Training Industry Quarterly - Winter 2012 - (Page 21)

It’s All About the Social. Or is It? ONE THING IS CERTAIN — SOCIAL BUSINESS IS NO LONGER OPTIONAL Clic Cl ck the link Click the link i above to hear a podcast recording of this TIQ article B Y M I K E M E R R I M A N and traditional human resources. Many human resources (HR) departments are faced with the need to continue to do more with less and are struggling with providing value and strategic relevance to their organization. Let’s take a minute to think about employee onboarding — new employees want information at their fingertips, they expect information to be readily available and up-to-date in real time. And they want access to people — mentors, managers, peers and subject matter experts that can act as a resource when they need it most, regardless of their location. Creating an employee experience from day one that facilitates that access and interactivity is more important now than it ever was. By enabling a rich employee experience, the organization as a whole can also 21 T hese days, most people think they know what social media is all about. To many, it is the stuff their kids, nieces and nephews waste time on — playing games, instant messaging and chatting on discussion forums — which offers little to no value in a business context. But the reality is social media can present a significant opportunity for your business. For example, studies have shown that many U.S. firms are actively engaged in social recruiting. Out of those firms, the majority of the HR professionals are using social networks to help recruit candidates with LinkedIn and Facebook as the most frequently used sites. One thing is certain — social business is no longer optional. More Americans get their news primarily from the Internet over traditional news sources, which highlights the fact that the Internet and, as a result, social media is becoming embedded in our daily lives. But still, many organizations struggle with pinpointing and harnessing the value social media can provide. Have you ever completed a Google search and had user forums or discussions links appear in the results with advice, tweets discussing hot topics or even posed questions on Quora? If you’ve ever clicked one of these links to find information and jump into the discussion, you’re already using social media. In this way, social media is becoming pervasive in how we communicate, consume information, purchase products and services, and perform our jobs. Social media also offers tremendous power and influence on training, learning Training Industry Quarterly, Winter 2012 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzVIiNosJCc http://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1844/poll-main-source-national-international-news-internet-television-newspapers http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Winter 2012

Training Industry Quarterly - Winter 2012
From Where I Sit: The Age of Personal Learning
Table of Contents
Ad Index
The Discipline of Instructive Coversation
Real' Learning: The Role of Context
Context, Connectivity and Community
Don't Be Afraid of Feelings in the Workplace
Peer-to-Peer: The Future of Learning
User-Generated Content
It's All About the Social. Or is it?
Informal Learning: The Dawn of a Profitable New Era
Harvesting Creativity through Social Media
Connect, Learn, Share, Innovate: How to Begin Your Social Media Journey
Casebook: Marriott: Accommodating IT Training
How Long Does it Take to Get Fully Productive?
Tweet Suite
Company News
Closing Arguments: The Social Network

Training Industry Quarterly - Winter 2012