Ron Shewchuk, ABC, MC
Are you keeping in touch with your friends on Facebook or sharing photos on Flikr? Do you read blogs, or listen to audio or video podcasts? Have you found yourself regularly turning to Wikipedia to get information? And do you like to find out what other people on the Web are saying about a restaurant or a vacation resort before you visit?
If you live in this new online world, you are among the majority. Hundreds of millions of people are actively using these so-called “social media” on a newly re-energized Internet that’s been dubbed “Web 2.0.”
According to a March 2008 study by Universal McCann, close to 60 per cent of active Internet users have created a profile on a social network like Facebook or Myspace, about 80 per cent read blogs and watch video clips online, and nearly half have downloaded a podcast onto their computer or personal music player.
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More than a passing fad
This broad adoption of social media tools is more than a passing fad – it’s a social trend that is profoundly changing the way people find and share information. It’s also creating powerful online communities that can stage activist campaigns, lead consumer revolts and even influence the outcome of elections, as we saw with Barack Obama’s use of Facebook and other social media to build grassroots support and solicit donations.
As the use of social media gains popularity with the general public, the corporate world is taking notice. Although the adoption rate for business lags the general internet-going public, social media are being used successfully by many leading companies. Today over 67 of Fortune 500 companies have official blogs ranging from corporate CEO journals like Bill Marriott’s On the Move blog, which gives the hotel chain’s leader a direct connection to the public, to Clorox’s Dr. Laundry blog, where visitors can ask questions about how to remove tough stains.
Lots of internal uses, too
When used internally, Web 2.0 tools can help improve productivity, encourage innovation, and drive employee engagement and retention.
Examples abound, from simple internal blogs that give CEOs a direct connection to more innovative applications. Computer maker Dell, for example, has an intranet page that invites employees to submit ideas for product and service improvements and lets readers promote and discuss them. It’s a powerful tool; the ideas that rise to the top are getting implemented.
The level of sophistication is rising as companies learn how to use the new tools and some organizations are now taking a multi-channel, integrated approach. Ernst & Young, for example, has a Facebook page, Twitter feed and YouTube channel that work together to support the firm’s global recruiting efforts. E&Y even has an online social network for its alumni with over 3,000 members. Imagine being able to draw on such a large repository of institutional memory!
A new role for HR
So, what does this all mean for HR professionals? For starters, it means asking some timely questions: What is the business case for using these new tools? Do the opportunities outweigh the risks? What guidelines and policies should be set out for their use? How much freedom should employees have to join, participate in and create external social networks for business?
The answers to these questions have big implications. Successfully implementing the new tools and technologies will require new ways of thinking about the role of the human resources function in today’s organization. Traditionally, HR has been the keeper and careful disseminator of information, but business communication is now moving inexorably to a model where the users – employees, in this case – will have the power to create their own content, customize information according to their needs, and build their own internal networks and online communities. So, in addition to HR’s job of creating, communicating and administering policy, a new and additional role is emerging: that of a facilitator of conversations.
We’ve reached a tipping point
Internal use of social media is certainly gaining momentum. A survey of North American business professionals in 2008 by software provider Awareness Inc. concluded that adoption of Web 2.0 technologies “has reached a tipping point,” reporting that 69 per cent of respondents allow social networking for business purposes -- a dramatic increase from 37 per cent in 2007. The same survey found that close to half of companies have either launched or are testing internal blogs, social networks and podcasts.
And yet, with the corporate world on the edge of broad implementation of social media, there is still a lot of reluctance. Employers fear that use of social media at work will damage productivity and compromise security. Plus, in this economic environment, is it really worth spending money to deploy fancy new technology in a cash-strapped workplace?
These are valid concerns. The good news is that the early adopters of social media have made the mistakes that beginners make, and by now they have worked out many of the kinks and cleared the path for the rest of us. Issues of productivity and security can be addressed with clear policies that set the right groundwork for success, coupled with well-planned and disciplined implementation of social media. And the cost of using these new online tools is low, and the software is often free of charge.
It’s time to take the plunge
There is mounting evidence that taking the plunge into social media can have a positive impact on the bottom line because of the link between employee engagement and business performance. A September 2008 study by Aberdeen group found that companies using social media achieved a year-over-year improvement in employee engagement of 18 per cent compared to one per cent in those who don’t.
Web 2.0 technology promises to be a powerful new way to engage employees and improve the effectiveness of today’s organization. It’s time for HR to invite social media to be its online friend.
© Copyright Ron Shewchuk 2009.
About the Author:
Ron Shewchuk is an Associate of Longview Communications Inc. To find out more visit www.longviewcomms.ca.