When conducting some research on Facebook (I had already caught up on what my own network had been up to so had some free time) I was surprised to find a group that had been set up to discuss the grievances of a person in a large multi national company. Even though it was one individual in the US and there weren’t that many people in the group, it got me thinking that from “small acorns large oak trees grow”.
Employees no longer have to fight for a voice. With the advent of social media networks like facebook, as individuals we are all empowered to air our views to the wider community. In this case there were over 500 people on facebook who were either working for or had worked for the organisation across the world. That doesn’t include potential employees or customers. With this kind of network the voice of a single employee just got louder.
But is this company listening? And are organisations in general listening? A group of this nature has the power to do a great deal of damage to the company’s employer brand if it gains momentum. It can show the employer brand to be just words and images in an ad or a poster if not translated into postiive action by the company itself. This is a great opportunity for the organisation to actually respond and get involved in the conversation. This can have a twofold effect – 1. confirming to their current workforce that they do listen, whatever the outcome which indicates how important their employees are and that ; and 2. communicating a sense of their culture to the outside world that says they are modern, open and honest which is what a lot of people look for in an employer.
When companies spend thousands of $$$ building an employer brand through the traditional routes and press their agency for a return on investment – any headway made can be wiped away by a simple conversation being had out of ear shot. Its time for companies to start listening and join in the conversation because the conversations will only get louder as more people join in.
