Mobile Apps and Social Technology Myths

IHRIM Guest Bloggers:
Damon Lovett, HRIP, Senior Consultant with KnowledgeSource Consulting
Jeremy Ames, HRIP, President and Founder of Gaucho Group

For the past few years Mobile Apps and the use of Social Technology have been touted as the next greatest thing for HR (a.k.a. #SoMeHR).  The reality has been very mixed on the effectiveness and efficiency of these tools.  Their use can be compounded by casual use of the technology, which could blur the line between business and casual use.  Although there are very real benefits of applying solid #SoMeHR strategies and tools to business, there are many questions that are still being asked – and rightfully so.  Does social recruiting really generate solid candidates or simply generate a lot of noise you have to deal with?  How important is getting "Talent Branding" right and leveraging through social media vs. simply throwing social media at an aging recruitment strategy (or lack thereof)?  Damon Lovett (@DamonLovett), Senior Consultant at KnowledgeSource HR and Jeremy Ames (@JeremyAllynAmes), Founder of Gaucho Group recently lead discussions of these and other #SoMeHR related concepts with a very engaged group of professionals at the IHRIM 2013 Conference in Orlando.  This forum uncovered the promises originally made about Mobile Apps and Social Networks, how we are using the technology options at their organizations, and future of #SoMeHR technology.  Here are the myths they uncovered:

Myths:

1.       "Let your employees drive/guide social."  You have to be deliberate in your approach and delivery of social for collaboration and learning.  Social is great and when applied in the correct context and with a strong set of strategic imperatives; it can be an amazing tool for multiple facets of Talent Management.  However, simply following the “build it and they will come” mentality will get you results - but maybe not those that you want!

2.       “Someone from the business side is monitoring for dissatisfaction.”  While not completely a myth, this is more in line with an urban legend.  Let’s be honest, the business should be monitoring the pulse of the org to ensure that they are engaging and retaining employees while maintaining a positive reputation as a great place to work.  However, using this information to slight (or fire) those who are willing to share should NOT be the goal and companies rarely employ resources to this affect. 

3.       “Internal social is not the same as external social.”  No, Facebook is not selling “software” for the enterprise.  However, the concepts around community and collaboration have common ancestry. 

4.       “Employees contribute a lot of checks and balances without HR having to step in.”  Again, refer to #1 above.  You could throw up some technology all day long and tell employees “have at it” and they will gladly correct each other…and let the smack down begin!  Be a little more intentional than that and set your organization up for success from the start.

5.       “Community social tools are replacing emails.”  Not at all.  There is still a deep need for email from data sharing to constructed communications.  Traditional email is a strong and (as of today) necessary component to a solid communications and collaboration strategy.  Just as emails are discoverable in litigation, so is any content that is made public within your enterprise social environment. 

6.       ”I can do anything I need to do on mobile.”  Well now we are dreaming.  Let’s remember the intent of many of our mobile apps (not applications).  We are trying to take some of the core functions and key metrics and make them available via the cloud and in a very user-friendly format.  If you try to recreate every possible key-stroke possible in your core HRMS, you are defeating the purpose and creating more complexity than necessary. 

7.       “Some struggling with email security for transactional approval workflow without app.”  We hear this pain point a lot in the field with our clients and it is a valid concern.  However, the struggle is not with security in the firewall or within the delivery of secure communications for transactional purposes.  The pain point is typically with the internal IT access to secure information being passed via email.  This can be addressed in limiting the details passed via email and IT security policy adjustments.  Keep in mind the legal aspects as well and what is discoverable and not. 

8.       “Don't need to bring Facebook in for collaboration but need to do enterprise social differently.”  Ok, I’ll give you that – Externally it is more social - internally it is more collaborative.  We don’t need to recreate a Facebook environment internally as that is distracting and not productive.  However, don’t limit your internal community to work-related discussion.  There is a personal component that needs to be considered, incorporated and encouraged if you are to really get employees to open up and bond with your culture and the experience you are trying to foster. 
 

So now you’re thinking “how can my organization get in on the #SoMeHR game and do it right?”  It starts with a deep-dive analysis of your community:  Employees, management, senior leaders, and even your desired candidates.  Determining your primary goals for employing social and mobile technologies to your business needs requires a deeper understanding of your human capital and how they communicate, engage, and thrive in their very social lives. 

This blog is an excerpt from the article Mobile Apps and Social Technology – Myths, Facts and Fantasy published in the August IHRIM Wire.