Social Networking and Employee/Employer Relations

by Colin Balas, Terryberry Chicago

Monster.com recently posted an article on Company Branding and Employee Social Networks in which the author describes how the development of social networks allows people (i.e. employees) to reach thousands of people in seconds. Like it or not, social media gives employees the ability to communicate on a large scale about their employers. How should employers respond? The author encourages businesses to look at it as an opportunity to build a "brand army."

"Consider this: If 100 of your employees posted something positive about your company right now, their message could potentially reach 13,000 social media users. That is significant leverage!"

Why not apply the same concept to your employee recognition programs? With social media now being second nature to so many people, the ability that companies have to break down the communication walls with their recognition efforts is out there. Not only can you create a new culture of recognition within the walls of work, but you can also reach family and friends by integrating an internal recognition program with Facebook and Twitter. From a corporate standpoint this is very appealing because to the outside audience (friends, family, followers) looking in, all this recognition is tied to the company's brand.

The advantages of merging social media and recognition within the workplace allows one message (i.e. wall post) to reach all employees. This unprecedented visibility can dramatically impact communication and understanding within a company. It opens up the doors into offices that some employees may never get to see. For instance a West Coast office can see all the positives in the East Coast office simply by viewing the company’s virtual recognition wall.

While some companies still fear social media when it comes to their corporate brand, others are embracing it. Ask yourself the question “Why have so many companies built a Facebook page?” It allows companies to let outsiders look in, through the use of photo galleries, status updates, blogs, and discussion pages. Through these efforts it’s the company’s hope that you, as the potential customer, will “Like” them (we all know the famous Facebook Like button). In a way it’s almost like they’re seeking recognition from the general public that they have something of quality to offer. It only makes sense that since companies seek and appreciate recognition through social media, their employees will too.

As the article described, Sodexo used an internal social media program to maintain a company culture where employees were proud to align themselves with the organization. Similar to what Sodexo did through their internal program, whenever you can reinforce your company brand / mission, vision, values through your recognition and engagement efforts, it allows employees to understand why these types of programs are in place and will better align their day to day objective with the company’s mission.

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Debra. She says: "We have a spring celebration to celebrate all of our accomplishments from the past year and recognize individuals for their specific contributions." Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed? Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Wendy who shared with us on facebook. She says: "Here are at Mille Lacs Health System we started out with creating some form of identifier/name that would encourage employees in the organization to strive to be the best they can be. We came up with PRIDE: P= Passion for Customer Service R= Respect for everyone I= Integrity D= Diversity (understanding and acknowleding) E = Excellence in Service We then rolled out each letter for one month using spot recognition for each item. We call out when we see someone demonstrating PRIDE and give them a PRIDE Buck which they can purchase PRIDE logo stuff clothes & mugs. Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Mark. He says: "We have a brand recognition program on our department home page. Anyone can submit a name to be recognized on the home page with a photo and a brief description of how they are displaying the company brand values. So far it has been very well received!"

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from France. France says: "We have a regular Employees Living Our Values piece in our daily company newsletter to feature commendations received from customers about service received by our employees. We make a point to link the behaviours/actions to our company values."

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from John. John says: "We use spot recognition and it does improve productivity. We have a Wall of Fame as you enter the building for everyone to see. It has been well received!"


Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Michelle who shared with us on Facebook. Michelle says: "I worked on a huge project for employees. When I arrived home a few days later, there was a large box with a crystal vase from William Ashley's, a dinner-for-two gift certificate and a handwritten note of thanks from my boss. I was blown away!"

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Shelley who shared with us on Facebook. Shelley says: "I have a colleague who happened to be traveling on the same x-country flight as one of our partners. The partner was on his way home from a business trip and the associate was on his way to a client meeting. The partner noticed he was stressed and was going to be working the entire flight (all 6 hours). So, the partner who had a 1st class ticket traded places with the associate who had a middle seat coach ticket back of the plane. They recognized, they acted and the associate was able to produce excellent work and was rested and ready to go for his meeting. I think that deserves a WOW!"

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Camille who shared with us on Facebook. Camille says: "I worked on a big bid proposal for a large design/build firm, that required the presenters to go to China to present their bid. The project took months to work on. When it was all done and the presenters were in China doing their presentation, I received a letter of thanks from our CEO and 2 days of paid leave from the company as a thank you for all of my hard work. Even though I was just doing my job - I was overwhelmed at the level of thanks I received from my boss. It made me feel great to be part of their team!"

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Eva. Eva says: "Everyone on our team receives playing cards (about 5) at the beginning of the quarter. They use the cards to recognize others and are encouraged to write the praise or reason for recognition on the card. At the end of the quarter we have a poker game with the cards and awards are given for - best hand, worst hand, and best written appreciation message."

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Pat. Pat says: "We have a big christmas bell in the corridor of our department. We ring it whenever anyone does anything well. Everyone comes out of their office to hear about the accomplishment and to cheer and clap. We love it!"

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

#WOWWED: It's WOW Wednesday

It's WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: how do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today's WOW Wednesday idea comes from Lewis. Lewis shared his recognition story with us by posting on Terryberry's facebook page. "An employee of ours found a wallet in the restroom with $1000 dollars in it and turned it in to the manager. When the customer came in and found the money was still in the wallet she sent a very nice letter to the office. We sent out a letter of recognition to the employee that was framed and gave her a check for $100. The cutomer was happy, the employee was happy, and we have received more letters about employees since then because the employees are going out of their way to do other things for the guests."

Share your own "WOW Wednesday" tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on www.facebook.com/TerryberryCompany or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

Social Media and the New World of Employee Communication

From the Recognition Insider Newsletter Spring 2010 Edition

Here's how you can use today's rapidly evolving Social Media to enhance your Recognition Program

by Tom Nugent

How powerful is Social Media today, and how effective can it be in helping HR to enhance employee communications and recognition programs?

U.S. marketing executive Bob Thacker was one of the first to ponder how emerging social media could be used to help a business communicate its message. Since then, Web 2.0 applications like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and proprietary networking applications are becoming more and more important as a component of business communications.

Thacker was the Office Max ad exec behind the popular "Elf Yourself" viral application that spread like wildfire during the holiday shopping season of 2006.

Said Ari Merkin, the creative director at Toy, Inc., one of New York's most imaginative advertising agencies, "Elf Yourself will be hilarious - it's the kind of interactive tool that could really help to warm up your brand."

The results were nothing less than spectacular.

During the next three years, Elf Yourself would draw no fewer than 250 million online visitors, more than 40 percent of whom would later remember that their hilarious fun had been sponsored by OfficeMax. Describing the enormous popularity of the website, Thacker says, "By the end of the first year, we discovered we were using more bandwidth each day than the U.S. Pentagon!"
The wildly successful viral marketing campaign showed how important social media has become as a communications tool in the world of business. "At this point, I don't think people have even begun to understand the power of this tool," Thacker told the Recognition Insider recently. "It's an active form of communication, not passive, and it's already changing the way businesses reach their customers.

"Of course, it's also changing many other types of business communication, including the way managers and workers talk to each other. I don't think there's any doubt that Social Media like Facebook and Twitter are going to play a major role in organizational communications during the years ahead. Whether you're a marketer or a human resources manager, you're going to need to know how to use these new tools in order to be successful."

Learning How To Use "Social Media" Tools for Employee Recognition: A Primer

Like marketing guru Bob Thacker at OfficeMax, an ever-growing number of human resources professionals are these days exploring new ways to use social networking (aka Social Media) to rapidly expand and improve their recognition programs.

"Social networks allow information to surface and they let people see what others like them are doing," says management consultant Paul Hebert, while describing the impact of Social Media on organizational recognition. Adds Hebert, an expert on Internet networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter: "Leveraging social networks is about having a continuous stream of information that [praises] people for hitting targets and trying new ideas."

So what's the best way to go about using Social Media to strengthen and speed up your organization's recognition program? Here are a few tips from the experts:

• Consider using Facebook to expand the reach of your recognition messages to your people. Example: try posting such messages on your organization's Facebook page.
• Why not create a no-cost Twitter account for your organization, then use it to feed messages in quick, real-time bursts (they can't be longer than 140 characters) that will convey recognition and appreciation with powerful immediacy? Consider tweeting an employee success story each day to build your organization's culture of daily appreciation.
• Post letters and notes from your organization's clients and customers, so that their praise and recognition of your people will be available to all employees.
• Use YouTube or Flickr to post video and photos of your organization's recognition events or employee appreciation activities. Your staff will enjoy it, and it could be a powerful recruiting tool for prospective job candidates.
• In order to add accountability to a social media-style recognition initiative, investigate proprietary recognition platforms that enable businesses to implement interactive recognition within a controlled environment. Programs like the new Give-a-WOW program offer manager-review options, built-in rewards, and managed access.
• While it's still true that nothing can take the place of a face-to-face "thank you" (or a handwritten "thank-you" note!), there's no doubt that you can use these high-speed and remarkably flexible Social Media tools to better accomplish your organization's overall recognition goals - on a weekly or even a daily basis!