I think your comments about training are reflective of the poor training you’ve had. You are absolutely right – you can’t just post and tell and expect people to toe the line. It is absolutely about talking to people, finding out what’s inportant, what doesn’t fit, and why; and what can be done to grow that culture. It needs a mediator not a trainer. But that’s just my approach to it. Others will do it their own way.

I don’t agree about social medai not being under marketing. It can be. Or it can be under HR. Or sales. And it will be in all of those places whether companies like it or not. It is an extension of true marketing not the blam it out type, but the type that generates emotion and conversation – which is what successful marketers have done for years.

I love Daren for everything he is and says, he’s an incredibly engaging person. But I think you should re-visit what he said. he gave a fixed framework for finding someone to tweet which was a slightly different approach -find someone who’s already ‘doing’ social media, but make sure they aren’t the drunken lady with cocktails posting to her facebook.

He only had a short while to present in the context of a short presentation at a conference with no chance to debate, so it’s a bit unfair to go into the ifs buts and maybes. I would extend that debate (and hope he’ll join in too).

If you are selling cocktails to a bingo crowd, the person whose image he used as an example of ‘don’t let her loose on it’ (let’s call her Bingo Betty, for a moment) would be an absolutely perfect advocate for the company: fun, irreverent, leading the party in it’s conga, getting them all up on the dance floor.

I would start with the person and teach them the tools rather than the other way around.

Furthermore, Bingo Betty is going to get on in her own social media circles anyway. She has every right to do this. But it’s now an organisations responsibility to help her understand that if she is cruel to colleagues or tells everyone that she’s just seen a deal signed in the C suite and the company’s being sold, there are huge repercussions for her and for the company.

The information’s not coming through the spout, but the colander can be coloured!

This post was mentioned on Twitter by scottgould: RT @ClaireatWaves: Blogged: a lengthy but thought thru post on the value of values http://bit.ly/49w81b...

Enjoyed this very much and got some good stuff out of it. I’ve been saying some similar things across a few different blog posts, which agree with a lot of what you’ve said. I’ll add my 2 pence on a few points

1. Your great line “And why would an investor put their money into THAT?” – exactly! Too few have a structured approach to Social Media and instead guess as they go. That’s fine for personal Tweeting – but as you say, investors can’t put money into that, nor can companies invest in that.

The solution here, for me, is good consultancy that provides good frameworks and works with the company to create good guidelines.

2. “If you train people in the organisation’s values, aim for their understanding and buy in, then their behaviour can be expected to match those values”

I’m unsure about this – I agree with the sentiment – but I have too many memories of being in horrible training sessions being ‘taught’ values that I didn’t hold myself, in the most boring and corporately-horrid way.

I think that part of the hiring process has to be whether these people in the first place are aligned with the organisation’s values, because I don’t believe you can ‘train’ them, I believe they are acquired over time through company culture – and unless someone is the type of person who’ll pick them up, they’ll always kick against the culture because it is in contradiction at some point with their own values.

3. “So true corporate social responsibility (CSR) now becomes a reality. PR is now pervasive. Everything you do has a public relations implication. If your staff don’t reflect your values, nothing will – your HR and PR functions need to work together.”

Totally. It’s the same with companies who want to put Social Media under marketing – it doesn’t live just there – it’s coms, HR, customer service, marketing, recruitment, etc.

4. “Living values doesn’t have to be expensive” – Amen!

I wrote a post the other week about this, and listed 5 free ways to do this. This is about culture, and as such, is deeper than financial incentive. My 5 were: Cause, Language, Experience, Leadership, Relationship – all of which can be done for free, and just require forethought.

5. “DON’T give your ‘official’ engagement to an inexperienced ‘intern’ unless your audience is inexperienced interns. Look for the person (or people, depending on your size and what you want to achieve) who most embodies the values of your organisation.”

Daren Forsyth at Like Minds said to find the company conversationalist. You’ve said the same thing in as many words. I was talking to someone who fits this bill and is carrying out Social Media for a local solicitor, and we were discussing the need for this person to begin building others into Social Media so that the program isn’t tied into a single person.

It is frustrating how so many organisations think this is a job for the lowest paid worker / intern, and don’t get the giant repercussions that social media has for the organisation as a whole. This is where I believe PR agencies will have better success at getting clients onboard with social media properly than marketing agencies will – because PR goes to communication, and the organisation is more willing to hear about organisational change and reputation management from the PR firm than the marketing firm, IMO.

That’s my two pence!