What employers need to know about making social media a part of business

Your employees are posting on TikTok. What does that mean for your business?

March 15, 2023 12:00 PM

As recently as a decade ago, businesses struggled to handle a wave of social media platforms, unsure of how employees' personal posts — or scarier, personal posts about their professional lives — might reflect back on an organization.

Of course, they eventually got on board. Today, 97% of Fortune 500 companies rely on social media for marketing, and more than 50 million small businesses use social media platforms like Facebook to connect with customers, according to market and consumer data provider Statista. But once again, the rise of video-based platforms like TikTok is challenging workplace norms, and businesses are scrambling to build guardrails around workers who are livestreaming from the office and posting transparent stories about company culture.

Alexandra Anema, social media director at advertising firm Bayard Marketing, has watched this all play out firsthand. And while she understands the fear some employers may feel, she stresses that the benefits of new social media platforms likely outweigh the risks.

"HR departments have to know the ROI of social media," she says, noting that what employees share about a business can hold more weight than a corporate-approved post. "They have to understand that in order to be able to recruit a younger audience, they need to showcase who they are on a different level. My entire career people have been saying this is just a fad, this is going away. And I have watched year after year as it's become more and more important."

Organizations from Morgan Stanley to Netflix have seen their own employees trying their hand at influencer life. But employers can get ahead of this trend, and even embrace it. Here are four things to consider:

Are your employees on social media? Yes.

Nearly 100% of employees embrace social media for personal use, according to a recent study conducted by career insights platform Zippia. Among those employees, 27% also use social media for work — whether it's managing their companies' accounts or for marketing purposes. What may be a little more alarming to employers: 50% of employees have posted about their job. And for many, they're using workplace content to build a following on TikTok.

"CareerTok" refers to a growing community of TikTok users that have dedicated their accounts to all things business, from posting vlog-style videos walking viewers through their daily workplace routine to tips on how to have hard conversations with managers.

"Anything that gives people a peek behind the curtain is important," says Anema. "We don't have to worry about getting that 30-second insight as you walk through an office for a job interview, anymore. Now you can go and see 400 different pieces of content on that one place on TikTok."

These quick videos can garner hundreds of thousands of views on the popular video streaming app. With layoffs dominating headlines and a possible recession looming over employees' heads, career guidance is an appreciated currency. Employers can find power in this trend — as long as they're willing to embrace their employees' interest in work-focused content creation.

"The thing employers and brands need to keep in mind is that their approach needs to be goal oriented," Anema says. 'It needs to have a purpose — it can be just showcasing an office, or showcasing a role. The purpose can be pretty small, but the purpose needs to be there for them to profit from it."

Your next employee? They're on TikTok, too.

Gen Z is slated to make up the largest workplace demographic within the next decade, and employers must know how — and where — to engage with them.

"Gen Z are looking for jobs in places you wouldn't traditionally think to look," says Stephanie Lovell, the head of marketing at recruiting company Hirect. "So these [new] social media platforms are really just rich with Gen Z job seekers. And I think employers and companies are finally starting to see that and they're trying to trend toward that."

According to a recent survey by digital marketing network Omnicore, fewer than 20% of Gen Z utilizes LinkedIn as a means of finding job opportunities. In fact, 57% of job seekers use less traditional and career-focused forms of social media in their job search, according to Zippia, and 73% of job seekers aged 18-34 found their last job through platforms such as Twitter. So before employers think about tightening their social media policies, they may want to consider how that kind of visibility could benefit them.

By sticking to more traditional forms of recruiting platforms, employers are missing out on the 37% of workers that are passive candidates — those folks who are interested in a new job but not actively searching. Social media platforms such as TikTok can capture those prospective employees in a way LinkedIn and other job boards can't.

Knowing this, TikTok recently launched TikTok Resume, an extension of the app made specifically for companies looking to advertise their brand and for applicants to showcase their job experience, skills and creativity. All the user has to do is add the hashtag #TikTokResume to their video; Chipotle saw a 7% increase in the number of applicants in 2022 after posting their recruitment video under the hashtag.

Eventually, primarily seeking and hiring talent through social media platforms TikTok like will be a staple in recruiting strategies, according to Jerry Lee, COO at career consulting group Wonsulting, which helped launch TikTok Resume.

"Companies are going to use social media to differentiate themselves beyond just offering a large compensation package," Lee says. "We're starting to see a lot more companies tap into that, and it wouldn't be surprising if applicants see companies have a significantly bigger presence on social media platforms."

TikTok will hold your company accountable

According to Anema, visibility and transparency is the number one reason social media is so appealing to employees and applicants. Applicants want to know what kind of companies they're applying to — they want to know whether current employees are happy there, what their workload will look like and what that company's values are really like, outside of public relations.

In a recent survey conducted by task management platform Tallo, 87% of Gen Z reported that workplace DEI strategies were very important, and 86% would be interested in contributing to an organization's DEI strategy. But after joining a company, many learned that their employer either did not have or did not prioritize those programs and resources. Social media is not only the answer to applicants' questions, but a way to keep companies accountable.

"It forces more companies to do better," says James Kinney, a diversity consultant that works with many large enterprises. "User generated content has been a big force for us for the past several years, but now it's the future. You get the real real, and not something that the company website says."

Young professionals are not afraid to fight for the kind of inclusive workplace they want. Seventy-two percent of Gen Z applicants are looking for a fair and ethical boss, according to Tallo, while 61% want the ability to be heard and 47% are seeking a job making an impact socially and economically. A greater social media presence gives the demographics of employees impacted by these efforts a voice to speak on them.

"Women, people of color, Black people, and LGBTQIA+, amongst other groups, get a chance to be narrative based and tell stories," Kinney says. "That is the power of TikTok. The power of storytelling. As global organizations continue to make improvements in diversity, equity and inclusion the power for each person or group to be able to tell their own story is imperative."

How can employers leverage social media responsibly?

Views and engagement are great for companies looking to better their reputation, but that kind of visibility can be a double edged sword. CareerTok has been behind the so-called "cancellation" of many companies including Deloitte and L'Oréal, as employees take their grievances online. Going viral is only useful if it's for the right reasons.

Anema shared that she once had a client go viral on TikTok for having a toxic work environment, and a video posted to the opp cost the company in hiring opportunities. Which is why, according to Rina Bersohn, assistant general counsel at HR solutions company Engage PEO, employers should make sure they have all of their bases covered.

"First, reiterate to employees that company policies apply not just to the physical workplace, but also to online conduct," she says. "Most employers have in place equal employment opportunity policies, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies that should apply online, as well as confidentiality policies."

Companies can also notify employees of the existence of policies that protect an organization's intellectual property — this means not allowing employees to use logos or other promotional content without the companies' explicit permission.

But Bersohn admits that social media is and will always be a part of an employees life, so whatever kind of policy an employer chooses to put in place must acknowledge a workforce's need to express themselves.

"You as an employer have to ensure that your social media rules don't interfere with an employee's right to organize or express their personal opinions or communicate about their own terms and conditions of employment," she says. "Otherwise, they could potentially be in violation of the employee's. You want to be sure to include a provision in your policy that addresses that."