RecruitingSocial: Pre-Launch for WorkPuzzle Subscribers

Monday, October 01, 2012

As you know, we’ve spent the month of September exploring the impact that social media is having on the real estate industry. Most of our thoughts have been pointed at recruiting and the potential that exists for those who become proficient inside this new paradigm.

During these discussions, we’ve hinted that Tidemark was in the process of developing some new tools to help our clients and other leaders in the real estate industry make an impact in the world of social media.

Today, we’re proud to announce the pre-launch of “RecruitingSocial.” Like HiringCenter and TalentPipeline (the other products Tidemark offers), RecruitingSocial has been designed specifically for the real estate industry and will focus on helping managers become proficient in the use of social media for recruiting and other business purposes.

At this point, our intentions are only being revealed to WorkPuzzle readers. The public launch of RecruitingSocial will not occur until later this month.

We’re offering a pre-launch among WorkPuzzle readers because many of you have had a hand is shaping this product. I won’t go into detail, but we’ve been in numerous meetings and online conversations where we hear things like, “Can you guys help us with social media?” or “Why don’t you guys develop something that is in alignment with social media.” or “We like what HiringCenter does, but aren’t we missing a big part of where candidates spend their time?” etc… We can’t promise that we’ve addressed every issue that has been brought up, but we have listened to much of your input.

So, first of all, thank you for urging us to go down this path and trusting us with your thoughts and insights. In return for your efforts, we’d like to spend the next couple of weeks discussing what we’ve created and how RecruitingSocial can have an impact on your organization. Also, we have some fun in store for you along the way.

More to come in upcoming WorkPuzzle discussions…

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How are Other Small Businesses Using Social Media?

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

As Dave mentioned in his last post, we have made a concerted effort to focus on
social media over the last month. As
you might suspect, much of what we write in WorkPuzzle is based on the questions
and concerns that we have heard our clients express.

But occasionally, we focus on topics that are probably of
more interest to us than some of individuals who regularly read
WorkPuzzle. If you’re in that second
group, thank you for indulging us for the last few weeks as we’ve explored social
media topics.

Of course, this begs the question—if you’re not interested
in social media topics, should you be more concerned about these issues? More specifically, are you putting your
business at risk by failing to understand and engage this new technology?

Until recently, the argument could be made that social media was primarily a personal issue. Not using social media
was similar to not knowing who the finalists were in this season’s American
Idol. People may have looked at you a
little strange, but it didn’t hurt your business.

At the same time, the only
businesses that were taking advantage of social media seemed to be large
companies with prominent consumer facing brands. It was appropriate to rationalize that your
business was not Budweiser—you don’t run Super Bowl ads and you don’t
participate in business-related social media.
It only made sense to focus marketing effort and budget elsewhere.

Is it reasonable to stay this course, or (as we’ve argued in
the past few weeks) are there some fundamental changes taking place around this
technology that could start to affect your business?

To find an answer to the question, it may be helpful to
look beyond the real estate industry and consider what’s going on among a
broader group of small and medium size businesses.

If you think about
it, the typical real estate office operates as a small business. In turn, many of the marketing techniques
that make a local small business service-provider successful would be applicable in a real estate office as well.

Hollis Thomases, a columnist for Inc. Magazine, just reported on several recent research projects involving small businesses and
social media. I think the findings will
surprise you:

"It was only about a year ago that a Hiscox study found only
12% of small business owners 'described social media promotion as a must
and nearly 50% weren't using social media at all.'

Oh, how times change.

A newly released study by Vocus now finds that for 77% of
small and medium-size businesses (or SMBs), social media accounts for 25% or
more of total marketing efforts.”

Let those percentages soak in a little bit. The study highlights a significant turn of events.

Here are some more data points:

“The Vocus study also found that 84% of SMBs plan to increase their spend on social media, mainly because 78% said social media 'has helped a great deal.'

In addition to investing more in social media, future plans include using more social media sites, sharing more, engaging more, hiring more help and spending more time on and in social media.”

When things change this quickly (remember these two studies were only one year apart), it is difficult to know how to react. As I mentioned before, don't beat yourself up for not being on top of this six months ago!

But on the other hand, it would be a mistake to ignore this type of quickly mounting research data. It may be time for you to develop and implement a social media strategy of your own.

Collaborating, Generation Y, and Social Media

Monday, September 24, 2012

I
learn most by watching and listening to my children. And it just so happens
that my kids fit nicely into the Gen Y demographic, which sooner or later will
be, not only your predominant workforce, but your primary customer.
(More on my kids later…) Gen Y's are those born between 1976 and 1991. If you haven't noticed, most products and advertisers are pitching to
them. Are you?

We
all realize that when it comes to managing an office of all ages, there has to
be a delicate balance between meeting the needs of the current workforce (and
customers), while also building for the future. Neither can be neglected.

But
what does this newer generation need? What are they looking for?

In a
thoughtful article written by Bill Paterson of Microsoft, published by Forbes
magazine, Bill states:

"The workforce dynamics are always changing – but none more
so than the influx of Gen-Y talent that will make-up the majority staffing over
the next few years. Sure we’ve been hit with new paradigms
before: open-cubicle design, virtual offices, and yes– even the latest
craze of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) IT policies, but this next shift promises
to bring some of the biggest shake-up over last decade. Why might you
ask? Allow me to explain.

Generation-Y represent a
new class of employee: one shaped with a deep appreciation of technology
combined with a desire to work collaboratively as teams versus seeking
advancement solely on the basis of individual contribution.
Interestingly, studies have shown that this new generation of employee not only
thrives in highly collaborative workplaces, but is now making this a key
requirement in selecting where to work. And it is in
this area – becoming a highly collaborative workplace– which many organizations
have their work cut out for them."

Given the above research, one begins to understand why Oracle bought
Involver, Microsoft bought Yammers, and Sales Force bought Buddy Media; They
are building the groundwork for collaboration to occur…All are platforms designed to
meet the following needs: collaboration, cooperation, and a sense of belonging. These
companies believe that this kind of platform is important enough to the future of their business to
invest billions of dollars in them.

So, back to my kids… They each work for highly
collaborative environments in completely different industries. Why? Because
they are drawn to such environments, and have actually left companies that were
not highly collaborative. Everything that I am reading about this topic
resonates with what I am seeing right under my own nose.

You might be wondering why we have
been writing so much about social media, without clear direction on how to use it. I can answer that by saying two things: (1) We are studying and writing
about it as a way to learn more, and (2) We are simultaneously developing a
product to provide an answer to all we are proposing…

More on this soon… In the
meantime, please share your thoughts.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Is Your Social Media Content Up to Snuff?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I am writing this blog on the heels of Ben’s series (1, 2, 3) regarding Fear in Social Media. Assuming
you are open-minded to the concepts Ben discussed, and are possibly teetering on jumping into the wonderful world of the social web…let’s discuss content.

In my previous blog,
I discussed the importance of engagement in social media strategies. It is important to know your audience and
engage them where they are, without imposing your brand, but rather share intriguing content that is meaningful to them.

Part of the engagement process is to ensure that what you are
communicating has value to those with whom you are sharing. Pay attention to your target audience,
“listen” to their conversations, and then participate. If something you share is interesting to one
person, it will likely be interesting to others. The goal is to get people interested in YOU
by demonstrating the value that you bring to them.
The nature of social media allows for your message to be broadcast to a large spectrum, so let’s make sure what you choose to share has the effect you desire.

So, how do you know if what you are saying is good? By making sure it isn’t bad. In a recent Inc. magazine article, Minda Zetlin, a business technology writer,
speaker and author; suggests that you ask yourself these three questions…and be honest with your answers!

“1. Would I spend time on a Sunday
afternoon reading or viewing this (blog post/Facebook update/tweet/video, etc.)
if I didn't know the creator? If
the answer is no, your content probably sucks.

2. Will people reading or viewing this
information learn something that will either help them solve a problem or
engage their emotions? And
that useful information had better not be about your new product or
feature, at least not most of the time. If all your content is a product or
feature announcement, it officially sucks.

3. Is the content intended to benefit
the reader/viewer or someone else? Thank
yous, acknowledgements, featuring someone in your blog because you owe them a
favor, asking people to vote for your pet project… all these things qualify
as sucky content. They have relationship-building value too, so I'm not saying
you should never do any of these things. But be very selective when you do. And
make sure you're also providing a lot of quality content that will reward your
reader/viewers for their attention.

What can you do if you want to improve the
quality of your content? One simple way is to start paying attention to other
people's content. Retweeting a great tweet takes about a second, or maybe 30
seconds if you want to add a comment of your own. Posting a link to a
fascinating article or photo or video that someone else uploaded doesn't take
much longer. Actually creating quality content from scratch is certainly more
of an investment, but if you do it in the spirit of generosity to your
audience, that audience will reward your effort and your business will benefit. Try it. You'll see.”

Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Overcoming the Fear of Social Media—Part 3

Monday, September 17, 2012

We spent last week discussing the apprehension many organizations feel towards using social media technologies for business applications (1, 2). For many real estate owners and managers this leads to a hands-off (“Let’s see what the agents do with this new technology…”) approach to this topic.

This hesitation could be rooted in the possibility that unwise investments will be made in fad technologies that will soon disappear. Or, like the Costco executive who once feared email, there could be some anxiety around the possibility of unleashing a force inside the organization that will distract agents from revenue producing activities.

Cartoon credit: The Duffy Agency / Jetpack Media

So, many leaders remain on the fence, wondering how to handle this issue. One way to gain some clarity on this topic is to learn how other, non-real estate, organizations are dealing with social media. I’ll share a few ideas here from the research I referenced in my last blog, but I also encourage you to seek out this type of information on your own.

The Gartner consultants (referenced in the previous discussions) made the following “big picture” observations:

“Social media sponsors who successfully move beyond…negative attitudes tend to build their social media capability in one of two ways:

1. They either use it to demonstrate executive support and build confidence throughout the organization.

or

2. They start small with a narrow and specific purpose.

The large grocery retailer SUPERVALU provides a good example of how to overcome fear in an organization by demonstrating executive support. CEO and President, Craig Herkert, saw social media as a way to respond faster to market needs, create a flatter organization, and share ideas and innovations… To this end, Herkert uses social media both to communicate with the company and also to respond to questions and comments directly and quickly. He encourages his executive team to participate and even assigns comments and action items to them via social media where everyone can see. This creates a cultural intimacy in a company with multiple brands and acquired chains.”

I know this sounds simple, but the executive team at SUPERVALU embraced social media by starting to use it themselves for day-to-day business communications inside the organization.

If you think about it, there was a time in the past when leadership teams within companies stopped sending paper memos to the individuals on their teams, and started using email. At some point, that day needs to come with social media in your organization as well.

If this approach is a little too scary, you may want to dip your toe in with strategy #2: Start small with a narrow and specific purpose. The Gartner researchers have some thoughts on this as well:

“[If you’re going to try a narrow approach], note that this is different than starting with a pilot. Social media pilots don't work because they might limit the initial audience, which needs to grow organically and aggressively for success; or they tend to launch with a half-baked scope or technology that doesn't inspire the community to participate.

Instead, find a narrow purpose that engages people without threatening the organization. For example, instead of deploying a social network for all its employees to collaborate more effectively (but only starting with a pilot for the "western region"), a company can build a social media solution for sales people to network specifically on how to successfully identify and overcome the top three sales objections.

In other words, consider a starter set of social media purposes that are highly magnetic to individuals to attract them into collaborative communities. Purposes related to employee health and safety, customer support, or even organizing the company picnic, have all been used to move beyond fear and into action and experience.”

Bottom line: Unless you show leadership around the topic of social media and start using it yourself to empower business communications, you’ll never experience the collaborative benefits this new technology can offer.

While this may sound like a huge hassle, it may be one of the most important competitive differentiators among real estate companies in the next few years. If you can’t speak the language of younger customers, those customers will find organizations who can.

Overcoming the Fear of Social Media—Part 2

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

In our last discussion, I told you
about an exchange I had with a Costco executive about ten years ago, while my
business partner and I were pitching the idea of using a social network to
retain employees.

While it may sound crazy now, this
executive (at the time) was still unsure of the wisdom of giving employees free
and easy access to email while on the job.
I’m sure that most of you could not even imagine imposing such a
restriction on email today because it has evolved into a much needed and
beneficial tool for business communication.
But, that was the lens executives were looking through at the time.

So, here’s an important question
for you: Do you feel that social media
is on the same trajectory that email was on a decade ago? Or, more specifically, do you believe that
social media will become a much needed and beneficial business tool as well?

Before you start to beat yourself
up for being “old school,” let me assure you that many of your peers are also
struggling with this same issue. Harvard
Business Review recently highlighted the work of Anthony J. Bradley (Group Vice President, Gartner Research) and Mark P. McDonald (Group Vice President and
Gartner Fellow, Gartner Executive Programs) on this topic. The Gartner research was designed to capture
a snapshot of how business leaders feel about the future of social media. Here are some of the researchers’ thoughts:

“In just a few years, social media
has come to dominate many of our personal communications. We collaborate daily,
sometimes productively, sometimes not. Most organizations, however, still view
social media as a threat to productivity, intellectual capital, security,
privacy, management authority, or regulatory compliance. In fact, this is the
most common attitude among the more than 250 organizations in the study.”

The research shows that most
companies have yet to embrace a positive attitude toward using social media for
true business value. But, the results
are not as out-of-balance as you might imagine:

“Overall, respondents were split
50/50 between a positive and challenged attitude towards social media with many
indicating that they recognize the potential for social media to address
strategic needs and generate durable change.”

Among the challenged attitudes
(this is consultant speak for negative) about social media, the most common
emotion documented, by quite a large margin, is fearfulness. In essence, many business leaders are worried
when they consider this topic because it is difficult to predict how the
technology will impact their companies and industries.

While some caution is always
appropriate when new things come along, maintaining a fearful attitude can be
stifling to an organization.

“The trouble with a fearful
attitude is that an organization often doesn't take a specific stance: it
discourages and even prohibits the use of social media. While this approach
reduces the potential for undesirable behavior — that's the reason for
restriction — it also stifles any business value that might be derived from
grassroots use of social media.”

Let’s zero in on the real estate industry to
finish up this discussion. I’ve not noticed much discouraging or
prohibiting of social media among in the real estate industry. With independent contractors as agents, most
owners find it difficult to prohibit much of anything.

However, I don’t see much
strategic sponsoring of social media strategies by real estate companies either. Instead, there is an ad hoc “do it your own
way and let the leadership team know how it goes” attitude. In the background, there is a lot of
cringing and even some hand-wringing that goes on as managers watch the
messiness of social media play out in front of them. Most of the messiness relates to the
inappropriate combining of personal and professional social circles.

Why is there no strategic plan for
social media in most real estate companies? Because there is fear and uncertainty about the impact this technology
will have on the real estate business in the future.

In our next discussion, we’ll
learn how organizations in other industries are dealing with this fear and
uncertainty and how you can start to set a strategic direction for your
organization.