NicP

Had a great breakfast with two friends from the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) to discuss ways in which they can use social media to promote their activities.

What came out of the discussion is the way in which many organisations shoot themselves in the foot by denying their employees access to Facebook and other social media sites. They won’t know that they are discussed online and that means they won’t have the opportunity to participate in the discussion. They seem to be quite happy to be ignorant. No-one took the trouble to investigate what really goes on, on Facebook. They just used the tools that worked for them for the past 50 years – deny people the truth and bad news will go away.

Interesting that so many people still think they will get results if they just hit the donkey harder, even when the donkey is already dead. A dead donkey does not work, regardless of how hard one hits it. Such is the use of old methods to try and solve new problems.

What also transpired is that change happens from the bottom up and not from the top down mainly because the top is grey-haired and unwilling to keep keep up with technology. If you are at the bottom, this may be of benefit.

Many companies are going to find themselves in trouble because they do not utilise the knowledge and brainpower of the Generation Y’ers in their organisations.

Also, organisations that have committed staff should let them out into the world to promote the organisation. Is it not the best advertising if your staff are active on-line and promoting your brand? But it requires good managers who attract good employees with their vision, adaptability and understanding of the environment their businesses exist in. Unbelievable what possibilities there are for organisations that take the trouble to find out what is happening in society and using the available tools to promote themselves.

Most don’t do it but some do. I have spoken to representatives from NGO’s, welfare organisations, schools and businesses in the past two weeks. Some realise what should be done but don’t know how, others realise it and are actively pursuing it while the left-overs just don’t have a cooking clue what is happening around – and to – them.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 @ 00:01 on the category Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.