Another fine mess...

As they say in the movies "Laurel & Hardy" movies...

"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"

And that could very well apply to you as an investor, business owner or leader with your current employees.

With your new ones, you're even more exposed!

With your existing team members, you've probably got a measure of their behaviour but what about your new hires?

How your employees present themselves on social media shapes your company brand.

There’s a grey area here! What right do they have to say things that could compromise your brand? And vice versa about what they do or don’t do on social?

Consider fixing a team meeting in which you can all brainstorm ideas, discuss what’s acceptable and what’s questionable behaviour.

In this way, you can reach a consensus without being overly dictatorial.

Twenty social media ground rules and tips to help you:

1)????Have they updated their LinkedIn profile?

Are they showcasing your company or that of their previous employer?

2)????Out of date contact info…

Does their LinkedIn profile show their new work email address with you and URL? It’s clumsy and complacent when profiles show those of their former employer.

3)????Two out of five profiles have errors…

Does your new hire’s profile compromise or complement your company brand? Have you browsed your new hires profile for any typing and grammatical errors?

4)????An appropriate, professional and positive photo.

LinkedIn’s a professional platform, not a social one and your employees' photos should reflect this. Ideally looking at the camera, smiling and that suggests they’re approachable, confident, positive and energised. Fit for purpose, context-sensitive aligning with the nature of the industry, occupational type and seniority.

5)????A purposeful and relevant headline.

Having a headline that tells people why they should be visiting their profile or how they add value.

6)?????What your company does??Perhaps a 2-line description. Is it clear to the reader what your company does?

7)????Customer focused.

The about section should be one that’s customer-focused. Job titles can be meaningless and confusing. Is it clear to the reader what they do, and what they stand for? Perhaps a 3-5 line description…?stating how they add value to your customers, society, your company or employees.

8)????Sometimes brief is best.

If someone’s not in a customer-facing role and rarely uses LinkedIn/social, they may only need the briefest of profiles.

9)????“All opinions expressed are my own.”

Consider asking your employees to use a self-protective and company protective disclosure.

10) Connecting in micro-moments and hyper-relevance.

Determine when and how to use social media channels for research and to develop a better customer understanding.

11) The good, the bad and the ugly.

What tools will they use, how will they use them and how familiar are they with them? You need to be clear about what’s unacceptable behaviour?

12) Life beyond LinkedIn…

What about other channels… WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok…..

13) Boosting your brand reach and visibility.

Encourage your people to follow your official accounts, to comment on, like, share posts articles, stories, events etc

14) Keep your messaging consistent.

You’ll already have various promotional materials, in particular your company website, from which your people can copy and paste content, and messaging.

15) Big initiatives need approval.

Publishing of articles, video clips, white papers etc probably need approval first.

16)??Is it worth it??Publishing and commenting on social media can be costly and time-consuming. You need to track effectiveness.

17) Getting lost in it?

It’s very easy for people to become overly consumed on social, and get distracted from their day job!

18) Diversity and inclusion.

You don’t want your people to alienate them or your company from customers and influencers with a silly or irresponsible comment. Be clear about what’s off-limits? Use of expletives, comments of a political or sexist nature etc.

19) Harassment.

There’s no place for harassment. Ask your employees to report any.

20) Google.

Some people would say that if you were to google people it might be deemed intrusive. If you’re uncomfortable doing so why not simply ask people to google themselves to identify and take action on anything they may deem compromising.

Robert Tearle Consulting is a headhunting firm. Our clients are SaaS/digital/tech vendors. Positions we headhunt into include GM, Sales, Consulting, Marketing & Operations.

Impacting business operations and growing revenue through headhunting.

Can we help you? Contact us now.?[email protected]?+44 7843 277774