Managers: use the social networks!

This week I was invited by Spain’s leading financial daily Expansión to contribute to an article (pdf in Spanish) on the growing use of the social networks by senior management.

The gist of the article is that company directors are increasingly being evaluated not just on their management skills, but also on their ability to use services like Twitter, and many commentators argue that senior management who are not on the social networks are missing a valuable opportunity to generate value for their shareholders.

Citing the case of Carlos Domingo, who twittered that he was stepping down as President of Telefonica R&D on February 12, I pointed out that he had obviously made his decision public long after the move had been agreed within the company.

Using Twitter in this way is a perfectly logical move for somebody who already uses the service regularly to share with the world what he or she is up to, professionally and personally. This is a trend that we are going to see become commonplace, and one that makes perfect sense in a world where communication is increasingly humanized and multi-directional, as well as easier than ever. In the case of Telefónica, Spain’s leading telecoms operator, it is now fairly routine to see its directors using Twitter to mix corporate and personal questions; a policy that reflects the company’s pioneering development of support systems for clients via the social networks.

In 2003, when blogging really began to take off, Microsoft hired Robert Scoble, already an established blogger, to foster a blogging culture in the company. The underlying theory was that while within the company, the majority of employees were happy and motivated; there was a widespread negative perceptions out in the world about Microsoft. Thus, it made sense for those within to share information with those outside.

The Economist wrote about the experiment under the title “Chief Humanizing Officer”, detailing its success. It remains the subject of study to this day in many business schools. Directors play an increasingly important role in corporate communication. If your company thinks that talking to the world means releasing carefully considered press releases occasionally, then it has a problem.

Corporate communication has become a conversation. In other words, nobody wants to hear only how wonderful your company is. They want to feel as though they have gotten inside what is going on in the company. That said, a lot of companies continue to believe that instead of a conversation, it is better to bore people with press releases that invariably say the same thing: that the company is wonderful, a leader and a pioneer, that it is best at what it does, and that there is no room for discussion on the matter of its performance.

But the rules have changed: your company’s directors and employees can play a key role. If they are not happy about something, nothing is going to prevent that discontentment from eventually affecting your company’s reputation out in the real world. At the same time, obviously it is not advisable to criticize your company on the social networks.

Similarly, companies that do not have directors able to converse and to project a human image, will end up with problems, because traditional communication structures no longer work. If your directors are on the social network, this can be a terrific way to project a positive image, and even to attract talent and business.

What Carlos Domingo did was the most normal thing in the world: normal for him, and normal for the Telefónica of today. It would have been very strange if somebody who shares with the world what he is up to: what he reads, his passion for innovation, his opinions, his thoughts, and even his love of soccer, to suddenly turn up at another company without letting those of us who follow him on Twitter knowing first.

Not having done so would have been a cause for concern, and we should be concerned about companies that don’t see things this way.

And while I’m at it, I’d like to wish Carlos the best of luck with his next venture! :-)

(En español, aquí)