This guest post is written by SmartBrief on Social Media Advisory Board member Todd Defren. Defren is a principal at SHIFT Communications. His blog, PR-Squared, is routinely among the top 50 blogs on AdAge’s Power150.
As the Millennial Generation comes online in the business world, corporate leaders will increasingly need to figure out how to deal with their young employee’s “personal brands.”
While we’ve all grown accustomed to the fact that prospective employers will be Googling us and scouring our Facebook profiles for incriminating photos, at some point the reverse will also be true: Star employees will carefully evaluate the reputation and socialstreams of their would-be employers, to determine whether they want to associate their personal brand with that of the corporation. This will only accelerate as the improving economy increases young employees’ options.
It makes sense. It takes an incredible commitment to cultivate a personal brand. To go from three Facebook friends to 3,000 is no small feat; same goes for Twitter — to grow a personal fan base requires a savvy combination of content creation, curation, promotion and cool.
Why would someone go to the trouble of grooming their social graph into a consequential aspect of their job market attractiveness, only to grab at the first offer from a crappy company whose own reputation (or following) is not as impeccable or large as the employee’s own?
The same line of thinking will ultimately apply to current employees who wind up creating a following, whether on-the-job or during off-hours. Their growing base of fans/followers will make them feel special. If their employer does not offer that same magic feeling — or worse, if the employer makes a habit of screwing up online or off — the employee is likely to eventually walk out with those would-be customers, rather than sacrifice their own standing in the social hierarchy.
How corporations react to this emerging reality will differ. Some will continue to be arrogant, to presume that the paycheck conquers all. Some will bend over backward to please all employees all the time, lest an enemy rise from within and make them look foolish online. Smart companies will find a way to attract strong personal brands to their banner. After that, the key is to leverage these “well known” employees’ social graphs in ways that are mutually beneficial — without ever being exploitive, nor ever allowing these employees to gain enough leverage that their eventual departure could hurt the company’s reputation or revenues.
To the company: I’d suggest creating a program to identify and groom would-be stars from across the current employee base, as well as online. Set basic (but not draconian) ground rules. Figure out what types of corporate content they’d like to help create or promote. Determine the pivot points where they reflexively defend the purity of their socialstreams. Make it a process that works for both parties.
To the “personal brand”: I’d ask them to remember that a paycheck is a good thing. I’d remind them that they elected to take their current position, and as long as they draw a paycheck, their first duty is to their employer. Most importantly, I’d suggest that their social graph was not the only reason they were hired — the effort and savvy that they put into their personal brand is likely expected to translate to other parts of the job — the part that requires working, not tweeting.
As the push/pull of corporate and personal brands continue to intermingle, we can only expect this situation to get more nettlesome — and fascinating.
Image credit: VCTStyle, iStock Photo
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SmartBrief on SocMed, hanssmellinckx, Bob Cargill, Kathy Meyer, Shiri Perciger-Cohen and others. Shiri Perciger-Cohen said: RT @sbosm: The corporate brand is cramping my personal brand! http://ow.ly/32rvN from @TDefren [...]
I'm not a Millenial and I do evaluate (taking) jobs from my personal branding perspective versus the online profile/options of the business. Because I'm older (than a Millenial), I'm also generally more highly placed, more highly paid, and often responsible for building/monitoring the online space of the business. In that example, personal brand helps develop professional brand. Point two: Stop limiting the conversation about this to Millenials, it does no one any favors.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jonathan Gardner, Vibrant Media. Vibrant Media said: Can companies and employees can get their #SocialMedia brands to play nice together? http://bit.ly/cPgjzU @TDefren [...]
Todd – Great post. Having once worked for a company with less than desirable market practices, I can definitely attest to the importance of working for a company that has its employees' and customers' best interests at the forefront of its practices. If you have established your personal brand and have built a reputation based on integrity, it would be a shame to put your all in to promoting a company that can really damage your reputation, brand and, most importantly, your personal connections.
Likewise, I sympathize with employers who have been burned by shooting stars who are always looking for the next best thing. However, I don't feel anyone should let a bad apple or two ruin the great potential that employers can reap by having a star employee on board. In my work with Vestiigo.com, a Canadian career community that connects young professionals with top employers, we've found that Gen Y/millennials are not looking to hop from job to job, but are actually looking to settle in to exciting careers at a single company – with potential for growth. We've seen personal development and company culture rank ahead of pay increases as motivators to stay with a particular company. To me, it says that despite product or service offerings, corporate culture, C-level attitudes, and a company's willingness to nurture its employees are the most desirable traits for long-term employee retention. Personally, I don't feel that companies need to bend over backwards to cater to their employees, but that there should be a focus on providing an environment that encourages personal development and growth within the company.
If your company can build a mutually beneficial relationship with its employees, everyone wins. As Pamela states, there is a case to be made for the relationship between employee engagement and brand, and also for passion. There is great potential for everyone to benefit from this kind of synergy, and for a lot of great things to happen within an organization that focuses on developing these kinds of relationships.
"despite product or service offerings, corporate culture, C-level attitudes, and a company's willingness to nurture its employees are the most desirable traits for long-term employee retention. Personally, I don't feel that companies need to bend over backwards to cater to their employees, but that there should be a focus on providing an environment that encourages personal development and growth within the company."
Remarkable post. 100% true. Social Networks are seeing how new stars arise everyday with a reputation that allows them to be "stars". The big brands should be working hard in order to attract and embrace that talent.
I am also not a millennial but am certainly more conscious now re: synergies/absence thereof between corporate brand and personal brand. But really, aren't we talking about fit?
I think that's a fairly draconian way of looking at things.
Companies should leverage this social media phenomenon. Utilise those employees who are good at that for their benefit.
But can you build a corporate brand as well as a personal brand. I think you can. Corporates can benefit from their employees who have a better personal brand.
Example: Corporates who use celebrities to brand and market their product. This gets done all the time. THis mutual working together benefits both parties.
[...] The rest of the article is remarkably on point though – if you’re interested in the corporate brand/personal brand discussion at all then I’d suggest that you go here and read it. [...]
[...] The rest of the article is remarkably on point though – if you’re interested in the corporate brand/personal brand discussion at all then I’d suggest that you go here and read it. [...]
Like a lot of other people, I've been watching this issue unfold over the past few years with a sense of curiosity and interest. Painful as it may be for some, I think it's good that we're getting some clarity on how to handle the situation… the good news is, for organizations just starting to deal with this issue, there is precedence for it: look at business development. There, the question of "who owns the client relationship?" has been long debated. That debate can shed some light on how to integrate individual and corporate branding messages.
My recent post By- The Recruiters Lounge » The Week In Recruiting Reading the blogs- so you don’t have to…
[...] The corporate brand is cramping my personal brand! (smartblogs.com) [...]
[...] This post appeared earlier this week at SmartBrief on Social Media. [...]
[...] Social Control: Regulating Social Media and the Future of Socialization.” Soon after, I saw this blog post by Todd Defren at the SmartBlog on Social Media that addresses a similar topic: As the Millennial [...]
[...] How to cope with having a social-media star on staff [...]
I agree with Jennifer and others that restricting this conversation to Millennials doesn't really make sense.
Regardless of who the "star" is, it's incumbent upon both the employer and the employee to work out who accounts and followers "belong to" in the case of an employment "divorce." The story of Rick Sanchez's Twitter account at CNN is a great illustration of this issue: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/reweb/20130….
Any employer that doesn't currently have the ownership boundaries specified should do so immediately. And they should make sure they create appropriate "prenups" for all new hires who already have strong digital presences.
Courtney Hunt
Founder, Social Media in Organizations (SMinOrgs) Community
My recent post SMART News 03-Nov-2010
[...] How to cope with having a social-media star on staff Thanks to social media, more employees have well-developed personal brands — and that can create headaches for the companies they work for, writes Todd Defren. Try to find ways to harness your employees’ brands for the greater good, Defren advises, but be willing to pull rank when the company’s priorities conflict with employees’ branding. “Remind them that they elected to take their current position, and as long as they draw a paycheck, their first duty is to their employer,” he writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media [...]
I was so keen to learn about social media & branding together, because lately I had an argument with one of my friend on this subject. Your blog post concluded a lot of my doubts. Thanks for writing this, it helped a lot.
My recent post WikiLeaks wisdom – Business tips you learn from the controversy king
[...] “The corporate brand is cramping my personal brand!” [...]
“As long as they draw a paycheck, their first duty is to their employer.”
Why? Who says it is the employer’s opinion that automatically prevails? As soon as you get paid for your work you lose your independence? What if it’s part-time? To whom is a freelancer’s duty who works for many employers simultaneously?
I’m afraid the issue is more complicated, be it millennials or anyone.
well the write up is absolutely worth reading and is amazing..