Which Big 4 Firm is Australia’s Social Media Pioneer?
With a seeming absence of social media policies in Australian business, it is excellent to see a Big 4 accounting firm leading the way.
Who’s doing it?
Deloitte Australia is one of the first Aussie ‘corporates’ with its own social media policy in place. This enables them to embrace social media without the “fear of stuff going wrong.” In my personal experience, legal & PR departments are often the most vocal when it comes to fear-monging with social media, but Deloitte Australia‘s team is actually embracing it.
Deloitte’s refreshing policy outlines that they understand social media’s powerful impact, if used properly!
Rather than stick their head in the sand & ban facebook, twitter, You Tube et al, they empower & trust their staff to embrace this new communication medium.
How are they living it?
An example that explemifies Deloitte’s philosophy to social media is the way they embrace ‘connecting on the web’.
In fact, when I wrote a short note to Deloitte’s CEO and Deloitte Digital’s CEO admiring their social media policy, not only did Giam Swiegers and Peter Williams both reply, but they were more than happy to share their stories too.
It turns out that Deloitte Digital is the subsidiary company, led by web stalwart Peter Williams, that implemented the policy on behalf of its parent, Deloitte Australia.
And it came as no surprise that both CEOs are social media advocates!
What are they doing?
Deloitte Australia recruit their staff using Twitter (@Green_Dot), Linked In, YouTube and their custom Facebook application called Join Me @ Deloitte. When you combine these tools with financial incentives for staff to recruit friends, Peter Williams reckons it has saved them at least six figures on 3rd party recruiters’ fees alone.
It’s no wonder their corporate clients like Australia Post and UBank are getting great results too.
What can we learn?
Follow Deloitte Australia’s lead, get over the perceived fears of taking the plunge into social media and get involved! Encourage staff to connect with people online (just as you would offline) and if you’re lucky you may even dream up a few ways to get a commercial ROI from your social media strategy!
Have you been able to calculate an ROI on social media in your organisation?
