A new training course is being launched this week which is designed to help HR practitioners maximise the benefits of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Entitled “Tweets, Boos, Nings and Things”, it is the brainchild of Phil Woodford, a former creative director at recruitment advertising agency Stafford Long, who now works as a freelance trainer and lectures in marketing and advertising at Birkbeck College.
The short two-hour session, which Woodford will run in-house for interested HR departments, is designed to demystify the terminology surrounding the new media and to explain the very real benefits that it can bring to the recruitment, management and development of people.
Woodford, 40, believes that the potential shouldn’t be underestimated. “Many employers can be scared of social networks and other new media,” he observes, “but they are already firmly entrenched in the workplace. The important thing is to harness them to your advantage when recruiting staff, communicating with existing employees or delivering greater efficiency in working practices.”
During the workshop, Woodford will highlight case studies of employers already exploiting the new technologies and will demonstrate the potential of the platforms through realtime uploads.
