There’s a myriad of missed opportunities for HR and Corporate Communications Departments, and blogging is sincerely one of them. HR professionals are worrying over employees that chat, surf, and blog during work hours. But that is an invisible door to get in touch with the employees.

The most common response to employees that chat, surf and blog is to discipline them for not being focused and for misusing company time/resources. A ClearSwift survey reveals “54 percent of HR decision makers have encountered or have had to discipline employees for time-wasting on the Internet”.

In fact, other departments are considering blog as an important media. Look at PR Departments. Even well-crafted personal blog could easily increase its owner’s credibility.

There is a treasure trove of opportunity out there for HR professionals who are responsible for Internal Public Relations. It’s time to wake up and jump on the swiftly moving train that is social networking.

With companies like CollabAndRate offering an online suggestion box, HR can now do what PR has been doing at places like Starbucks, Dell and Lego: capitalizing through the collection of new ideas and increased collaboration.

A properly moderated HR Department Blog can be a place where:

1. Employees can post suggestions and questions; and where employers can respond, in a safe, properly moderated environment.
2. Rumours can be brought to light, answered and addressed with clarity and consistency.
3. Awards, successes, human interest (the good stuff) can be disseminated quickly.
4. Challenges, disappointments and difficult changes (the bad stuff) can be communicated directly by company leadership to all employees without being muddled by poor communicators in middle management.
5. An HR Blog can reinforce core values, quickly address real concerns, promote transparency and increase trust all while minimizing misinformation; in a forum that can be anonymous (for the fearful employee) and properly controlled (for the fearful employer).

Like any other important business endeavour, it’s important that the proper resources and attention be given to blog development and upkeep, or it won’t be successful.

Read the infographic from Recruiter Box below, and make some time to go blogging!

See: HR Marketing: Treating Employees Like Consumers

The original article first appeared on Fast Company