The Role of HR and Intra-Organizational Social Media Use

I have conducted extensive research into the use of Social Media in organizations over the past several months. It started out as a bewildering and massive array of information while I sorted out which 'experts' really are experts. I quickly came to realize that the world of Social Media is like many other professions (such as HR) in that one must learn as much as they can in a 'generalist' sense, then choose an area of specialty.

As a person with an extensive HR/OD background the concept of the use of Social Media in an intra-organizational sense is intriguing. I have also read reams of information on using Social Media for marketing and branding. While my future use of Social Media will be in a new business launch later this year, the idea of using Social Media for HR and OD purposes still captures much of my interest.

One thing that is clear is that many organizations still fear opening the gates to Social Media in their organizations. The key is to treat it in a similar manner that you would any other major business process or program. The organization must first hold discussions on what the implementation of Social Media can do for various aspects of the business. Once that is determined the leaders (including a starring role by HR/OD) must develop a well thought out policy for the organization's Social Media strategy. IBM has one of the best I have seen so far and it is easy to find via Google.

The next step is organization wide communication and education on the strategy, the policy, the roll out and the expectations of all employees regarding the use of Social Media in the organization.

This should sound familiar and if it seems daunting it is a little, however the rewards of a well thought out strategy and roll out will be evident within the first six months.

The benefits of Social Media for improving organizational communication, recruiting and training and development programs are significant if the organization takes time to develop and then follow an effective plan first.

What steps regarding the use of Social Media have been taken in your organization? Have you proposed or initiated any Social Media related projects in your HR/OD role?

Perspective on the HR Certification in Canada

At the end of January, my membership in the local HR Association came up for renewal, as did my certification requirement for the CHRP designation. Over the previous several months I debated whether or not to continue with either. I am moving into a new career arena and my satisfaction with the association and the designation had become increasingly poor over the past several years.

My decision shortly before the renewal date arrived was to let both lapse. I debated maintaining the designation for a further three year term but discovered that one is required to also maintain the association membership in order to do so. It was not a good return on investment to do this, therefore my decision was based primarily on a business decision but also on a quality factor.

My decision to forgo the designation is based on the fact that recertification points are offered for attendance at events that in my opinion do not improve ones ability to perform on the job. Points are awarded for attendance at a 1.5 hour session, which in my experience consists of about 20 minutes of introductions to everyone in the room and one hour of a consultant essentially selling a product, with a short question and answer session at the end.

In addition, the attribution of points for various events appears to lack logic. For example, you are awarded 30 points when you have a Masters thesis accepted and you are also awarded 30 points for attending a series of short seminars over the course of a 3 day conference.

While there is a significant requirement to demonstrate a high level of learning and application over a two year period for the Masters degree, there is no requirement to demonstrate that sitting through those seminars improves your ability to perform on the job. All you need do is hang in there for a few days and provide 'proof' via a receipt that you attended the conference. Given that fact, what logic was applied to awarding the same number of credits for both those events?

If HR professionals want this designation to attain real credibility then there is a need to sharply step up the requirements for recertification. The fact that it is all too easy to recertify shows up in a lack of high quality output on the job. The stream of complaints and HR bashing in the news and among employees and management in organizations is occuring for a reason and HR needs to start paying attention.