Strategic HR Development: Social Media's Role in Employee Learning

This report examines the strategic integration of social media into human resource development (HRD) practices, particularly within organizations like Beca in New Zealand. It highlights how social media platforms enhance structured, unstructured, and semi-structured learning environments. Social media aids in branding, marketing, and corporate communication, playing a crucial role in improving workplace learning and knowledge management. The report discusses the benefits of social media for trainers, enabling them to stay updated and share information efficiently, and for trainees, providing access to real-time feedback and collaborative learning opportunities. It also addresses potential drawbacks, such as information overload, privacy concerns, and the risk of spreading misinformation. Ultimately, the report concludes that while challenges exist, the advantages of using social media in HRD, such as increased productivity and effective workforce training, outweigh the disadvantages.

Running Head: Strategic Human Resource Development
Strategic Human Resource Development

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Introduction
In the global economy, the way organizations are performing the activities of the business is total
changes along with this the human beings are also making use of the technology in their day to
day operations. Along with this, the use of the social media also involves the set technologies
and the channels that are targeted for forming and enabling a productive collaboration.
Moreover, the change in the working of the organization reflects that the companies are making
use of the social media channels which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many other
channels. These organizations make use of the social media for branding an improving the
learning of the employees present within the company. In New-Zealand one of the largest
employees owned professional services consultancy company is Beca. The company is one of
the Asia-Pacific based company embrace with the technology. Melanie Hawkins who is the
learning and business partner at Beca make the learning more accessible and interactive for the
adults within the organization.

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About articles
The articles of the Cascio and Thomas and Akdere show that the use of the social media in the
branding marketing and for the corporate communication is increasing with the help of the
channels of the social media. The rise in the role of the social media is one of the ways through
which they can improve the workplace learning and the knowledge management. The training
and the learning within the organization take place in 3 categories which include structured,
unstructured and semi-structured. The social media platforms support include structured,
unstructured and semi-structured within the organization (Cascio, 2014).
The human resource department of the company in the world follow the different activities
which include hiring, discipline, payroll and training within the organization. The training of the
employees of the companies is also a responsibility of the Human resource development
(Thomas and Akdere, 2013). The HRD of the companies makes the plan in which they make use
of the social media while providing the effective training to the employees of the company.
According to the survey, there are 27% of the company who provide the social media training to
the employees who engage in the social media activities of the company (Gerard, 2018). The
name of the companies who provide the training such as Hilton Hotel, Marriott, Walmart, Tesco
and many others. There are different types of training that are offered by the companies to their
employees. These training include formal learning, no-formal learning, and the informal
learning. The company provides this training to their employees with the help of the social media
as this is the way to make the adult easy understands the company.

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Role of Social media in Learning
In the structured learning, the information is presented in front of the new employees with the
help of the presentation, offline slides, videos, documents, and many others. This is the learning
is also known as formal learning in which the learning has been provided to the candidates with
the face to face interaction with them (Dron and Anderson, 2014). On the other hand, there is
unstructured learning in which the training has been done with the help of the on-the-job
approach which is done with the social media. This learning will help the company as the
employees will lead to the rise in the productivity of the company. This learning is also known as
the non-formal learning in which there is no set structure. Some of the examples of the
unstructured learning include a peer coach or shadowing experiences; form a knowledge base
and the make the search easy (Cestari, 2015). The third learning which generally takes place
within the organization includes the informal learning which is known as semi-structured
learning. This learning takes place when the existing employees of the company get motivated
towards the work; learn something on their own and also when the company provides the
training for some specific project.
Structure/formal learning
The social media plays an important role in learning that takes place within the organization. The
companies get the instant peer-to-peer learning with the help of the social media channels which
include Facebook, Twitter, and Yammer (Pappas, 2016). This instant peer-to-peer learning is the
part of the structure learning. Cascio and Thomas and Akdere said that these social media
channels offer an opportunity to the learners with the help of which they can leave a comment
and converse on the real-time basis. Though, this learning might also lead to some negative
consequences.

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Helpful for trainers
The trainers within the organization make use of the social media through which they can make
themselves update about the news or details of the company that is available on the social media
sites. This is the way of social learning in which the information can easily be shared with each
and every member. The trainers in the current environment also make use of social media
channels to share the information in a single go to each and every new candidate present for the
training For instance; the company might make use of the what’s app group through which they
can share the information (Behringer and Sassenberg, 2015). Though, sometimes this sharing
might be ignored by some people because they won’t understand as they believe in face to face
training. Along with this, the people who are not active on social media will not the information
on time which is a disadvantage of sharing information through social media.
Helpful while training
The structure learning includes the different sessions that are conducted with the help of the
social media. Moreover, in this sessions they review the different social media sites so that they
can analyze the changing trends for example; Hilton hotel makes use of the social media for
making the new candidates aware about the changes that are taking place in the demand of the
customers (Rezaei, 2015). This makes them visit the different sites on which they can check the
information shared by the visitors about their visit to the hotel. Along with this, they also share
the information about their desires which helps them in understanding the ways to meet the
needs of the customers. In the hotel industry, it is very essential for the trainer to educate the new
candidates about the importance of needs of the customers.
In addition, there are different experts who share their opinion about the hotels on social media
channels especially; Linked In and Twitter. This will bring the changes in the buying behavior

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due to which it is important to consider all the aspects. Along with this, there is a company in the
media where the candidates need to be aware of the happenings across the world for which they
make use of social media (Gender, 2015). Though, this social media content might also create
the bad image for the company which leads to harm to the company. In addition, Cascio and
Thomas and Akdere said that the information content that is available on the website leads to the
huddles for the trainers as they are not able to identify that the candidates are getting the learning
or not.
Unstructured / non-formal learning
Non-formal learning is known as unstructured learning and this learning essential for the new
employees within the organization. These companies make use of the social media because this
is the way through which they can provide the learning and development to the employees. In the
non-formal learning, the company makes use of the On-the-job training as this is the way
through which they can learn and develop the work that needs to perform (Puijenbroek, et al
2014). There are numerous companies who make use of the on-the-job training facility. The
online traders like Amazon, The Iconic, Uber, and many others make use of social media while
providing the learning to their employees.
These large organizations manage the social media accounts on which they can the options for
talking to the customers (Popescu, 2014). Moreover, some of the platforms help the company to
chat with their customers for example; Uber Company allows the employees to access social
media at on-the-job training because this is the way through which they can provide the
assistance to the customers. Moreover, this will allow the collaboration of the employees who are
at distance from the workplace according to Cascio and Thomas and Akdere. The tool of video
conferencing tool helps the company to conduct the virtual meeting which is important for the

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company. Though, this use of the social media is possible with the help of the best network
connectivity. The network needs to be strong as this is the way through which they can
communicate easily. This is one of the negative aspects that can lead to the adverse impact on the
social media.
Semi-structured/ informal learning
The informal learning is also essential for the employees who are working in the organization. In
the organization, social media supports for training programs to be effective. This media
supports the corporation to select the right method and medium for their training sessions and
audience. Moreover, this tool is the effect of the reasonable explore which displays how social
media tools have a progressive influence on learning experience. In addition, some company
innovates their own community for the learning for example; Sabre Holdings a company that
owns Travelocity and travel reservation system formed an informal online learning community
that is known as Sabre Town (Lauby, 2012).
Cascio and Thomas and Akdere said that social media provide an opportunity to the employees
to get the feedback at real time which helps them to complete their training with the help of the
social media. In addition, the t company will get the opportunity to discuss the modules and
sessions of the training with the other members of the training. Moreover, the social media
support the employees to post their ideas and even upload the training projects on time for the
peer review (Milligan, Littljohn and Margaryan, 2014). Though, this might turn into the negative
aspect because the training employees can post the incorrect details that might hurt someone’s
sentiments and emotions unintentionally. Along with this, the browsing of social media involves
the issues related to the privacy issues. The employees need to ensure that whatever they are
browsing is ethical as there is no involvement of the unethical or the confidential details of it.

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Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that the use of the social media is increasing in learning and
development. Moreover, the organizations are making use of this tool effectively in the real
world because this is the way through which they can bring the rise in the productivity and helps
them in making the workforce effective for them. Though, the report also highlights that the use
of social media might also lead to the issues for some of the company as there are some negative
and positive factors that are associated with the learning within the organization. This can be said
that it has more of advantages which help the company at training. This is one of the effective
tools that support the Structure, unstructured and semi-structured learning that takes place within
the organization.

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References
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resource development to enhance employee retention. Journal of Human Resource
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