Iowa: Want to Keep Young Talent Here?

I've been suggesting to business leaders in Iowa that one way to keep young talent close to home is to start blogging - externally, internally or both.

Why? The users of MySpace, LiveJournal, Facebook and other social tools are going to be attracted to companies that utilize these tools to communicate with their employees and beyond.

Don't just listen to me. Here are three other voices:

• Robert Scoble talks about how Microsoft's blogging efforts attract thousands of resumes.
• Jeffrey Treem says develop an employee blog policy and communicate that policy. I agree. Don't wait. If 7% of Internet users (1-year old pdf file) have engaged in blogging - how many of your employees blog? (do the math).
• Jeremiah Owyang understands that "They are graduating soon - They will change the Workforce."

These young people are not only your future workforce - they are your future customer base.

So what's an Iowa company to do? Follow Jeffrey's advice. Ponder Jeremiah's wisdom. Envision what Robert discusses. Be creative in implementation of your blogging policies and practices and attract the talent you've spent years cultivating.

technorati tags: Iowa SocialMedia MySpace LiveJournal Facebook Workforce

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Comments

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Mike

Agreed that work-force bound potentials can easily network across vast distances with social networking tools and the blogosphere. The real challenge of course, is to entice them with opportunities in your area.

Not sure if 'blogging' is the answer to business leaders reaching out to potential youth, but isn't the goal to 'connect' using a variety of mediums? Do you really think a blog could make Iowa more attractive to workers?

Also, I think the number is higher than 11% internet users are bloggers. I also believe that over 40% of internet users are blog readers. check out data from blogbusinesssummit or pew internet research --it's hard to get numbers on all this stuff.

[Mike Sansone]

I do think that blogging, use of feeds and podcasts and social media in general would speak volumes to Iowa's commitment to stay in front of the hi-tech curve.

I know the commitment exists, but there's a picture long painted that when it comes to innovation, Iowa is a follower. I don't see that, but the image exists in the minds of graduates, media and many business leaders.

You're right though - blogging alone isn't the answer. And when I say blogging, I'm not suggesting it even needs to be external.

Putting social media into play as part of internal communications would be attractive to graduates and solidify Iowa's commitment to keep talent here.