Social Media Education Remains Key in Workplace

This article was originally published in Social Biz Magazine.

Social media is shifting the communication game. Organisations large or small are starting to understand the value social media brings to communication with clients, stakeholders and employees. How organisations utilise social media channels largely depends on how it is perceived internally.

One of the biggest obstacles to social media opportunities (and managing risks) in the workplace is the lack of education for employees, particularly the younger generations. It may seem strange to class ‘lack of education’ as an obstacle, however, for some reason there is a presumption that the tech savvy generations know everything there is to know about social media. Despite their widespread knowledge of social media, it is a myth to assume that they understand how to use social media in the workplace. They may be more tech savvy than other generations but equally they are likely lacking in the critical areas of workplace understanding and how social media translates into the business world.

In the next few years there will be 4 generations of employees working in the workplace – Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and about to enter Gen Z. Not only do you have the current generation of Gen Y (millennials), Gen Z is the generation who has not lived without the Internet, mobile technology or social media. These generations are tech savvy and understand the ‘social’ world. Although very good at ‘social’ connecting they actually may fail to understand the potential opportunities and more importantly the associated risks of social media in the workplace.

This is where education is crucial not just for Gen Y and Z but also for the other generations. It is one thing to be able to use social media platforms in the personal space, it is quite another to utilise it successfully in the business space. For all employees, it is important that they learn how to utilise social media in an integrated and strategic way. Social media has developed to such a level of sophistication that it is impossible for employees to understand what is fully required. Further with multi-generational employees having diverse attitudes and communication practices towards social media, education is important to position all employees on the same page in terms of employer’s expectations.

3 key things to include in educational training:

What to Share / Not to Share, When to Share

This seems simple enough although it may not surprise you that some employees have no idea when it comes to sharing on social media. I speak to many people when consulting and writing, some who believe they have the right to say whatever they want about their employer on social media. It may also not surprise that younger tech savvy employees in particular don’t seem to understand the dos and don’ts of social media etiquette and lack perception of the bigger picture of what they can/can’t share. They lack awareness of the consequences for their employer and workplace of posting negative comments on social media. This is not a criticism of the younger generation as not all younger employees post negative things online. It is more that these younger employees have grown up putting all things online so it is second nature to them to share both positive and negative comments. As such the business environment where there are restrictions on them is foreign.

Social Internal Networks

Most businesses presume that social media in the workplace is a time waster. This is not necessarily the case particularly where there is a policy which places boundaries around what is acceptable/not acceptable. More and more employees check their social media platforms at work. Why not tap into this and use one of the internal social networks like Yammer? Office virtual collaboration which Yammer allows enables employees to form groups and communicate on message boards. This can actually save time in that instead of back-and-forth emails, co-workers are able to post and reply in continually updated streams. This plays to the strengths of tech savvy employees and their communication practices.

Reserve Mentoring

Traditional mentoring programs are well established in organisations where more experienced employees mentor younger ones. For social media, why not establish a ‘reserve mentoring’ practice where the more technological savvy employees mentor those less savvy about social media? With boundaries set out by the employer, younger employees can impart knowledge about the ‘social’ aspect of social media and the less tech savvy employers can impart business knowledge. In the process it creates opportunity for co-workers to come up with solutions on how best to utilise social media in their workplace.

As social media becomes more widespread in organisations it is important not to assume that employees have the social media skills needed for the workplace. These skills, however, can be taught and employers who decide to provide educational support for their employees will reap the benefits. They will have employees that are using social media in an integrated and strategic approach as well as minimising the impacts from negative comments. Thinking ‘outside the box’ has always been important but these days with so many changes occurring in the communication space, it is more crucial to staying ahead.

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Tags: social media communications • Social Media Education • social media in the workplace • Social Media Policy