Why "youth" doesn't always equal "ability"

By Kelly Dyer, Editor of Strategic Communication Management, Melcrum

We hear so much about the Gen-Y workforce and their high expectations of technology in the workplace, that we tend to assume everyone in this age bracket is a social media expert. But Philippe Borremans, former European new media lead at IBM, speaking on the first day of Melcrum’s intranet 2.0 forum in London, thinks differently.

It’s an easy trap for communicators to fall into apparently, especially as they have been fed an image by the media of young people having multitasking abilities that extend to simultaneously downloading music, chatting on instant messenger and making their plans for the evening via text message. Although extremely adept at using social media tools in their private lives, Philippe advises against assuming they can automatically carry across these skills to the corporate environment. He says, “future employees want to retrieve information in different ways, but don’t assume they know how to use social media tools in a business context, as they don’t. Support is definitely required to ensure a smooth transition.”

He also stressed the importance of internal messaging being aligned with external as employee conversations don’t revolve around the corporate values or messages that the internal communicator works to get across.  “Do not believe that you’re living in a walled village – internal conversations will reach the outside world,” was Philippe’s advice.

He also had tips for communicators who write podcasts for senior leaders: “Don’t script it. There should just be bullet points to ensure a more fluid and natural delivery. Imagine how dull the radio would sound if it were all scripted – would you want to listen?”

Philippe’s final piece of advice was to avoid organizational chaos by starting small when starting out with social media tools. Get bigger gradually to avoid introducing lots of different platforms at once.

There was also plenty of opportunity for delegates to hear from practitioners from Ericsson, SAP, British Airways, Lloyds TSB and Virgin Trains about their intranet sites, how far advanced they are towards incorporating web 2.0 tools and the challenges they still have to face.

For example, global delivery service TNT with its bespoke social media toolkit and regular CEO chat sessions that expose the CEO to online conversation with employees, has a very forward-looking and progressive culture.

At brewery Scottish & Newcastle, however, things are very different. Jackie Trousdale, group web and internal communication manager, believes that web 2.0 tools will never have a place in her organization due to the culture that exists. But the intranet has proved an immensely valuable tool in informing employees about the progress of the recent acquisition by Heineken.

A reminder that social media tools can only be used to the best effect when you know your audience and understand their needs and capabilities.