One way that large companies can use social media is to gather ideas from all their employees. This can be done by providing a platform where every quarter a new challenge, or question, can be presented to the employees, and the employees are welcomed and encouraged to submit any new and innovative idea they may have.
For example, a company, such as AT&T, may be wonder what their employees ideas are to improve customer service. By posting an idea on a social site, and allowing open suggestions and ideas to be submitted, AT&T would be tapping into a large pool of resources to get great ideas that could keep the company ahead of the competition.
There are many aspects that could add to this process to make it more exciting, and really get people enthusiastic about participating. Turning simple suggestions into a kind of environment that would allow people to invest points or "stock" in the ideas the most agree with, would allow a large or small company to see the majority vote. Also, adding either cash prizes for top winners of the idea market would help get employees excited about participating.
Not to mention, the company would not be the only ones benefiting from this social process. The employees would get great feedback from their managers, as well as comments and interaction from fellow employees, that would give great encouragement, or even give feedback that would make them think about their suggestion in a new light.
Using social media to give employees of a company the ability to feel like they are really contributing their ideas, and their ideas may possibly be implemented due to their suggestion, is a great way to get any company's employees on board with the social media business!
