Employees using social media: Empower and reward them—or risk the fallout

It is hard for companies to be good at social media if they don’t have a healthy work culture and happy employees.

Social brands require healthy working cultures. If a company has a healthy work culture, there’s a good chance it is under-utilizing employee contributions on social networks. If it doesn’t have a good working culture, it already has problems on social networks—whether it knows it or not.

Josh Bernoff, senior vice president of idea development at Forrester Research and co-author of “Groundswell,” contends that organizational dynamics are one of the largest contributors to success in the worlds of social media and business alike.

In his most recent book, “Empowered,” Bernoff identifies two questions that every company should be asking employees to determine whether they’re well-poised—or have a poisoned well—when it comes to their working culture: Do you feel empowered? and Do you act resourceful?