Social media isn't only for engaging your guests

Over the last few months, I have talked a lot about using social media to look after your guests and customers, yet it’s also a tool to engage with your employees.

Most of your team members are probably young and already using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, so why not engage with them online?

Used as part of your HR and staff welfare strategies, social media can help save money, provide important feedback, generate new ideas, and become a more socially-engaged organisation.

To start with, you can use your hotel’s Facebook page for recruitment. Use a free application like Jobcast (https://www.facebook.com/jobcastnet) to add a recruitment and careers tab to your Facebook page, allowing you to advertise vacancies and enabling your fans to easily share posts.

If your hotel or brand has a careers page, I hope it includes social functionality to enable visitors, but also your property’s HR team, to share job adverts on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.

Do you face problems with internal communications? Do you still rely on your employees to check the BoH notice boards for updates on what’s happening in your hotel? Do you still waste money on printing a regular staff newsletter? Social media offers various options to keep your associates informed and up-to-date.

You could, for example, create a Facebook group for your current employees. This can be a ‘closed’ group, which means that what’s said inside the group cannot be seen by non-members. To stay in touch with ex-employees, an open Facebook or LinkedIn group can be useful — after all, many ex-employees will remember their time in your hotel fondly and will be keen to hear what’s going on and share news with their friends.

You could also create a staff blog using free blogging platforms like tumblr, Blogger, or Wordpress. A blog’s quick to set up and easy to maintain and you can use it to communicate current offers and staff outings etc.

You could even take the radical step of doing away with your staff handbook completely. Just think of how much money you could save by not printing handbooks, distributing them, keeping them up-to-date and collecting them again when an employee leaves.

Sites like PBWorks (pbworks.com/capturing-and-sharing-knowledge-pbworks) let you create Wikipedia-style knowledge-sharing platforms cheaply and easily, which can also link to other sites and include videos.

As is often the case with social media, the opportunities are virtually endless. Do you manage a staff housing complex? Create a dedicated Facebook Page or blog to connect and inform residents.

Create a dedicated employee YouTube channel and ask your team members to film short introductory videos of themselves or their colleagues. Use services like Slideshare to give your staff access to soft copies of the latest menus, promotional flyers, or the week’s transportation schedule.

Lastly, let’s not forget about ‘digital’ thank yous. If you have received a good TripAdvisor review containing names of employees or a tweet praising the service in one of your outlets, don’t just thank them when you see them, but share the feedback on your social media platforms.

We all want to attract and retain great employees. Using social media in your recruitment and HR can help you do that.

Whatever you do, always remember to keep it social!

Martin Kubler is owner, director, and chief cook and bottle washer of Iconsulthotels FZE, an ultra-boutique hospitality consultancy in Dubai. Email info@iconsulthotels.com or visit facebook.com/iconsulthotels