Social media has become and integral part of all of our lives, whether we like it or not. Using social media to engage employees can be a great tool, it's become a staple for many Americans in their day to day routine and requires voluntary participation by definition. Here are four great ways to use social media to stimulate employee engagement, no matter your organizations size.
- Solicit Feedback: Use social tools to solicit feedback from your employees. It doesn't have to be public or identifiable to any one employee. Sending out an anonymous survey where employees can track the results in real time can make them feel like their voice is being heard and gives you the chance to see where the majority public opinion lies.
- Respect Privacy: Not all employees are social, or will want to use social outlets for certain topics. For employees who aren't comfortable using these channels, make sure you provide private outlets to engage in a way that works for them. No two employees will engage exactly the same way, listen to your people and give them what they want.
- Score Yourself: Set goals for employee engagement, and adjust your program as you go. If it falls flat in the first iteration, follow up with engaged employees offline and find out what's going on. An employee engagement program can't be successful without the employees' buy in. Be flexible, make adjustments and optimize.
- Reward Participation: When employees engage in the program you've outlined, reward them! If one employee sees another get a gift card to a popular retailer like AutoZone, Crutchfield or CVS/pharmacy, it's safe to assume the desired behavior will be repeated.
For more information on how to make your employee engagement program social,
check out Incentive Magazine's guide.
