Will Companies Value Your Personal Network
Your job resume tells people what you’ve done in the past and where you’ve done it. Is that the sum of your capabilities? What about your resourcefulness? What’s the value of the people you can reach in your various networks, online or otherwise? And how should companies value this facet of your professional experience? Do companies need to consider how this might impact their departments?
With Sales, it’s a No-Brainer
Sales is a relationships game. The more folks you know, the deeper your Rolodex, the better your chances of finding the right hinge to close the sale. Building networks of value, where you can be helpful is made far simpler with these tools. They don’t do the work for you, but they give you new ways to reach out and establish connections, and stay just a little more in touch with other people’s environments. A salesperson who’s not exploring tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, and yes, even Twitter, is missing some potential opportunities.
How does your organization stack up in this regard?
For Other Departments, It’s Still Pretty Good
Imagine the difference of employing seven software engineers versus having access to thousands of engineers. How powerful is your internal marketing team when they are aligned with social networking tools and the ability to listen to your customers via these tools? What does your HR team miss by not having their listening powers tuned into the robust stream of human capital that roams Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn?
Customer Service is Trickier
In this time of economic downturn, customer service is often viewed as a cost center. Reducing average handling time, and reducing representative headcount are the realities, and no matter what the mission statement says, except for the amazing companies, you’ll find that customer service is more of a “must have” requirement than an empowering strategy. And yet, there’s gold in these hills. It’s just harder to do. For thoughts on how to advance customer service, see Lionel Menchaca and Frank from Comcast for a few simple examples. My take? There can be MUCH more going on here.
And YOUR Personal Network?
When I look at the networks people have built around them, there’s value there. Tangible value. Consider someone like Liz Strauss. She reaches out deeply into her community to build events like her popular and successful SOBCon. She gives and gives, and then when she needs something back, Liz has a strong network of multi-layered contacts to reach into for her needs.
It’s amazing, really. Liz alone is a powerhouse to hire, but if you really did give credit for her extended network, which reaches into the largest companies in the US, UK, and for all I know, the rest of the world.
How do you place a value on that? What does it mean when you can reach deeply into your network for nonprofit fundraisers, or job placement, or contact to land business deals? If you are an employer, or someone involved in the hiring of talent, how much is this influencing your thoughts?
I think this is something that goes into the consideration and metrics of hiring practices in the next handful of years (at least for some sectors). What do you think?
Photo credit, Jurvetson
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Comments
Great post
I had a bit of a debate started on LinkedIn Q&A.
I am a Financial Advisor and my LinkedIn Invites and Accepts are disabled at work.
below is the QA Link :
http://www.linkedin.com/answers/using-linkedIn/ULI/227059-3821092?browseIdx=1&sik=1212630510384&goback=%2Eamq
If you want me to reopen it I will.
I believe you’re right on target, Chris.
However, I believe it’s going to take a while before a critical mass of non-tech companies truly appreciate the power and potential value of social media networking. It’s going to have to percolate up. Many, many C-suite folks’ and senior managers’ perspectives are informed by what made them successful. They see social media networking as an unproven novelty.
They’ll understand it as mid-level managers who are adept at using the latest tools kick ass with their results. Or as their competitors get ahead with those results.
I think you nailed it with your Liz example… “She gives and gives, and then when she needs something back, Liz has a strong network of multi-layered contacts to reach into for her needs.”
But I believe it will be hard for companies to evaluate and then place a value on one’s personal network because they just don’t know how much you’ve given. Unless they have a really thorough screening process, they’ll never know if your network only sees you as a taker, and that network probably isn’t worth a whole lot.
This is going to help me bring the use of social media to our corporate recruiting mgmt team. This will help those of us that see the value already and are jumping in head first, begin to spread the message up the ladder. Thanks for illuminating presentation.
Yeah, it’s really important to have a strong network and use the newest stuff constantly to keep it stronger.
But a lot of employers nowadays still don’t get the value of it, and employees don’t either. In the end it’s the rockstars in an industry like you that will always stand out more than the rest simply because you try harder and realize how important it is.
Flip the page over, isn’t it our responsibility to sell or at least partly market that piece of ourselves like we would any other skill or attribute?
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I think social networks are becoming even more important as the Internet breaks down the limits of everyone’s reach. You’re no longer bound by who you meet at a tradeshow - now you can meet anyone anywhere online and develop real relationships without ever meeting in person. The power of networks is huge in terms of how to spread ideas, get ideas and feedback, and build relationships. We (held a webinar today and we) were talking about this earlier today - how these networks are real assets to your company that can really be a competitive advantage because they’re so hard to replicate (can’t survive in this game without being authentic and consistently adding value to the relationship).
Wow, is this something to think about? Yeah, so how do we show them the ROI of a network? That’s the question isn’t it? I’ll be thinking of this for days.
Thank you for the words you said.
[…] Brogan had a great post highlighting the value (aka ROI) of social networking. (”For sales its a no brainer”) Possibly related posts: (automatically […]
[…] Brogan said this about me on a blog post yesterday. When I look at the networks people have built around them, there’s value there. […]
You are definitely on to something.
Great article!
Mark Salinas
Insights on the World of Business Management
That depends - my professional network is a significantly different demographic than my personal one, and both are different than our target demographic for customer base.
Does it provide value? Yes, but the reverse is also true - my work provides great value to my personal network, too. So it’s even, at least for me.
I think there will come a watershed moment when a lot of companies start to see the value of social networking tools and realize that they have sleepers within their organization who are actually the people who should be the most valued.
I think it can be challenging for companies to figure out “what to do with” the well-connected employee. As you say, sales is a no-brainer. And in IT or software it can be invisible to folks outside the department but part of the overall “effectiveness package” of a rockstar techie. For others, having connections is not enough to evaluate outside the context of a particular project. Rather than talk about how well-connected you are, you need to demonstrate that you can use your network to be more effective. No one should be hired just because they have 500 connections on LinkedIn. But I can imagine interview scenarios where companies hire the person who knows who to call for help vs the person who is only a genius.
I think that personal networks will eventually become part of the hiring evaluation, similar to your thoughts. I wonder though just how long it will take for many companies to start considering this.
Here in the midwest, it seems that more companies take the conservative approach to most everything. Especially where it comes to newer technologies available to augment customer service or employee relations.
That’s what I’m interested in changing where I can. These concepts are important when more and more of our contemporaries have larger more diverse personal networks. Consider how easy it is to find information on many people today - their blogs alone provide a large about of data, and more often link to their social networks.
Very interesting thoughts Chris!
Rick
I set up a Facebook Group called “Monetising Facebook Groups” some time ago to investigate this very question. One person suggested I make it a closed group so it can be debated privately….that was interesting in itself because not only did she then not engage in the debate, but a whole heap of random people started requesting to join the group! If anyone wants to take a look and comment (Tho I find FB groups a bit disjointed as a discussion forum), feel free to look and join. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8696320101
Chris,
Great post, food for thought. Make us think, I love that.
I’m looking at this question from the perspective of working for a large organization and why the management don’t see this value.
First, I think it is because most large organizations value the status quo, little risks and a whole lot of keep doing what we’ve been doing. It’s safe to follow the well worn path and innovation is a chance, that no one wants to take and that other managers see as a risk, which makes them feel uneasy.
Only when their is a business value, something measurable, somthing tangible like a return on investment will it catch someones eye.
Companies like Zappos and Dell are the exception, not the rule. Sad but true.
Great Post!
Vicky H
James Paul Gee dedicates the last chapter of “What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy” to the “network.” He argues the real measure of a person’s abilities has to include all their network resources.
If I can’t solve a problem, but my friends on Twitter can, then I really can solve it.
It goes even farther, to any networked resource. My knowledge “includes” everything on PHP.net, the MozDev network, and MSDN, because I know where to find them and how to use them.
I certainly think employers and higher-ups are starting to notice that those of us with meaningful networks on LinkedIn and other socnets have something significant to offer.
In a staff meeting, “So and so, reach out to this former new business prospect at company X.”
“Okay, I’ll reach out to them, but they are no longer at company X, they’re now at company Y.”
“Great, how did you know that?”
“I have been connected to them through LinkedIn since we met them last year, and I get LinkedIn updates anytime someone changes their profile about a new job.”
This is just one tiny micro example, there are dozens more. Staying in touch with former clients, former colleagues, past NB prospects and even media contacts via LinkedIn provides an opportunity to reach out to them anytime they show a change in job or update their profile. Anyone who has a desk drawer full of business cards is missing an opportunity to bring that dusty stack to life by entering them into LinkedIn and engaging with them on a regular basis in an easy, friendly, non-obtrustive way. I think companies are absolutely starting to notice and appreciate those of us who do.
Great post,
Read from an employer point of view it brings, to me, additional opportunities.
Let’s assume that a sales department is measured on its collective capability to influence the community it is selling to. (its market)
The loss of one person that can influence Mr/s X,Y&Z is clearly not as damaging if the these same prospects/clients/prescriptors can be influenced by 4 other sale reps in the team.
In other words, what is really interesting to me is the incremental value of Liz to my sales team. (beside the fact that she probably has great ability to grow her network when she needs to).
That’s one more reason companies should think at building social media workgroup applications and farm the social knowledge of their team members :-)
I’m trying to work up a business plan now, and we’re talking to a business incubator, hooking up with them. One of the lawyers involved, shortly after we signed papers, invited me to her LinkedIn network. I remember the feeling of nearly-smug confidence.
Look, I’m a middle-aged chunky greying woman, hardly slick, proudly geeky — with an awesome business idea, but not the sort of young, verizon-guy-fashion-plate dude that a lot of people want to see as tech entrepreneur.
But my LinkedIn network speaks for itself, I think, with lots of folks who are close held with their connections.
And that’s because (a) I have a history of doing impossible things for over 25 years on the Internet, and (b) 25 years ago was when I met a lot of these folks, when there were many fewer of us.
Rolodex, eat your heart out…:)
Hi Chris,
I have always been mystified that companies would not consider it a good thing to have well-connected employees. Every employee is a connection to a potential customer, new hire, vendor, etc…
I work in marketing but I can easily reach out to my networks for new business, new press opportunities, mentors, etc… which is all good for my company.
I think it is a totally untapped resource for people in non-sales roles.
–Amrita
More awesome ideas Chris!
I’m of the same mind as Gavin Heaton except with a bit more of a twist. I’m using my About page of my blog as my portfolio (I like the clickable links that LinkedIn doesn’t offer). And the items of my portfolio live out on the web in my network as case studies, etc. Makes for an easy browse. And yes - I think that employers should consider the networks that a person has. It makes them who they are & shows their depth (not just for closing deals but as resources).
This is what makes the DataPortability Project viable for the enterprise. Just being able to see an employee’s network - both inside and outside the firewall - would be a great start. I wonder what kind of metrics and visualization tools might help describe the type of relationships we have with one another?
Anyway, If you’re interested, you can read more thoughts by clicking my name above at your leisure.
[…] Chris Brogan analyzed the value of personal networks and their value to companies, depending on the position a well connected person would fill. […]
Chris -
This is brilliant.
I recently took a job and asked my employer to change my ‘non-compete’ to account for the fact that I bring a strong network of contacts (and quite frankly, friends!) to my position and that they will always be mine.
If he were paying for me and exclusivity to my “connections” (I really do hate to refer to relationships that way), then I would cost him A LOT more money.
In reality - there is no price one can put on that - it’s not for sale, just rent for approved and mutually beneficial uses.
Ann
Chris, great work.
I am a VP at a big company. I work in HR and have worked directly for CEOs and EVPs for the last 15 years. I think I get the value of social media, at least in comparison to my peer group! Why don’t they know about this and use it in hiring practices, compensation reviews and more? I think “they” — the people in charge of deploying new systems and setting the example for the rest of the company — haven’t had enough passionate pitches by people who can display the business value and show them the return exceeds the risk, yet. Three key words here: Passionate, Pitches and Results. It takes more than a memo and it takes more than one pitch. The thing that will really get their attention is business results that provide leverage.
Social Media is new learning. Imagine you worked at a little known company and wanted to break into a big account. It takes creativity and several sales calls speaking in “what is in it for the target audience” terms to many people in the chain of command. It isn’t that they don’t want it, they just haven’t had the right sales person with the right pitch to come see them often enough.
All — I suggest you keep at it. Show them the magic. The people and the companies who love to ‘lead’ will be among the first. Heck, use that as a hook. Everyone hates it if a competitor gets there first (or is that just my company?) Taking this mission on, btw, is an amazing personal branding opportunity.
Polly
Polly- thanks for your comments, and for your recommendations. I’m glad this resonated, and that you’ve got some suggestions for how we can use this for the future.
Ann- That’s a really great point about non-competes. What else, I wonder, will we have to change in future contract negotiations related to our social media proclivities.
[…] in June, I wrote about whether companies will value your personal network. It’s a topic I think about constantly because I’ve seen time and time again the value […]
[…] Chris Brogan talks about the vital importance of your network and even ventures to state that companies (employers) will value your person networks. And, because there is real dollar value in a network Jeremiah Owyang cautions us that social media […]
[…] Chris Brogan talks about the vital importance of your network and even ventures to state that companies (employers) will value your person networks. And, because there is real dollar value in a network Jeremiah Owyang cautions us that social media […]
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In the IT world it is under valued and expected that you have a deep network to draw on.