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Tapping the power of your restaurant’s employees through social media
By Leya Abramson
April 1, 2011
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There’s no denying that the way we share our lives has changed dramatically over the past few years. No longer are we simply discussing our days over the dinner table or through one-on-one phone calls - 24/7 access to social media and the sharing of people’s lives through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, photo and video sharing sites now makes it possible for anyone to act as a brand ambassador or a brand cynic–and that includes your employees.
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This rise in social media has left employers with two choices: embrace or avoid the phenomena. While some have chosen to shy away, the resounding mentality seems to be that cyberspace conversations are going to happen with or without you - so you and your employees might as well join in on the chatter.
Restaurant employees in particular fall largely into the “tech savvy” age range of 16-24 years old. Extremely active social media users, when armed with the right tools they have the unprecedented ability to join and initiate online conversations to help harness brand awareness. So how do you go about getting them engaged? Here are some tips:
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- Keep them in the loop: Share the company’s vision and social media goals with them and ask them to take part in the journey. One simple way of doing this is to keep employees informed about new menu items or promotions and ask them to share it with their online communities if they feel comfortable.
- Listen: Ask for employees’ opinions and ideas on how they think social media practices can be improved. As the ones on the “front lines”, their thoughts are key at moving things forward and staying current.
- Make training available: If you expect your employees to utilize the social networking tools properly, you must provide training. What they put out there isn’t just a reflection of the company; it is also a reflection of them. Training will make it a win-win for everybody.
- Celebrate: If one or several employees are doing a particularly good job of engaging in the online world, recognize them for their efforts. Consider thanking them through an internal newsletter, on social media or offering them a reward for a job well done! This will also encourage other employees to get involved.
 Employing the above strategies are good steps toward fostering staff engagement online, but management must make it a point to let employees know where the company stands in terms of its social media policy policy. Whether you’re a large organization or a small, growing business, to protect yourself from a potential PR disaster, employee cyberspace expectations must be clearly communicated.
The goal of any social media policy should be to establish rules that are not too formal or overbearing while harnessing the power of social media as a branding tool. Whether you’re in the process of developing or updating a policy, here are some tips and tricks to help guide you along the way.
- Instead of calling it your “Social Media Policy”, try using “Guidelines” or “Parameters”. People tend to automatically associate the word ‘policy’ with something strict or negative. The alternatives will foster a more positive attitude toward implementation.
- Encourage transparency and ensure employees are stating what company they work for as well as using their real names.
- Remind employees that they are responsible for their own actions and that any posts that arepotentially tarnishing will be their responsibility. Encourage sound judgment and overall common sense.
- As technology changes, so too should social media policies. Quarterly policy reviews allow the latest social media trends to be properly examined and new rules to be implemented
Some great examples of social media policies can be found on almost every major corporation’s website – do some browsing to help formulate your own and you may want to seek legal counsel to ensure accuracy.
About the author:
Leya Abramson is an Account Executive at theadlibgroup; a full-service boutique marketing and communications agency offering services ranging from marketing strategy to PR to social media marketing. With the ability to execute projects of all sizes and scopes in-house, theadlibgroup has helped franchises and foodservice clients of all sizes build their brands and drive sales for over 25 years. Contact her at leya@theadlibgroup.com or 416.447.9686 or visit www.theadlibgroup.com.
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