Sincerely, Social Media

It seems consumers no longer want to be sold to, but they would rather be introduced to new products and services.  Only 14% of consumers today trust advertisements, leaving the majority of their purchasing power resulting from the recommendations and personal experiences of others. More and more it seems, people are reaching to those whose opinion they value for an inside scoop, especially when it comes to spending money. Whether it is to touch base with a fellow brand lover, your Uncle Charlie who just bought that new lawn mower, or to contact a company directly, social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have given us the tools to do all of those things in one place.

Despite that this is all being done digitally, I find it very interesting and telling that there is still a huge need for human interaction to make business better. People have an innate need for sincerity. Customers want to know that there is a person behind the organization who cares about their opinions, and rightfully so. With many organizations on the political donation bandwagon, it has now become the social responsibility of all consumers to know where their money is going when they spend it.

With customers now looking for that personal connection to their favourite brands, social media has exploded and is no longer just for staying connected to your high school best friend across the country. 40% of all businesses in Canada are represented on social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Business happens on and because of social networks, and it’s the most inclusive and diverse market we have ever experienced.

According to marketing firm ODG Group, if Facebook represented a country, it would be the third most populated country on Earth.

While Global Learning’s initial intentions were to garner more clients and increase our marketing strategies when we first lept into the digital social party, we soon came to realize that the integrity of the social media networks’ diversity is far deeper than just another digitized billboard.

Our social media accounts have become our voice to the community and we soon became aware that community meant the world. While @egloballearning on Twitter is still a relative newbie in the Twittersphere, we are very proud of the modest – yet continuous – growth of one of the most diverse groupings of followers we ever could have imagined: representatives of major corporations, small businesses, every race, a multitude of religions, any number of orientations, and occupations you would  never have even thought existed. Social Media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn garner, hands down, the largest multicultural, multinational, diverse audience, anywhere… ever.

Our Twitter account has followers from every continent in the world, except Antarctica (that we know of). This very blog alone has snagged the eyes of diversity-minded readers in ten different countries purely from social networking. A big “hello” to our readers in Estonia!

People love details: it’s what makes art art, it’s what makes books interesting. The same can be applied to businesses: the more interesting bits of information you acquire about a business, the more influenced you become in your purchase decision-making. If I as a business owner have an opportunity to supply you with the proper facts regarding my organization’s fundamental values, knowing that it can influence your decision-making, I most certainly will be taking advantage of that bulls-eye.

I also believe that if one can find out that a potential client or partner is publicly taking the time to expand their thinking by connecting with individuals and organizations around the world, and also maintaining an open line of communication about it, I most certainly will give that organization, at the very least, a glance at their website. We should always do our best to connect with others that sincerely want to expand their own personal innovation. That’s a great start to any business interaction.

While these networks do take significant time and effort to understand in order to properly utilize them, they are quickly becoming not just a must for businesses to keep up with the Joneses, but a must because it’s better business. Social networking allows for a business to supply accurate information and proper communication. Fascinatingly enough, these two elements are also the two prime keys to understanding diversity.

Bottom line, the social networks offer the largest built-in diverse audience you could have ever wished for and a ‘real-time’ open line of communication to convey your message.  So I say “run, don’t walk”, to your nearest computer and at the very least begin to understand how these networks operate, what they are doing for your competitors and most importantly what they could be doing for you.

‘Ultimately, brands need to have a role in society. The best way to have a role in society is to understand how people are talking about things in real time.” – Jean-Philippe Maheu, chief digital officer at Ogilvy

Diversity See, Diversity Do by Elaine Newman

Like any business, competition is almost always guaranteed. In the case of diversity and inclusion, I stand by the concept that a competitor should always be welcomed and referred to as a colleague. We can never have too many equity champions. The more professionals that are striving to lead the world towards a more inclusive way of existing, the better. And with equality now becoming a very “hot button” buzz word in our media, the diversity and inclusion establishment field is steadily growing.

As a diversity and inclusion professional for over 15 years, the AODA’s core values – when it was introduced in 2005 – fell firmly under my own and my group of companies’ fundamental beliefs.

That in our lives and work we must "use reasonable efforts to ensure that all people are consistently treated with the principles of independence, dignity, integration and equality of opportunity”.

As a result, the AODA quickly became one of the many focuses of Global Learning.

Now of course, as an entrepreneur with her stylish hat in the AODA ring, my main priority is to demonstrate to an organization that Global Learning is a trailblazer when it comes to AODA compliance assistance.  

Through facility, policy/procedure and website audits, our powerful training tools, our unique AODA Small Business – In a Box Solution^TM and the AODA: Ask An Expert Smart Phone App which we developed to fit a large void in the market around AODA accurate information (available on both iTunes and BlackBerry AppWorld), Global Learning has been at the forefront, aiding any company, large or small, to navigate through the AODA process. 

With our large and consistently growing roster of prestigious clients, it’s a fact that Global Learning’s AODA solutions will be seen rolled out over the next several years, in many of your favourite major brand locations, and there is a very focused reason that our clients have chosen Global Learning as their AODA sherpa, if you will.

I feel there is a deafening similarity between 1999’s “Y2K’s gonna getchya” mentality and what’s happening now in Ontario in regards to the AODA. With words like “Government”, “Compliance”, and “Fines” being boldly touted, there is an array of companies that jumped on that bandwagon, instilling fear into the public to purchase their solutions “OR ELSE!”, while the public is promptly left with a large bill and not much to show for it.   

So, what does one do as a high quality business owner or organizational lead to properly represent himself/herself when the wares they offer have no means of being pre-appraised and are being offered by a wide variety of other companies?

It all boils down to one of my favourite phrases “Walk the Talk.”

For instance, on our company website, www.differenceatwork.com, you may have noticed the addition of an “Accessibility” tab. Knowing that Global Learning must lead by example, we added the Accessibility tab to our website in April of 2010. Another example: many of you may have already been introduced to our widely used Diversity Moments™, an innovative e-learning employee training program created and developed by Global Learning. In its development, the needs of your employees with disabilities were firmly considered and cared for by the inclusion of such features as screen reader interfaces, print screen capabilities, and HTML instead of Flash design which is critical for some disabilities, to name just a few.

If our company is to be invited into your organization to speak about the AODA or any other topics that fall under our expertise, you can be certain that Global Learning has already introduced the practices we preach into our own business procedures. The practices and procedures that we developed for ourselves in turn attract our clients.

So, my business colleagues in the AODA arena and even broader diversity spectrum:

What is it that your own company is doing or has done to represent the knowledge you speak? While my examples have been AODA specific, this question can be applied to just about anything we stand up and claim to be an expert on. In this cut and paste world, are you willing to keep transparent and be asked to demonstrate your own commitment to diversity and inclusion practices, or are you the tired old lever puller that hopes no one will look behind the curtain?

There are many things in this world that we can teach without practicing. Diversity, however, is not one of them. Constantly ask yourself, “Are you walking your talk?”

"When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win"

 ~ “Easy” Ed Macauley – author, deacon, and former NBA All-Star MVP