Food Job Blog: The inside track on Food Recruitment and Careers

The Recruiter online this week warns of the dangers of putting your firm's reputation on the line through the inappropriate use of Social Media.

When social media websites such as Facebook and YouTube first started gaining relevance in the recruitment sector, it was candidates who were warned that their internet reputation or 'netrep' was at risk.

Nowadays organisations of all sizes have to accept that they will be routinely rated - and berated - across the web as forums, comparison sites and other online spaces empower employees, customers and third parties to pass judgement on a company's goods, services, performance behaviour and more. Just recently, the UK has seen the launch of Judgethejob.com, a website which allows jobseekers to review experiences of working with a particular company.

Paul Harrison, managing partner at Carve Consulting, which works with clients to develop social media strategies, says the major mindset problem for recruiters is that they still only see such sites as a recruitment channel or job promotion tool rather than fully recognise the impact it can have on reputation. "It takes two minutes to set up a Twitter feed to say 'I hate a particular brand'," he says. "No matter what size of organisation you are, listening to the social dialogue and having a framework in place to deal with things is critical.

"Your social dialogue cuts to the heart of everything you do," says Harrison. "So you need to create a working group with clear delineation of responsibility. It is important to have a community manager or someone who is 'on point' to listen to what is being said and is then able to direct what needs to be done." He adds that the key to extracting maximum value from the process is "active listening", which can help recruiters and employers map talent and communities of talent, and better understand how to improve an organisation's reputation and perception as an employer. "Active listening allows us to identify key influencers and trust agents who can promote our message and opportunities," he says.

Stephen Jones, managing director of Focus Management, a recruitment consultancy dedicated to the food and drink sector, uses a mixture of Google Alerts and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) readers to monitor its brand and it also enlists the help of Carve. As well as its brands, Jones explains that it also monitors the social dialogue around the names of key consultants, clients and competitors. "We also monitor buzz around industry events and so forth," he says. "We're always surprised by the volume of conversations taking place and the number of our candidates and clients using platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook."

Focus has been active in the social space for some time and says negative feedback has appeared rarely but if it does the company leaves the comments in the space they were made and makes sure they respond in an appropriate way. "On these rare occasions where criticism has been posted, we always follow up internally," says Jones. "Was the criticism valid? Do we have a breakdown in our processes? Is there a training issue to address? What could we do differently or better?"

As Harrison says, a mechanism for dealing with any negative activity must be in place beforehand. "It's no good saying 'who do I have to talk to in corporate comms as we're getting a kicking on YouTube'." Experts also agree that it is important to respond in the space where the comments were posted: so if it happens on Facebook, respond on Facebook.

Key Facts for Monitoring Your Online Reputation:

• Carry out an audit of the social space to find out what is being said about you and where. Until you do this, you can't put together an effective social media and monitoring strategy.
• Have a framework in place to support the monitoring and this must define how negative feedback will be dealt with
• Engage external help but don't abdicate responsibility or ownership of the process as your reputation is too important
• Respond to any incidents or negative comments in the same online space as they happened. The response should be prompt but well thought through. Avoid knee-jerk reactions
• Carry on listening to the online conversation and adapt your strategy to take in new channels - monitoring is an ongoing and everchanging process