New era in HR management through social media

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BYOD risks

High on the list of considerations for managers who want to leverage off the immediate and pervasive nature of social media is the issue of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and all that this trend entails.

There are a number of implications for businesses seeking to control multiple device usage and personalised employee devices application in the workplace that warrant closer inspection when it comes to brand building and marketing strategy.

Effective client service is based extensively on brand recognition, trust and familiarity. The use of personalised branding to interact with clients demands balance, regulation and adherence to policy. Failure to enforce this environment could have serious implications for a business.

Due diligence must be paid to employees having their own brands and using those to interact with clients. In addition to social media policies and governance within the company, it is important for decision makers to consider how social media can be used internally to increase collaboration and knowledge share and who should be responsible for controlling that.

New face of recruitment

More companies are beginning to engage and utilise social networks and online profiles as part of the recruitment strategy. While there are certainly advantages to doing this, there are some risks involved too.

One should not forget that one is talking about public forums here. There is the issue of privacy and what is posted on someone's personal profile has to be carefully evaluated - if at all. This information could offer more insight into character and personality, but is it a foolproof mechanism to judge an individual's ability to perform a role or fulfil the requirements of a position?

External and recruitment aspect aside, there are business building benefits to utilising this resource internally to boost operations.

Given that the focus in 2014 will be on customer-centric strategy implementation and application, access to an established, regulated and effective social channel to enhance communication between staff for education and knowledge share purposes should not be underestimated.

Social media and networks lend themselves to immediate, powerful and clear communication. This is accessible to a large amount of people at the same time, so it is less resource intensive than traditional channels. There is certainly a business case for the adoption and investment in this resource.