HR and Community Management – Key communities managed by them

As an organization, you interact with several communities- some distinct, some overlapping. Customer communities, vendor communities, employee communities, student communities and so on. Of which customer and vendor communities are generally supported by sales and marketing. In an increasingly social world, community management also becomes a key HR function with emphasis on managing such diverse communities as employees and their families, students, prospective recruits and talent communities, sustainability partners and so on. Here is a list of key communities which require management or involvement by the HR and a few tips on effectively managing them

Employee Community

In a social world, you would want to connect with your employees within and outside your organization perimeters. You would want to be accessible to employees, answer questions and see them collaborate together. You would need to actively manage the collaboration within your organization and also keep a tab in the wider world.

Extended Employee families

As an employer, your employee families become key stakeholders and keeping in touch with them help. Why not create an informal group and share fun facts, events, parenting tips. It keeps the wider family engaged and needless to say that would be a contributing factor in your employee happiness and productivity too. Facebook gives you a good lever to create a fun informal group where you can invite employee families. Keep the group informal, stimulate the conversation and keep doors of engagement open.

Talent communities

In a competitive world, managing prospective recruits and pipeline talent can become a key differentiator. You can be managing several talent communities- school students, engineers, mba grads. Hire community managers who focus on distinct communities and manage the community in line with your approach to talent.

Diversity communities

As diversity and inclusion become key HR goals, managed diversity communities gain in importance. Such communities would span both your employees as well as wider groups outside to ensure your efforts as an equal opportunity employer are addressed at the key stakeholders. The key  theme of a diversity community commitment underpinned by sensitivity and compassion to provide equal platform to members of diverse groups.

Sustainability communities

While sustainability would ideally be a separate function, HR and sustainability overlap at several places. Sustainability communities will include diverse groups such as NGOs, environmentalists, education partners, beneficiaries and other key cogs of your sustainability program. Joint initiatives would be the key driver of those communities – for example education programs with partner schools, resource library for students etc.

Rimjhim Ray heads the Social Media Marketing at Tata Consultancy Services. She is an experienced sales and marketing professional having led  global portfolios including new age solutions such as cloud, social media and mobility. She has also lead CS initiatives in various countries including UK and Ireland and have championed social media programs around sustainability. She is an avid blogger, marathoner and a social media practitioner. She holds a degree in Mathematics and Computer Applications from Jadavpur University and a MBA from SP Jain, Mumbai. She also holds certificates in Social Media from Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. She is an avid toastmaster and she is a part of the executive committee of Mumbai Toast Masters. Check out her blog at Globe-Slother. Connect with her on LinkedIn and on twitter @GlobeSlother