Social_Media

Just today, I have encountered the first opportunity and threat concerning the use of social media. During my meeting with the Director HR, Manager HR and Assistant Director HR I have paid attention to problems that they encounter concerning the recruiting of new personnel. These personnel are also called: casual workers (= part-time staff, but with no contract). Very different from what we are used to in the Netherlands. In the NL we have many organizations, such as Basics, who recruit staff to work at banqueting events. SS could outsource in order to find the correct staff; unfortunately there is no possibility for them to do so. No organization like this exists in Singapore, let alone people/students who wish to do this type of work. SS constantly lives with the fact that there is a shortage of staff, and it is also a custom to them that staff cancels a few hours before the event starts with reasons such as: “I am sick”, “I have a Halloween party”, “I just can’t make it” or simply “I don’t want to come and work”. To my surprise, these people will be asked to come and work again for another event in the future, whereas in the NL they wouldn’t have to show their face at the company again. This all for the following reason: there is an enormous shortage of banqueting staff. To attract new staff and as they call it “youngsters” social media (SoMe) is being attacked. The most famous form of SoMe in Singapore is Facebook. They believe that the lifespan of a site such as Twitter has a shorter lifespan. Twitter is seen as a micro blog, and for recruiting new staff it doesn’t seem efficient, perhaps in the future when more people are using Twitter as a form of SoMe. "For Twitter, the life of a message is about 15 minutes before it is buried under subsequent messages. For Facebook, this might be extended to six hours depending on how active [users'] friends are." This final statements leads directly to one of the threats of SoMe. Businesses are not always as professional in the use of SoMe. As I have seen at my work now, they are not familiar to all these new forms of communication and may invest time in the wrong type of media. For example, the Director of HR has heard that Twitter is a new and improved form of connecting to people within a certain range. What she hasn’t taken into consideration is that posting the right media message on Twitter, and directing it to the right group of people will take a lot of time. Unfortunately this message will be gone in about 15 minutes. Depending on the pace of new messages posted. So yes, Twitter is a form of SoMe which can be used to express emotions, gossips, trends, facts, but only for the experienced and quick paced “youngsters”. Twitter is not the right form of SoMe for recruiting new staff for SS. They may better use magazines, newspapers, websites, and other media. Facebook could help, but only when posted on the right page and for the right members. SoMe is an opportunity for businesses such as SS, but only when used properly. If not, it is a threat (waste of time and money). They can use it for getting more brand attention, posting new events, etc. Read the article posted below for more information. The conference was held in cooperation with SS.