OPINION! 3 managers of traditional German corporations on their use of social media: Bayer, Daimler & Deutsche Bahn

Daimler, Deutsche Bahn and Bayer – Three Executives of the longest-established large German corporations report on their use of social media: Lothar Oppenhäuser from Bayer, Uwe Knaus from Daimler and Robindro Ullah from Deutsche Bahn.

Lothar Oppenhäuser is Head of the Electronic Media Department in Corporate Communications at Bayer AG. Uwe Knaus is Manager Corporate Blogging and Social Media Strategy at Daimler AG, responsible for the Daimler blog and the use of Twitter. He tweets at and says: “Social media permeates our Everyday life – the private one, but also the professional one. People talk about companies and products online, new technologies are discussed and products are recommended – or not.” As Head of Additional Services at DB Services, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG, Robindro Ullah is responsible for a department that deals with job security.

Lothar Oppenhäuser: Safety comes first!

social networks in Internet are part of our everyday life today. It goes without saying that many BayerEmployees private accounts at Facebook, Twitter and Co., which they also use to a certain extent on Workplace allowed to use.

Every employee knows the guidelines for dealing with Web 2.0 and knows that the official use of the Internet and the security of the IT-Systems come first. We trust our employees to use the internet privately responsibly.

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That no one officially tweeted on behalf or on behalf of Bayer or “facebooken” who is not authorized to do so is just as self-evident as the protection of company know-how. Most employees therefore always express their private Opinions.

Do not restrict access!

Restricting access to social networks does not seem to us useful, because only those who are familiar with the social web are able to develop further communication potential for Bayer and exchange ideas with others.

For example, our Facebook-Page BayerKarriere: There you write from a wide variety of areas. The contributions range from reports and videos about starting a job and working life, as well as photo series and reviews of Bayer events. At the same time, employees comment on contributions from colleagues, and some have a further link or tip ready.

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Insights into the company

What I'm getting at: Such a fan page that not only gives users interesting insights into it Companys, but also promotes the solidarity of the employees with one another and with “their” company. This is then also gladly and consciously in the Network gezeigt.

Uwe Knaus: recognize trends early

Social Media Commitment can help spot trends early on Criticism to react or to initiate your own topics. And who better to present Daimler and its diversity to the public than our employees?

With their expert knowledge, they can enrich discussions on the Internet or find useful suggestions for their work. It is therefore in our interest to promote their social media engagement.

Old habits, new parent tables

However, we also notice again and again that there are still some uncertainties when dealing with these new forms of communication. To inform the employees about the possibilities and risks To provide information, we have put together information in the form of a social media guide - deliberately not a new set of rules.

Because employees do not need any additional Regulate for Twitter or Facebook. You don't have to tell them what to tweet and what not to tweet. They usually know that very well. Before an employee takes an external eMail writes, or chats in the round table at the regulars' table, he thinks exactly what he tells to whom.

Twitter or Facebook are just new, large get-togethers that are confusing and where not just friends sit. We clarify this. Applicable legal provisions, employment contracts and existing internal guidelines also continue to set binding limits.

So behave, that nothing should be unpleasant to me

I myself have used social media relatively intensively over the past three years. In doing so, I notice that a distinction between “professional” and “private” is becoming increasingly difficult. At first I declared my Facebook- and Twitter account as private - XING was intended for “business” use.

In the meantime, I am also being contacted professionally on all three platforms - sometimes around the clock. What matters is not how I organize it, but how others see it. That's why I always behave on the social web in such a way that I don't have to be uncomfortable as a private person or as a Daimler employee. ”

Photo: Eva Kaczor, MISS CREATIVE CLASSY, at an interview 2009.

Robrindo Ullah: First experience with the topic even as a trainee

The topic of mixing “private” and “professional” accompanies me clear longer than my social media life, which is now three years old. Immediately after joining Deutsche Bahn, I became a member of the TraineeClub, like every young academic in the group.

The cross-divisional club brings young professionals into forums, roaming talks and excursions, but also on board tables and leisure activities.

Distance or proximity?

came quickly Ask like: “Do I give out my private cell phone number or my business one? true i Distance or do I also tell private things?” Because even in such a large corporation, you meet up again sooner than you think in a professional context.

So for me it stood fast firmly: A strict separation between professional and private topics is not possible. On the contrary: Mixing leads to closer social contacts, strengthens the network among the employees - and their bond to the group. How much privacy one but in the Job incorporated, each must individually for themselves decide. A corporation can neither forbid nor enforce private contacts in the workplace. Only nepotism is of course not tolerated.

The boundaries between private and professional are blurring

Social media gave these questions even greater weight. Because Twitter, Facebook and Co. potentiate the already existing network effects. And before the question "private" or professional? " hardly press anymore because place and time no longer play a role:

I, for example, also communicate on work-related topics at the weekend or vice versa Office professional on private channels. For corporations, this is both an opportunity and a challenge:

Trust instead of control

Each individual employee becomes the sign of the company and even more strongly than the analogue times the business card of his employer with. Even if the content and the number of ambassadors of a company have not changed: every single employee is more visible through social media and has a greater reach.

As a company, we must trust our employees to act, encourage and advise on the technical possibilities. Blocking sites and banning the use of social media would be the wrong way.

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