Kim Bechtel is changing the world… one workplace at a time!
Don’t you hate bios that are written in the third person, like ‘Kim Bechtel is a dynamic thought leader in the field of Human Resources; Kim loves puppies and cooks ancient Roman recipes when Kim is not writing bestsellers.” You know either the person wrote it themselves or their mother did. Nobody could ever be as dynamic, or expert or passionate as we think we all need to be these days. So, what’s the real scoop on me? I have enough brains to know what’s wrong with Human Resource practices in most organizations today, the experience to have seen all the fads come and go, and I’m married to the most patient and interesting person I know (you should really meet her because she is truly dynamic!). I’m enough of a know-it-all to be more than happy to explain to anyone who is interested just how to fix your people management practices.
Smile…
You’ve heard it all before, your brand is your company’s biggest and most vulnerable asset, every contact with a potential employee is a contact with a potential customer; behave as if your grandmother is going to read about it in the paper tomorrow. Yada yada yada, talk to the hand…
Only, it’s true!
People are writing about you, your company, and its practices, how it treated them, every day. They’re making videos about you, they’re making up songs about you, and they’re creating comedy skits about what it’s like to work for you. And, they’re getting millions of hits from interested viewers.
Hiding out in Pavement Narrows, Alberta (or BC, or Ontario) isn’t going to work anymore. Charge outrageous prices for mediocre food and service and you will be blogged about, somewhere. And that blog might be featured in ‘What’s New In Pavement Narrows, AB.com”. Treat your employees like dirt, cheat them out of pay or perks that were promised and emails go to Employment Standards, the Police or your local Canada Revenue Agency, now, before the end of business.
Everybody has cameras in their pockets these days, High Definition cameras with zoom lenses. Nothing is blurry anymore, your face, the location of your business, those food storage lockers you’d rather not be seen by anyone. You should assume, as a normal part of doing business, that you, your business and your employees are on camera, 24/7. I just saw the videos of 9/11 yesterday, remember this was ten years ago, and it seemed like everyone in New York had a camera, even then!
So, if I have your attention, which I doubt, what is my message? My message is this ‘Run your business as if every aspect of it is going to be plastered all over the blogosphere’.
Everyone from politicians to captains of industry to ordinary criminals is coming to understand the power of this new media environment. Remember ‘Weinergate’ from this summer. Remember how stunned the New York Congressman was with the speed of his own downfall? It is the speed with which your company can be destroyed that you need to understand is the new element to the ages old power of the consumer. Whisper campaigns against a business that used to take months and years to build, from one disgruntled customer or former employee to another, now can go viral in minutes. The adage ‘Perception is reality’ has never been more applicable than it is today.
If you aren’t monitoring local or important blog sites where consumers or employees post their experiences with your business, you should be. Encourage your media savvy employees to help you monitor these sites and let you know if they are seeing anything positive or negative about your business. Don’t assume because your business is in a small town or isolated community that locals aren’t using social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter to share their latest experience as a customer or the parent of a former employee. Respond quickly, honestly and with a view to future improvement to comments or portrayals of your company that you find out there but make sure you don’t get into fights with commentators; present your side and move on .
Rapid erosion of your business revenue will likely be your first sign of trouble if you don’t.
Kim Bechtel – Chief Idea Officer & CEO
http://www.yourhrco.com/
kim.bechtel@yourhrco.com
LinkedIn – http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/kim-bechtel/4/a78/80a
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