Companies are facing an abundance of challenges right now. From historic resignation rates to shorter employee tenures for younger generations, HR professionals and corporate leadership teams must find innovative ways to attract and retain talent.
Though employees want to make a good salary, they also highly value becoming part of a connected community. But as the trend moves away from daily lunch breaks and water cooler talks toward workplaces filled with geographically separated employees, employers must turn to digital solutions to bring their employees together.
Problems with Company Social Media Communities
In theory, the idea of creating a company Facebook page or company Facebook group seems like a good one. Your employees are already using social media, so they likely have an account and know all the ins and outs of the various social networks. So, why not expand their use of a platform like Facebook and build a community where they already are?
There are a few problems with this theory:
1. Company Social Media Guidelines
With almost 70% of all Americans using social media daily, most organizations have implemented strict company social media guidelines that employees are required to sign as a condition of employment. These policies tend to restrict the use of social media in ways that protect the company, as the things an employee says or does online can greatly affect a company’s image or brand. Creating employee social media communities can blur these lines.
Beyond the potential company policy conflicts, most employees want to keep their social accounts private. And they especially don’t want to be Facebook friends with their managers or company leaders.
2. Membership in Too Many Communities in Social Media
Facebook groups are incredibly popular. However, of the 1.8 billion users in Facebook groups, more than half are in at least five groups. This poses a problem for organizations that are already trying to cut through the noise to capture their employees’ attention. With so many groups vying for your employees’ limited attention span, finding a digital alternative to Facebook groups is critical to ensuring your community won’t become just another unread notification.
3. Employee Data Privacy
Beyond the logistical concerns of using social media communities for employees, there’s also a big privacy concern. Generally, people are becoming increasingly hesitant to share personal information and data online. Though a company Facebook page or Facebook group may feel semi-private, social media platforms collect, aggregate, and package the employee data to sell to advertisers. Even if your employees join your Facebook group because they feel obligated to, they’re unlikely to share anything meaningful or personal within the space.
BrightCrowd - A Private Alternative to Facebook Groups
While social media may be your most cost-friendly option, it’s the least secure one. Platforms like Facebook don’t charge for users to create accounts because users are paying with the data they share. It’s well known that social media channels make money by monetizing the information you provide, from name, age, and location, to interests and even data from other tabs you open in your browser.
BrightCrowd’s digital team books are the ideal place to build a community for your employees to share real and meaningful information about their motivations, memories, and interests. Built on foundations of intimacy, privacy, and data security, your employees can feel comfortable knowing the data is only shared amongst their colleagues and company. We’ll never sell your employee data to third-party advertisers, and the book’s content can only be viewed by those invited by the book owner.
Employees can create a page in their digital team book in as little as 10 minutes from anywhere in the world. Unlike social networks that are designed to make employees interact with the app through friending, liking, and messaging, BrightCrowd encourages employees to develop meaningful connections with each other and your organization by sharing information purposefully. They’re intended to be a snapshot of your team at that moment in time, eliminating the stress of maintaining yet another social profile.
Though there’s a cost, it’s certainly a worthwhile one. A BrightCrowd book is less expensive than most other one-time team-building activities like dinners, sports outings, and happy hours.
Contact us today, and we’ll show you how simple it can be to build a community of employees that are engaged and connected to your organization and each other.