Like it or not, today’s culture demands that modern leaders are present and active on social media. Whether you’re ready to jump on the social media bandwagon, know that in the 21st century, CEOs:

• are the voice and face or their company;

• set the communication tone for the business;

• can increase employee engagement and company transparency when they appropriately use social media to communicate with their employees; and

• have the opportunity to increase the authenticity of their company’s brand when they know how to use social media to their advantage.

A digital engagement policy outlines how your business intentionally chooses to position itself online. It should cover your brand attributes along with your vision and mission, plus guidelines for how your employees should communicate digitally, both internally with other employees and externally with customers and clients. It's more than just a social media policy, although it addresses appropriate social media communication practices.

WHILE 97% OF BUSINESS CONTENT IS CREATED WITH LINKEDIN IN MIND IT ISN’T THE SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK WHERE PEOPLE LIVE ONLINE.

YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IS YOUR SOCIAL CURRENCY.

IT’S YOUR UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION.

In other words, your personal brand is how you convey to your online audience exactly what you have to offer them and why you’re the best person for the job.

Ever wonder why you’re having trouble recruiting the people you really WANT to join your team? Over 65% of companies say that despite attracting candidates for their positions, they don’t end up with GOOD matches.

Perhaps it’s because the people you’re really looking for, aren’t necessarily looking for a new job, so they aren’t checking job sites or meeting with recruiters.

If the people you really WANT to hire aren’t actively looking for a new job, how do you reach them to let them know (1) you’re hiring, and (2) you’re a company worth making a move for?

THE SOLUTION

Develop an Employee Advocacy program and use your best brand ambassadors (your current employees) as “social recruiters” to lure potential candidates that already exist in their personal social media networks.

WE’VE ALL HEARD THE ADVICE, WHETHER FROM PARENTS, FRIENDS, FAMILY, COLLEAGUES, OR BOSSES: “DON’T POST ANYTHING INAPPROPRIATE ONLINE”. ONCE YOU’VE SAID THAT, MOST OF US ASSUME THE PERSON WITH WHOM WE’RE SPEAKING, HAS GOTTEN THE MESSAGE, TO BE THOUGHTFUL BEFORE YOU SHARE ONLINE.

INTENTIONAL VAGUENESS

The problem is that the terms “appropriate” and “inappropriate” and intentionally vague – what one person deems appropriate online behavior might be considered inappropriate by another; an idea that was summed-up by Justice Potter Stewart in his concurring opinion written in the 1964 Supreme Court decision for Jacobellis v. Ohio about obscenity where he wrote “I know it when I see it”.