I wrote a post back in April about this subject and my concerns over certain “experts” involvement in social media and recruitment and how the subject has not, and possibly, cannot define itself due to the ;
- changing nature of the medium
- concerns over some legal issues
- the brand is represented by personalities who can be transient
I am a massive advocate of social media; you’re reading this, so it works, and as a progressive online recruitment business we are getting more and more involved in the subject matter, helping clients better engage directly with potential candidates, their employees and clients.
But, and here is the massive BUT, the Barkers and Penna fall out has proven that NOONE can be certain of getting it right. The interesting point with Barkers is that here is a company that is professing to be all things social media and has yet scored a spectacular own goal by not adhering to some simple truths about the medium.
This is not to say that Penna were wrong to buy the business, they have done exactly the right thing; they have bought a great brand and fit for their business for a song because it wasn’t able to adjust to the new economy. But their staff and suppliers are hurting and are social media savvy. So far the social media experts of the Barkers business have been silent on the matter of redundancies and client/supplier obligations and this could have a potential detrimental effect on their brand.
I know that Penna/Barkers are dealing under the obligations of being a public listed company, but why are they not using the medium themselves to make micro announcements, to continue brand building and positioning themselves as the partner of choice for their clients, suppliers and employees? Where are the responses to the blogs, forums and tweets that are asking for this engagement? Where are the creative solutions?
What we have is the old problem of individuals being tied to the demands of the brand, but as all “social media experts” know, this does not cut it with the new world of work.
And no, I don’t have the answers, we are all entering into territory we have never been before – social media is not definitive, it changes and the rules and game is changing with it. That’s fine, but you have to be honest in what you know, what you can do and what this means to your brand. Always be open, always engage, always empower.
If the experts can’t get it right, what help is there for the rest of us…?
As always, welcome your comments and thoughts…
3 Comments
nicely put – Penna should have engaged in a public official way to this fall out. People do not expect all the answers but i think as “experts” they could have made some statements on what was going on and timing etc. These could have all been done within framework of a public limited company’s rules. anyway – it was sad but fascinating to see the explosion of comment and Google searches on Penna Barkers – dont look too pretty.
Good post
Dom
Agree with Dom, well put. Transparancy is a reality today and again agree with Dom and to have our industry “dirty washing aired in public is not too pretty” .
Re social network “experts” at my first ever Anarchist “meeting” in 1975 the Trotskeyist demanded that the Anarchist could not have such a meeting, The Nihilists just wanted to destroy all, the Menshiviks thought that the Bolshiviks came at it the “wrong way” and me I just watched.
Sorry to waffle but to me “social networks” are not about experts or elitism in one sense, all are equal.
What we have a experts on how to “manage or exploit” the choas out there.
Me I just try to make sense of it all and get a “bl–dy careers show to work”
Cheers
Keith
Totally agree Steve. Surely the thing that we all discover about social media is the need for transparency. Listed or not, the damage that mis-information and speculation can cause a business is immense. We all recognise that SM is akin to a force of nature – just as likely to damage as to provide a benefit.