A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post about why so many Employer Brands continue to struggle with social media.

As I researched these Employer Brands, I noticed a number of brands (big brands, mind you) making some fairly common missteps when it came to how they used social media.

My friend, and recruiter by trade, Paul DeBettignies, brought up some really good points around “why” this is happening in the comments of that post.

Paul said:

“Recruiting tends to be under HR and not Marketing. Regardless it does not usually have a direct like to the C Suite.” (Good point)

“HR tends to be an entry level point to a company. (Another great point; junior-level folks are most likely running these accounts with minimal, if any, oversight).

“Recruiting is not a degree program.” (So, not only are junior folks running these accounts, they may be junior people with no college degree and junior people with varied backgrounds that aren’t in HR).

“Most marketers do not get that recruiting is an actual two way conversation.” (And, even when marketers ARE involved, they’re looking at social from one-way push mentality; I have to agree with Paul here, too)

But, even with those drawbacks, there are a number of brands doing interesting and productive things with social media. I thought we might take a closer look at those brands today.

PwC

PwC is one of the very accounting firms–and actually, organizations in general–to have an Employer Brand-focused Instagram account. Makes sense as a channel though, right? Younger people are there–and that’s a key audience for accounting firms. But, I liked a lot of what PwC was doing on Instagram. They include a heavy dose of employee/culture-focused photos, but also play on popular internet memes in a relevant way–like taking advantage of historic PwC pics as part of #ThrowbackThursday.

Even though they stuck a URL in the caption (um, you can’t click on those PwC–you know that, right?), I like this mini-campaign. Great way to put a face on a sustainability program and make it a recruiting tool. Taking a page out of Marriott’s playbook, if you remember their recruiting effort on Instagram a while back.

Microsoft

OK, so sure, not everyone company has the luxury Microsoft has here. Not every company has employees posting pics to Instagram of their experience at work. In fact, I would probably argue very few do. But, that doesn’t mean Microsoft shouldn’t do it. And, I love that they are. Sure, they post their own pics from time to time on IG. But, they consistently regram employee pics when appropriate. Excellent way to demonstrate employee engagement–and show how Microsoft is a great place to work (in an employee’s own words–and pics).

Love how Microsoft is providing value to job-seekers with this easy “service.” All they’re really doing is aggregating the best (read: most sought-after/urgent positions, most likely) jobs across the company, throwing them on a blog/site and positioning it as “Hot Jobs” via social. Simple, but brilliant because it makes life easier for job seekers, and it also put the top jobs Microsoft probably needs to hire for more than others at the top of the list.

Walmart

Employee pride should almost be a key part of any Employer Brand effort on social. After all, employees probably make up a decent chunk of your fans/followers on any social network. So, why not play to that employee pride once in a while? It will help spark employee engagement–and show how prideful and happy your employees are, as a result. Who doesn’t want to work for a company like that? Walmart did this well in this Instagram/Facebook post featuring it’s employees on Black Friday.

General Electric

One last really good idea–and example–from GE. Up top, I talked about how employees probably make up a decent chunk of your fans/followers on social media. I’m guessing that’s true for most brands. So, why wouldn’t you address them publicly in a post every now and then? I love what GE did with this post, specifically asking its engineers what they would add to this list. As you can see from the comments, a number of employees weighed in. Doesn’t that look good for GE? Think if a prospective employee sees and read this post. Don’t they feel good about the fact that so many employees (and others, of course) chimed in on the post? Doesn’t that employee engagement signal that those employees are happy and in tune with what’s happening in the industry and with the company? I tend to think so.