On the face of things, social media seems to be having a near-revolutionary impact on businesses and internal communicators:

• Social networking has already directly influenced how some industrial disputes have been organised. This hasn’t translated to inside businesses – at least not yet – but it certainly can create a fear of loss of control in some quarters.

• The scope for immediate, two-way and lateral communication across businesses (managers to staff, and across departments), bringing major benefits.

• The dilemma created by inappropriate or damaging comments by employees on internal and external social media and what course of action to take as a result (for example, the widely publicised case of a woman sacked for calling her job ‘boring’ on Facebook).

 

Andregardless of the role of social media, the prospect of industrial action and general staff discontent will be minimised where there are high levels of engagement and trust within an organisation.

 

If an employer uses social media and thereby gives employees scope to participate in the internal debate in an adult-to-adult way, it is likely that employees will feel more engaged as a result. It’s the prevailing culture of trust that matters, where dialogue is encouraged and actions are in line with words, rather than the mere fact of introducing social media tools.

 

Conversely, where that trust doesn’t exist, the chances are that online forums will either not be used or may merely feature empty, trivial content.

 

In terms of employees’ use of social networking, clear policies will reduce the risks. Sometimes problems result from employees just not thinking, or from naivety about the medium, rather than maliciousness. And, as stated in a recent Acas report, your approach should ‘include a dialogue about the employee’s responsibilities to represent the brand of the company in a positive way. Employees need to be aware that there are consequences for the business if it is given a bad reputation online.’

However, businesses also need to retain a sense of proportion and recognise when comments are relatively insignificant, and try to learn from what employees may be saying about them. After all, if they’re not routinely acting as ambassadors for the company, that’s a clear indication that employee engagement is not working.

 

It’s important to reflect on the age dimension, but equally important not to fall into assumptions. The prospect of Gen Y employees permanently plugged in online may strike fear into the heart of some senior managers and professional communicators, but a sense of proportion is needed. Firstly, the fastest-growing group in British organisations is now the over 50s: all generations need to be catered for in the workplace. Secondly, we must not forget that evidence shows that face-to-face communication is still the preferred method of receiving important information, whatever your age. And thirdly, and most importantly, it will always be vital to choose the most appropriate channel for the message – and there are many channels apart from those provided by social media.

 

Of course today’s communicators have to keep up to date with developments in social media for this very reason, making decisions as always about the most appropriate channels to fulfil specific objectives now and in the future. And that’s a constant challenge for practitioners in a fast-evolving sector.