Social Media Talent Wars

It used to be that health benefits and a generous number of sick days were enough to have top-notch talent scratching at your corporate threshold. Now? Not so much.

This is a quote from a soon-to-be-released white paper I helped author about social media for internal corporate communications:

“The modern workforce is very used to using blogs, podcasts and other social media tools in their personal lives. It becomes a near impossible stretch for them to lead interactive, digitized lives at home and shift to low-tech, paper-based, one-sided communication in the office. It just doesn’t translate.”

It just doesn’t. Think about it, you’re at home…you’re Twittering, posting to your family’s blog and using Google Apps to set up your family’s annual vacation. You go into the office and you’re liberated by…email? Ah, no.

Companies that think by not being involved with social media, they’re only missing out on the opportunity to be more competitive with other companies in product and service categories need to think again.

Hate it or love it, social media sets the imperative for all corporations to compete for clients/customers AND talent.

When asked why she simply said, “Honestly, I took a look at your website and I’m not sure that your company is advancing technologically. You don’t have a blog, and your website is basically flat. You’re a tech-based company and I thought you would be a bit fauther along in your adoption than this.” Clearly, the company wanted to employ her, but she was not sure if she wanted to be employed by the company.

The tables have turned in more way than one. Companies can no longer afford to compete on cash, bennies and perks. They need to be cool and hip – or at the very least have a clue.

The war for talent is real. A company can have the best strategy, top-flight alliances and generous cash reserves, but without its people – the human capital – it’s merely a corporate shell with a tax obligation. People and their ideas feed the machine. They are what keep it going. Ideas and innovation are people-driven.

Companies that don’t have a seat at the Internet’s conversation table really are not part of the dialogue and good companies with bright futures are all too often being overlooked as potential employers.

Organizations that are not engaging with social media are getting the short shrift on top talent, because no one wants to work at an old-fart of a company.

Refuse to think one dimensionally about social media. Yes, it’s about increasing your footprint, a competitive advantage, thought leadership, presence and all that buzz stuff…but it’s also about “getting the right people on the bus”. And, we all know how important Jim Collins says THAT is.

Your website SAYS your company is about innovation. It SAYS you hire the best and the brightest. It SAYS you’re looking for the right people. It SAYS you’re leading your industry into the future.

Ladies and gents, as we slide into 2008, talk has never been more cheap.