Social Media and Impact on Employee Engagement

[Judy McLeish]

I would love to hear your opinion on whether you believe that social media can be a key tool in promoting employee engagement.

[David Zinger]

My short answer is yes and my evidence is right here. The Employee Engagement Network!

Over 200 people talking about employee engagement. Sharing ideas and experiences. Asking for assistance. Having an RSS feed with over 75 current blog posts being continually updated. Having special groups and forums.

Of course, much social media is neutral and people can use social media to avoid work or even create groups to promote disengagement.

I also think strategy and intent is important in social media as is having good hosts/moderators or bloggers who work with comments and community.

[Judy McLeish]

David, thank you for your quick response. Given that so many companies are skeptical about the risks associated with social media - what do you think a strategy should be to help them see the benefits rather than the risks?

[Mike Healy]

Hi Judy

I would echo David's comments. Social media is a tool which can be used well or badly.

The use of Web 2.0 technology such as blogs, wikis etc simply act as a collecting point for people to exchange views. A kind of electronic water cooler for people to stand aound. In this sense it is a place to hang out.

However, if there s nothng much of any interest going on there then people won't hang out there. David is right, good moderation ( not to control but to encourage) is important, but it is the interaction between the people around things that interest them that causes them to return time and time again. I believe it is the interest they have in office gossip, cars or whatever which will cause people to engage with a site and each other, not the delivery mechanism.

So social media is a good tool for connecting people in different locations and it is good for those who feel marginalised but I believe that for employee engagment , where people work in the same building, a good old fashioned face to face interaction is better.

I remember I had a department which spent months developing a HR intranet within a large company. It had everything you needed to know about company HR policies, procedures and practices. It didn't get used much because that stuff was boring to most everybody except HR. QED

[Judy McLeish]

Interesting comments - I can certainly imagine how an HR intranet would not be of interest, if it was filled with "dry" policies procedures and practices. I completely agree that the key will be to create something that draws people back. Do you have any examples of where people have done this?

[Mike Healy]

See David's views above for examples of people returning to a social media site.

Companies I believe are suspicious of their own employees using these sites because it takes them away from their work. I don't thnk they have any problem otherwise and often use them for business/research/recruitment purposes.

I am not convinced Employee Engagement would be improved although communication might be. I think it would need to be a site restricted to company employees to keep it relevant to company dscussions, and the subject matter will need to be what employees are interested in. In this sense it may be more of an internal social site - and that brings up the question of time away from work again.

The Employee Engagement site allows us to communicate and exchange ideas of interest to us but it doesn't necessarily make us more engaged with our respective businesses ( for some it might even be an escape)

[Terrence Seamon]

Judy,

I think connecting is the key.

One of the main features of social media is connecting. Think of plaxo, ryze, myspace, facebook, linkedin, etc. All platforms for connecting or reconnecting with people.

Michael Stallard has convincingly written about the importance of connecting to employee engagement.

The challenge for business organizations is to figure out how to promote connecting:
- Why would it be in the organization's best interest?
- How would the organization go about it?
- What would it cost?
- What would it gain?

Terry

[Judy McLeish]

Terry, thanks again for your comments. I completely agree that connecting is critical - what do you think the impact of not engaging in social media will have on a company?

[Terrence Seamon]

Disconnectedness.

[Kris Robinson]

I don't know if it is a key tool, but it certainly can be a powerful one in the right context or setting. I don't think social media is a substitute for face-to-face engagement, but rather a compliment to it. The company I work for is an investor in Meet-Up and in Linden Labs (SecondLife) and many of our employees, including myself, are avid social media users. A majority of our folks are on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and have blogs that are both personal and professional. I have an enhanced connection with those folks that I might not otherwise have.

I think social media is like anything else; it is a great tool when used appropriately, but is not the "answer" to engagement.

[Zane Safrit]

Great question. I agree that social media can play, will play, a big role in promoting employee engagement. It magnifies the sound of that engagement. Where there's a positively engaged employee group, then it's a beautiful sound.

But, sometimes the sound's not so pleasant. It's not the fault of the media. It's only a means to share the content. Blaming social media for problems with engagement is essentially shooting the messenger or the company that made the paper the message was written on.

Employee engagement is messy, like democracy. It's the worst form of management...except for all other forms. For companies to survive and grow, especially smaller companies, an engaged workforce is the only viable option. Use any means possible to create it. Keep the conversation alive. And moderate it by showing the parties what's in it for them. Connect their personal goals with that of their company's goals. Then it's a self-moderating conversation...for the most part, regardless of the media used.

Hat tips to Marshall McLuhan and Winston Churchill.

[Michael Kanazawa]

Judy,

I think it will become more important as the tools improve, people become more comfortable with the form of communicating, and teams continue to be more geographically dispersed. There is an interesting software company, BrightIdea, that is an online platform for generating innovative ideas in an online, network environment that is a bit of a cross between the a social network, blog, wiki, and project management toolset. It can get all employees at all levels engaged in providing input, ideas and opionins on innovative growth ideas for their company. And when people truly get a voice in their company, they become much more engaged. There are a lot more breakthroughs that will be coming...

Mike

[Judy McLeish]

Thanks Mike for this information on BrightIdea. I agree that when people get more of a voice and feel like a company is listening and taking action it will dramatically impact engagement.