The advantages of being social: participation driven (by others) motivated participation (for oneself)

Being 2.0 is no longer fashionable. It seems obvious to say that if you have a smartphone, if you’re not on social media, if you have no internet connection simply does not exist for many people. You are invisible. However, after the first passion for social media and Web 2.0 tools, tutors, facilitators and community managers of companies face increasingly employees who simply do not want to be in virtual worlds.

Don´t want to appear corporate forums, did not see the usefulness, necessity, or simply do not want the media exposure. The “I have no time” to “I do not want others to read what I think” through “my personal life is one thing and the professional, another”, reasons, excuses or arguments are varied and, why not, valid . The challenge is how to change these attitudes and to see or understand the benefits of being social.

Having good communication within the company is key to success. If people know what stays in their heads or on their computers, you are missing knowledge, experience, skills, best practices expertise. Considering that the greatest asset of any company is the people and what they know, it’s critical to make a good management of this fact, and this is achieved by having the knowledge flow. On many occasions itineraries are released, apprenticeship programs, communities of practice, MOOCs gamification and other games, and found that people do not voluntarily participate, or not participate with the frequency or intensity desired.

In these situations is when you should incorporate and implement three strategies:

• Design and implement a plan of Community Management of learning, emotional levers moving cause people are willing to participate voluntarily in their own development.
• Provide and implement an appropriate communication plan of Learning, involving all profiles related to the program or training initiative (the users themselves but also their commanders, as well as the areas of Systems, Training, Communication, Marketing, Commercial / Sales …) adults do not want to be told the why of things, but the why: what will I get in return for my time and my effort if I participate and get involved.
• And carry out internal awareness campaigns, such as:

1. Development programs digital competition: many times people do not participate because they do not know how or do not have the necessary skills.
2. And beyond, organize workshops to sensitize the importance of having a personal brand (without differentiating between professional and personal dimensions) as a way to expand our employability and position ourselves as experts or relating to specific topics.

It is important to distinguish that an issue is to motivate employees to participate in training programs, and a very different (but related) show the benefits of having a personal brand. We can not “force” our employees to have a personal brand, as it is a matter of will and personal desire, which involves conscious activity continued participation and reflection. A personal brand is a mark that lasts, a reflection of what people want to be in and to their environment.

Personal Branding is the opposite of being selfish is based on the exchange, in relationships and in giving to receive. It involves the concept of standing to bring to others what everyone knows, with a desire of preeminence and helping others, and a desire to make a positive mark in the near or distant environment.

1. The magic formula for Personal Branding involves at least three ingredients: Creativity + Proof + Planning, and through social networks should work on the following aspects:
2. Identify the values, principles and personal passion that sets us apart. In this regard it is important to be honest and transparent, which implies a high dose of self-knowledge.Write and communicate unique and useful content regularly. It is not enough to retweet or comment on what others write, but you have to provide new content on a regular.
3. Having an active presence on social media best suited to promote our personal brand: Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, SlideShare, YouTube, Flicker …, in order to get others we know and spread easily.

Develop personal brand of our employees within companies is useful for creating unconscious routines to share knowledge and experiences. It is also used to develop the Engagement and pride of belonging, reciprocity between what everyone knows and what they can take for yourself to be part of a social entity (group of experts on a particular topic) or company (belonging to a renowned company prestige). Also naturally generates habits of participation in corporate social networks, and ultimately makes the brand of our company is made up of the excellent personal brands of our partners.

An article by @EvaAstorga, Manager International Online Learning Solutions Overlap