A survey of HR Executives by Ball State University revealed a telling statistic:
93% of HR Execs consider skills in 'New Media' to 'somewhat important' to 'important' for staff, but 77% of these organizations offer little or no training in these same skills. ;)
Flickr - Matt Hamm
The HR Cafe blog pointed this out today, and correctly questioned why would HR Execs admit these skills are important, and express the likelihood that they would pay a premium for new staff with these skills, but at the same time (largely) fail to provide training in these skills to their existing employees.
So why the HR Cafe correctly questions the wisdom of these HR Execs, I will take a different approach.
What might be some of the reasons why this type of training is not offered more frequently? Could it be simple ignorance of the vast quantity of information that is readily available on these tools? There are numerous resources to help staff (particularly HR staff) learn more about 'New Media', or as it is more commonly referred to 'Social Media'.
Basics
First, start out by checking out the awesome series of 'in Plain English' videos from Commoncraft. They have fantastic, simple video explanations of all the popular social media tools that you are likely familiar with, (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, wikis, blogs, RSS, etc.), but may have never really understood.
Blogs
Another great beginner's resource is the blogosphere. Countless posts have been written about 'getting started' with all the major social media platforms. I will link to a few of them here, but truly this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Twitter - from ProBlogger - Twitter for Beginners
From Paul Bradshaw an excellent 'Twitter for Beginners' slide deck
An interesting take from the NY Times from a relatively new Twitterer
I could go on and on with these, Google 'Twitter for beginners' and you get 1,360,000 results. You get the idea I think.
LinkedIn - my friend, and fellow Liverpool supporter, Andy Headworth offers 'LinkedIn for Beginners'
An explanatory Video podcast from Business Week on using LinkedIn
The book 'I'm on LinkedIn, Now What??? - by Jason Alba
Facebook - As basic as it gets, how to get started with Facebook from Angela Siefer
How to setup your business presence on Facebook - check out one of 100's of posts on Inside Facebook
From the Matrix Files - some simple instructions for setting up a Facebook Business page
Ning - If you are not familiar with Ning, it is a site that allows you to create private social networks centered around shared interests, geographies, company or school affiliations. A Ning network for your company might be an easy way to 'get people talking' and build community.
The Ning for Dummies network - an actual Ning network set up to help people learn Ning
From Digital Inspiration - Start your own Social Network in Minutes
For a great example of a Ning Network in action - check out HRM Today
Webcasts
Finally, many organizations offer free educational webcasts on how to learn about and apply these social media tools in your organization. Here is a random selection of currently scheduled free webcasts on these subjects:
HCI - Grassroots Networking - the Pros and Cons of growing your Social Network
HCI - Optimizing the Social Web for Hiring
Social Media Today - Social Media for Corporations Webinar
Taleo - What the Social Tech Groundswell means for Attracting and Retaining Talent
Closing Thoughts
I am not a 'social media expert'. Believe me, they are easy to find. Do a search of Twitter profiles and I am sure you will find a few thousand of those experts. This little post is not meant to be any kind of definitive guide to helping you or your staffs understand social media.
But if the Ball State survey results are to be believed, then almost all HR Execs think this stuff is important. And the vast majority don't have anything formal in place to help their organizations gain these skills.
The thing is, you don't really need anything 'formal' in place to get started. I compiled the 10 or so sources on this post in about an hour or so. It is not that hard to find boatloads of information on this stuff. If you really feel this is an important topic, and you are not providing information to you organization and employees, then really you are simply not trying very hard.
Better still, just grab one or two of your newest employees, the Millennials you just hired, and have them put on a 'social media overview' for your company. They know all about this stuff, chances are they have been using it for years.