The Role of the Employee Within the Corporate Blogging Arena
In my previous post, “Why Corporations Should Consider Establishing Employee-Controlled Blogs,” I generally discussed why I feel that it is advantageous for a corporation to establish a blog within its organization that is authored by its employees, whether those employees aim their discussions about the company at external audiences, at other company employees, or at the company’s top executives.
After writing that post, I then realized that when discussing the idea of corporate employee blogging, it is important to focus in on the idea of establishing an employee blog that is directed at external audiences versus a blog aimed at allowing for internal company feedback. Though both have their advantages and disadvantages, how does a company choose which one, if not both, is the right fit for that company in giving its employees a voice?
To begin answering this question, I feel that it is important to understand some of the basic differences between the two. An employee blog that was established to be aimed at a company’s external audiences allows the employees to be the blog’s authors and, therefore, communicate their opinions about certain company issues or products to the public. This can help to give the company a face and a personality rather than a large, corporate feel.
An example of a company that has established this type of employee blogging structure is Wal-Mart. Their employee-authored blog titled “Check Out: Where The Lanes Are All Open” is directed towards Wal-Mart customers that are looking to the opinions of Wal-Mart employees and merchants to influence their buying decisions. As Michael Barbaro discusses in his article “Wal-Mart encourages employee blog,” customers are also able, and encouraged, to leave comments on the employee’s posts, helping Wal-Mart’s top executives to receive valuable consumer feedback.
On the other hand, a blog that centers around employees offering their feedback to a company is also a valuable tool for a company to consider. Whether the blog focuses on employees sharing their thoughts on company structure, new company policies, or even the food selections in the corporate cafeteria, it is important to provide an outlet for that feedback. This allows a company to engage in two-way communication with its employees, making the employees realize that their opinions are valued. However, it is important to note that committing to this kind of open communication means that a company has to listen to its employees and respond to their opinions as well.
Dell is an example of a company that has established this type of employee-authored, internal communication. Their blog, titled “EmployeeStorm,” is focused on giving Dell employees an online arena to generate and provide feedback on company issues. In the following video from Ragan Communications, Dell’s Internal Communications Manager, Vida Killian, talks about EmployeeStorm.
In the end, it is up to each individual corporation to evaluate which, if not both, employee-authored blogging style is the right fit for that company, though understanding the basic differences between the two is a great place to start!
Employees and blogging is a very interesting subject. Employees can give new and meaningful insight into company policies which is very important. I think it is great to get this kind of feedback for a corporation and could be preventative against strikes and angry workers. If you keep the people happy who are working for you, it is likely they will produce good work and good word of mouth for your institution.
On the other hand, it is important to, like with any other corporate blog, figure out who comments and postings will be monitored as well as who has access to the blog. Overall though, I think it is a very positive idea, especially for larger corporations.
I like that you contrasted the advantages and disadvantages of an internal or external blog. I had really never thought about the difference between the two. I think aiming employee blogs at external audiences are the best way to go to get feedback on the company. I feel like employees can be more personal in their blogs and reach more targeted audiences. Employees can respond to customers too and create relationships with the public.
As Lauren said, it is important to keep the monitoring in check for the blog to be successful. As a whole, I think employee blogging can really benefit a corporation.
I like how you described of the two different types of employee blogs that a corporation can engage in but I do not think that a corporation should feel that they have to be limited to just one type. Both formats are extremely important to reaching all types of corporate audiences. I think that by letting employees blog with external audiences allows those people to feel that the company is really trying to engage them and, speaking from experience, its nice to hear back from actual employees responding to what the external audiences have said about them on the blogosphere.