21st December 2010
The role of social media has generally been described as one of peer-to-peer communication and/or user-generated content. But whatever definition you favour, it’s clear that social media shifts communication away from a process based on ‘publisher’ distributing content to a ‘consumer’, to an environment in which dialogue and interaction hold sway.
The rise and rise of social media is dividing opinion on the implications and opportunities for the workplace. To some, social media tools offer exciting opportunities for collaboration and innovation, which they are exploring by developing internal mechanisms or harnessing external platforms. However, others fear a lack of control, misuse and/or distractions from the day job. So what are the myths and the truths of this situation?
A trend for our times
Some basic statistics illustrate the massive impact that social media channels have had on the way we communicate. Facebook, the most famous platform of them all, now has some 500 million active across the globe. To put that in context, that is more than the entire population of Europe.
And Facebook is only one of many platforms through which people can interact, every day, with people in any part of the world. YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, Linkedin - the list goes on. Each has its own particular focus, but the underpinning them all is the idea that anyone can communicate, with anyone else, at any time.
And lest you think such platforms are all for "the kids", research shows that around 56% of Facebook users are over 25, and this percentage is even higher for users of the platform in the US. Such statistics show that use of social media is not a passing fad. Nor is it restricted to a particular demographic. It has become – in a very short space of time – a huge cultural phenomenon.
Implications for the workplace
This cultural shift has huge implications for the workplace. Let me highlight just two of these.
Firstly, there is the issue of cultural expectation. As the above statistics make clear, people of all demographics are increasingly participating in social media. Their experience in this environment, with peer-to-peer engagement at its heart, leads to expectations of similar opportunities at work. Increasingly, an approach based solely on 'top- down', senior-to-junior communication is outmoded and unattractive to these employees.
Secondly, whether employers like it or not, social media channels are already infiltrating the workplace. These platforms are so widespread, and accessible through smartphones, for instance, that employers cannot possibly stem the tide. And employees are already participating in them to such a degree that any distinction between 'internal' and 'external' communication is increasingly illusory. To give a specific example, in days gone by, a staff conference was a purely internal affair, conducted behind closed doors, but that’s not always the case now. That is shown in the case of Walmart, who recently held an employee event from which employees published their views and comments on Twitter. If you go to Twitter.com now, and search '#WMT2010’, you can still see the discussion that took place. Employees attending the conference are connecting with others beyond the organisation and showing them what Walmart is all about, giving it a more human face. But it also provides a public window on the company and its culture, with the possibility that the sense of community that emerges will help engage and attract potential customers.
From necessity to opportunity
The Walmart example shows how employees are already harnessing social media for collaborative purposes. In that instance, the company realised this and participated, with ‘walmartkevin’ engaging in conversation and addressing questions raised by employee tweeters. Walmart realised that the discussion would be taking place anyway, and the only way they could seek to address any issues or employee concerns would be full-scale participation in the conversation.
For many other employers, too, social media channels present new methods through which they can help stimulate and support a culture of employee engagement. They have created channels through which employees can communicate and interact with each other, creating new ways of sharing information and addressing issues which employees may encounter. And this is particularly valuable for the many companies faced with increasingly diverse and complex workforces, possibly spread across different countries and business units, for whom greater collaboration would help the company rise to its challenges.
BT, for instance, has a social media dashboard of tools and channels through which employees in different parts of the organisation can interact. A good example is 'BTpedia', its internal, user-generated knowledge base through which employees can record views and insights on key topics which could benefit others across the company.
In another example, IBM has taken the humble phone list and created a staff directory called ‘Blue Pages’ through which employees can create their own profile, share information about themselves and, in so doing, highlight their expertise.
Indeed, Yammer, a social network that works like Facebook and can be set up within any organisation, has already been deployed at 80% of the largest companies in the world on the Fortune 500 list. This reflects a growing realisation that even at work, social networks can help colleagues seeking to connect with others on questions or topics of interest.
These are different ways in which employers have harnessed social media platforms, inside or beyond their organisational infrastructure, to increase engagement with their employee or stakeholder community and reap benefits for the organisation as a result.
Acknowledging barriers
One of the fears frequently cited by employers is that creating internal platforms – or allowing access to external ones – means they lose control over communication. But employers have never had such control; if they did, the grapevine would never exist. All employers have ever been able to do is to participate in the communication that already takes place and try and harness it. Social media is just the next step in this process. And as the Walmart example shows, the conversation will take place with or without a company voice.
Some employers also fear that their people will ‘abuse’ any platforms they make available, whether these are internal channels or access to existing platforms. This is probably what lies behind the stories over bans on external channels that we read about in the media. But a blanket ban simply risks alienating employees for whom participation in strategic channels is an increasing pre-requisite. Far better to accept it will happen, and show employees that you embrace it, but establish some 'rules of engagement' that you ask employees to follow, in the same way as they would any other company policy. And if someone breaches the protocols you put in place, they can expect to be disciplined as they would for any other infraction of company policy.
The tide has already turned
The question for employers should not be ‘if’ but ‘how’ to harness social media in the workplace. Different employers will do this in different ways, and to varying levels of intensity, but social media channels are here to stay. If employers refuse to acknowledge this, they will see their ‘employer of choice’ crowns start to slip and they will also be left vulnerable to the current of conversations in which they are playing no part. And, perhaps even more importantly, they will be losing out on a rich seam of insight and innovation that greater peer-to-peer collaboration could create.
Paul Sweetman is Director, Employee Engagement Team
Fishburn Hedges
