Employees Should Blog At Work

February 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

Blogging is a skill, and so is networking, and both skills are coming to be in high demand in modern companies.

Today’s companies are seeing that their future success may depend on how well they can use the Web 2.0 tools of communicating and networking, simply to keep hold of their customer base.

If you’re a boss you should know that your employees who blog on company time may turn out to be the future heroes of the company, if you can find ways to harness their talent and drive.

If you’re an employer you had better know that in these ruthless times your employees simply can’t afford to give you loyalty, and you can’t assume any loyalty exists. You have to earn loyalty and respect from your employees, just as you have to earn these things from your customers.

What you have to do as a manager is find those people who have talent and drive in the area of blogging and social networking, and put them to work for you.

Your organization needs at least one blog, if not dozens. You need to engage authentically with your customers and stakeholders, and the way to do this, at the very minimum, is through the blog.

If you’re an employee you should take stock of your talents and skills that aren’t currently being put to use for your employer. Start thinking of ways in which these skills might be put in service on behalf of your company.

Suppose you blog about your hobby, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with your company’s business? You still have authenticity to offer. What if you offer to mention your employer in whatever good light you can truthfully manage, in return for time to do some blogging at work.

What great reputation management for your company - here’s an organization that allows its people some allocated human time to pursue their own interests. We can all think of the search engine company that does this, with famous results.

If you’re a boss and your employees are running their own blogs, how can you offer them an interest in your company affairs so that they’ll blog about your company?

And by the way, if you’re one of the bosses - from entrepreneur to middle manager to veteran CEO - the situation is the same for you as it is for your most humble employee. Your name is your brand, as Tom Peters pointed out long ago. Consequently, to develop brand equity, you should be blogging.

And how will you create your own company blogs, if not through using your own inside people? (TIP: you can get started by contracting Hunter and Associates for most of the services).

And how will you manage the entire business of publishing your inside story to the world, without looking bad? (TIP: Red Ditto Blogger has written a few guidelines on how companies can get started blogging at the TracksuitCEO blog)

These basic questions are just part of the great challenge facing all companies now. You the employee and you the boss should team up on this challenge. Because only those companies that succeed in developing authentic engagement with their customers will survive as companies. And at the very minimum, it’ll take some blogging.