Remember in high school how it didn’t take long for a rumor or juicy piece of gossip to run rampant through the halls and spread faster than a wildfire fueled by 80 MPH winds? Well, <a href="/directory/social-media" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">social media is the new word of mouth. Most job seekers, before they even submit their resume for consideration, head to the Internet to find out more about their prospective employer.

Chances are your organization has a Facebook page, LinkedIn presence and Twitter account.  YouTube is also popular with recruiters because you can feature videos about the workplace. If managed properly, these are excellent means of promoting your business. These resources also enable companies to interact with their customers and respond to comments. If mismanaged, any negative comments can quickly evolve into a wildfire with zero percent containment. People love to give their two cents. Patients, customers and or former employees with a grudge like to give a lot more.

This past fall, I attended a presentation given by Kathleen Shaw, RN and Vice President, Client Strategy for TMP Worldwide at the annual American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) conference. She touched on how important it is to be proactive about negative comments instead of reactive.

If a negative post appears, the initial reflex is to delete it before anyone can see it. Politicians get criticized if they dodge an issue, the same reaction can result if you delete or ignore the comments. Shaw recommends addressing the post in the public eye and turning the person’s negative experience into a positive one. After all, they just want to be heard and under most circumstances they are providing valuable feedback for improvement.

The response to a negative comment could be as simple as, “We want to make this right and will message you in private to discuss.” Acknowledging your openness to amending a situation reflects positively upon your organization. Also, if your organization is a physician practice, hospital or health system, addressing the issue up front in this way and then moving the rest of the conversation out of the public forum, protects you from any concerns about privacy violations. 

Pretend you’re a job seeker and conduct an Internet search on your company. How healthy is your organization’s social media reputation? Also, how sound is your company’s social media policy in regards to current and past employees? Do you have any fires to contain? Putting measures into place to ensure a good online first impression will keep you from feeling the heat and will make people want to submit their resume.
 

EJ Fechenda is Inside Sales Manager at MedTech Media.