Someone on Twitter pointed out that I haven’t really written much here in a while. They’re right.
My interests are shifting, and I’ve been writing more or less daily on my other blog, Go Make Things.
There, you’ll find my ramblings on topics like social media, marketing and storytelling. I also share cool videos, insights on design and the creative arts, and random stuff I find amusing.
If you haven’t yet, check out GoMakeThings.com.
Every week, I get invites from people I’ve never talked to asking me to connect on LinkedIn.
No explanation on who they are, how they know me, or why they want to connect. Just an invite. I reject them every single time.
Every now and then, someone sends me an invite saying something like, “I noticed you do X, Y and Z and I’d love to chat more about your work,” or “I noticed on Renegade HR that you’re passionate about ROWE. I am, too. We should connect.”
Those get accepted.
Networking isn’t about building a massive collection of email addresses and phone numbers. It’s about building relationships, helping others, and occasionally asking for people to return the favor.
So yea, this video has nothing to do with HR.
But it’s pretty damn interesting and entertaining, right? Unlike about 98% of the webinars and trainings we make our employees sit through.
Maybe you don’t have a talented animator at your organization, but you can still do something like this with one basic step: Stop talking at people and start telling stories.
Humans are naturally storytellers. It’s what we do. It’s how we learn. In their fantastic book, Made to Stick, brothers Dan and Chip Heath postulate that stories offer a proxy for real life experience, which is why people are so drawn to them.
Want people to learn? Tell them stories.
If you’re getting a headache trying to figure out how to get started with this “social media stuff” — you’re trying too hard.
Source: Damn, I Wish I Thought of That
Psst… Want to learn more about social media for HR? Check out my book, Culture Convo.
The other day on the HR Farmer, Keith McIlvaine wrote…
This may seem like an over discussed topic but it is amazing at how many companies, employees and external agencies ignore HR and Recruiting professionals in [conversations about social media]….
If this sounds at all like your company and social media is a space that you have identified as a place you need to have a presence, make a social media “wish list” for your HR group. Make a lofty list and push the boundaries of what you want to implement but make sure you know the 3-4 initiatives that are critical sites to have a presence.
Now, after you have created this list and the business reasons HR needs them, schedule a meeting and invite the existing stakeholders (often Marketing, PR, Legal) and present to them this vision. Be prepared for push-back and embrace their feedback. Then sell them on why you must have the 3-4 tools you identified.
While I applaud the desire to collaborate and gain business support, I’m not really sure that’s the right approach.
HR needs to get out of the habit of asking for permission.
Have a great idea? Execute it and ask for forgiveness later. That’s how you really earn the respect of the business.
PS: Looking to implement social media awesomeness at your organization? You may want to check out my book, Culture Convo.
It’s pointless if you never take it offline.
I don’t necessarily mean that you need to meet your social media contacts in real life (though that can be a fun and rewarding – or at the very least, interesting – experience as well). But you should be taking the ideas and stories and information and doing something with it.
And if it’s not useful, it should at least be entertaining.
I see far too many people “doing” social media because everyone keeps saying they should. But they find it tedious and boring and utterly useless. If that’s you, do things differently or quit.
Psst… Want to learn more about social media for HR? Check out my book, Culture Convo.
Really, it does.
The other day someone I’m friends with on Facebook posted this status update:
A memorandum was sent out today announcing my new position to senior management, and peers. My inbox is filled with congratulations, and I feel like a star in the hallways. This, combined with a farewell/holiday party today, I feel like I’m on top of the world!
So this is great news, right? Only I can’t tell if this is a promotion or a move to a new organization (new position, not new job, but a farewell party, too?).
So I ask.
That’s great! Are you still with Acme Anvil Company?”
Of course, there name isn’t really Acme Anvil Company. Later that night, I get the following message:
Hey bud,
I had to delete your post because it had Acme in it. But thanks, and to answer your question, yes I am still with Acme – been over 7 years now!
So let me get this straight… Acme Anvil Company employees can’t share GOOD NEWS about their organization online? And if their friends even mention the name, they have to delete it?
What an awful social media policy! (And a lost employer branding opportunity.)
