When I got news in August that my job of nearly 15 years would end on October 1, my first move was to refine my resume and immediately start applying for jobs.
This was proactive and good, but not the most important thing I could do. It turns out that networking is far more important. Networking has always been important, but in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that scan—and quickly eliminate—resumes, those with connections to hiring managers have an often-decisive advantage.
Train Current Employees to Network
Networking is essential when looking for a new job, but it’s also a powerful tool to use while in a job.
Employees can use networking to generate sales leads; find the right vendors to partner with; get a second, outside opinion on critical decisions; and recruit new team members.
The question is what you need to know to effectively network. Back in the old days, many employees kept a physical Rolodex on their desks. They would give the old Rolodex a spin whenever a networking-related need came up. In the world of journalism, for example, that meant spinning the Rolodex to find people to interview for an upcoming article.
In the new/non-ancient days, LinkedIn and even other, less professionally oriented social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram have replaced the Rolodex. And, of course, the closest approximation to the old-fashioned Rolodex are the contacts we keep on our smartphones.
In the onboarding process, or in an early meeting with a new manager, the topic of networking should be broached. “Sally, I wanted to ask you: How do you network? Are there key sites or resources you use? We have found it to be a key source of sales leads, so I wanted to hear how you approach networking and share with you how we do it,” a new boss might say.
Create a Shared Networking Tool
At the first publication where I worked full-time, we had a shared digital file with the names of sources. This required a strong level of trust—if we were to use the shared file as I understood it to be intended.
Rather than keeping our sources/contacts as proprietary information giving us a competitive advantage over peers, we were to add these names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses to a shared database. This was in the early 2000s, so that “shared database” amounted to a Word document with a list of names and phone numbers. Even back then we could have turned this into a spreadsheet, but none of us had a taste for spreadsheets, so that never got happened.
In today’s world, it’s no longer hard to come by people who love spreadsheets. Everyone but me seems to love them. That means that having a shared “database” for networking in a work group or department—or even at a company level—can be as simple and effective as setting up a shared Excel document.
You also could build an in-house Website on your intranet for the purposes of networking.
Employees can be trained as a first step to check whether anyone in-house knows anyone who could help with an assignment or project requiring additional resources.
Train Employees to Optimize LinkedIn
For years, I never paid attention to LinkedIn. I considered it social networking for nerds. Didn’t I spend enough time during my working hours on communications? Did I need to carry over this work into my social media use? After all, I used to think of social media as a purely recreational activity for the purposes of mindless diversion.
Clearly not the case. LinkedIn has evolved into an extension of the private digital Rolodex people keep on their phones, computers, and e-mail folders.
Almost all professionals appear to be on LinkedIn, but not all of us know how to get the most out of it for networking purposes. Understanding how to navigate first, second, and third connections on LinkedIn is essential. I recently contacted a person I’m connected with, but who I never met or worked with. He was connected to a decision-maker at a company where I had just applied to a job. I asked if he could connect me to this person, letting them know a little about me, which I provided to him in my LinkedIn message, along with the position I just applied to. It didn’t do me any good. I got a form rejection e-mail the following day.
So I’m an example of a person who needs training on using LinkedIn to reach out to connections I don’t have a relationship with for greater opportunities.
My assumption is the same techniques and principles you would use to facilitate connections for job hunting would hold true when seeking sales opportunities, new vendor relationships, or any other professional need.
It’s worth considering how to set up formal networking training that ensures employees know how to optimize all modern resources to help them do their jobs better.
Do you offer networking training at your company? If so, what is included in this learning content?