. Also, consider writing short posts once a month about specific health concerns and incorporate links to reputable sources of wellness information. Around open enrollment, send out updated wellness promotions as well as invitations to corporate wellness events, on-site health fairs or flu shot campaigns. Additionally, use Facebook and Twitter to gamify your wellness programs by encouraging competition, which will boost participation. 8. Connect Employees to Online Resources Use social media to connect directly with others as an outlet for providing valuable resources and tools to employees. For example, send messages on Facebook and Twitter to remind employees about important wellness information or include links to news resources or informative articles associated with healthy living. Social networks are a powerful platform for directing people to valuable health and wellness resources, according to Experian s recent survey which found that on average, 16 minutes of every hour spent by Americans online are on social media sites. Copyright 2013 Benefitfocus.com, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 4

5 9. Solicit Feedback & Monitor Conversations Ever wonder how to test the pulse of your employee or client populations? Social media surveys and questionnaires are great ways to gather information and feedback from your employees and clients. Create short, targeted surveys on Facebook using the Polls application or develop a survey series using social media buttons that are linked to an independent survey provider like Survey Monkey or Poll Daddy. Start with questions on hot topics and then monitor conversations for additional areas on which to focus. For example, before offering annual benefit plans, find out what employees really want or need. LinkedIn allows for the creation of focused employee groups through which question and answer sessions can be held within a private environment. Also, by setting up Google Alerts with the name of the organization and keywords, users can receive alerts when there are posts written that reference company-related news. 10. Research & Networking Opportunities Social media can be used as an effective research and networking tool. One way is to search for topics within social media sites such as blogs, social media sharing directories and company social media pages. For example, when trying to find information associated with benefits within Twitter, search #benefits to find all tweets with that hashtag. For discovering specific topics around wellness within Facebook, start typing keywords into the top level search field to find the most relevant groups and content. There are also social media aggregators like socialsearch.com or socialmention.com that enable you to explore content across multiple platforms. HR Social Media Tips In summary, identifying an HR-friendly platform that integrates with your everyday efforts to promote corporate messaging is the initial step in developing your social media strategy. All social media accounts should reflect your corporate brand and align with the company s overall goals. In order to avoid pitfalls when working within HR-friendly platforms, a social media policy that consists of by-the-book procedures and around-the-clock monitoring is essential. Additionally, maintaining a positive social media presence will require regularly scheduled posts that include valuable information and engaging material, keeping you connected with your audience. About Benefitfocus Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT) is a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions for consumers, employers, insurance carriers and brokers. Benefitfocus serves more than 20 million consumers on its platform that consists of an integrated portfolio of products and services enabling clients to more efficiently shop, enroll, manage and exchange benefits information. Benefitfocus solutions support the marketplace technology and administration of all types of core benefit plans, including healthcare, dental, life and disability insurance and voluntary benefits plans, such as critical illness, supplemental income and wellness programs. Copyright 2013 Benefitfocus.com, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 5