I had a chance to watch my coworker, Tim, work his magic the other day. A new training class had just joined our Incept family and was just starting to develop a greater understanding of what we’re all about.
Tim walked into the training room (with me in tow, of course) and introduced the two of us to the new class – who, honestly, seemed uninterested until the words “social media” came out of Tim’s mouth. Disinterest quickly became excitement, when Tim mentioned Facebook. That’s when it clicked for me. We had just used Facebook to break the ice and help our CMEs transition from “newbies” into our family.
It makes sense. Facebook is, without question, one of the most recognizable terms in the world right now. With an ever-expanding adoption rate, especially among users who previously wanted little to do with a computer outside of their job, it would be a huge mistake for us to not use Facebook to start a conversation. That’s what Incept is all about: having productive conversations. Sometimes that means “loosening the tie” a little bit, smiling and laughing, and kick-starting a conversation about company culture!
We left that training room owing the new hires a pizza for meeting our Facebook challenge of having each member of the class “like” our company page. We walked in as strangers, broke the ice with a topic no one expected to hear about (or much less have a fun and productive conversation about) at work, and we walked out as friends.
To recap, albeit quickly, introducing our new CMEs to our company culture using Facebook achieved the following:
- Made the new CME’s feel relaxed and welcome
- Started a long-term and productive conversation
- Added to our ever-expanding social network
- Introduced the CMEs to one portion of our company culture
- Allowed them to build an instant support network in a new work environment
- Opened the door for them to take advantage of resources they never knew existed (to improve their skills)
I’d say for a few minutes of our time – and the cost of a pizza – breaking the ice with Facebook was an investment that will pay off!
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