HR
Social Media Communication as a Tool
for Generational Change in Companies
Generational change in companies is one of the most frequently discussed topics today.
Traditional companies have grown with the help of loyal and experienced employees and now face
a challenge. These professionals will soon disappear from companies due to retirement and there is
no one to replace them. Not everything in a company can be digitised and, as they say, there is no
substitute for experience.
But the young up-and-coming generation,
the one that is about to join these
traditional companies and take the helm
from experienced matadors, expects
something completely different from
employment than the generation of old
hands.
Companies in engineering, manufacturing,
industry, logistics, etc. have been focused
on building technology and business all
along. And in all of this, they have kind
of forgotten about fostering a positive
public image. It was not that important for
business.
But the situation has significantly changed
with the new generation. The global
market is open to everyone and young
people can choose from a plethora of jobs
and employers around the world. They
want to live a different life and they want
to check out the company with which they
will associate their career (which, in their
case, lasts for about three to five years).
It's a generation that was basically born or
raised on social media. So it makes sense
that social media, whether it's Instagram,
TikTok or Linkedin, will be the first place
they will look for you as an employer.
You ce r t a i n l y have cu t t i ng - e dge
technology, decades of foreign experience
and production, great teammates and
good benefits. But if young people don’t
find and see it on social media, you're just
out of the game in the job market. Or, at
least, you have a worse starting position
than any competition whose management
long ago figured out the power and
potential of social networks in recruiting
and branding a good employee.
Social media posts may not sell your latest
machine tool, but they will certainly sell
your company in the eyes of a younger
generation who will notice and remember
your brand, product and maybe even
company culture because you regularly
appear in their natural space.
‘A few years ago, we did a workshop for
a great regional company with a global
reach, a manufacturer of final products for
large international energy companies. They
were starting from scratch and their initial
requirement was to raise awareness of the
company. The company was (and is) doing
great things, but people in the area didn't
know it. Three months after the workshop,
when people from the company started
to manage their own communication
based on our recommendations, the HR
manager told us that it was working
great for them. Whereas previously
people who didn't know the company
came for interviews and had to explain
to everyone what they were doing, now
people who know the product come.
They know what the company looks like
from the inside and know their future
colleagues. This eliminated the repetitive
introduction of the company for the HR
department and our client gained a great
competitive advantage over companies
that have not yet discovered the power
of social media communication’, Jiří
Kratochvíl, the founder of the DIGITAAL
co m mu nic at io n
age nc y,
s ay s ,
demonstrating the undeniable advantages
of HR marketing.
But HR marketing has other industries and
benefits than just communicating company
culture on a specific platform. Imagine, for
example, that, thanks to LinkedIn, you are
able to show a recruitment advert only
to graduates or future graduates of VŠBTUO with a focus on safety engineering,
show them your offer and you can request
contact information from them directly
from the social network, which your HR
department will then call. The rabbit hole
of the potential of social media, especially
Linkedin, goes even deeper. And if you're
wondering where and how HR network
marketing can help your company,
contact DIGITAAL, the Ostrava-based
communications agency that has online
communication in its blood and whose
heart beats for engineering and HR
marketing.
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