The benefits of social networking applications can be significant, yet many employers still fear them. At some point they will be left with little choice but embrace social tools.
Remember the “full-service” aisle at the gas station? Not until the early 1990′s did gas stations realize there was a better, more efficient way of servicing clients at the pump through self-service. They realized it was more cost effective creating a self-service aisle where drivers can fill up their tank, wash the windows, and check the oil all from within five feet of their vehicle. This may sound strange, but this is how I sort of view social applications inside a company.  If implemented correctly, social networking applications can service employees and employers, faster, with relevant information for doing their job.  A social network is not always about sharing photographs or telling your friends ‘what you’re doing.” A social network is a tool that brings together relevant information more efficiently inside your company.

For example, within a social network, employees are given an online profile where they can highlight their talents, skills, past experiences, and so on for everyone to see. The profiles create a repository of relevant employee information that can be used by uses for a variety of purposes. Prior to this, systems used to collect, maintain and search for this kind of information was manual, stored on spread sheets and rarely updated causing huge inefficiencies for building organizational development and staffing requirements. With a social network approach, employers can build instant value into their learning and hiring efforts as the information is created and maintained by the employee.

Part of employer reluctance to social technologies is overcoming the fear employees will utilize it for social interaction, as opposed to professional purposes. This is why companies need to build out a set of specific requirements for evaluating corporate social networking solutions. And remember, the true value of social networking has very little to do with the interactions among people, and more to do with the interactions related to content (ie: relevance).

So get rid of your “full-service aisle” and service your employees with tools they will use to perform greater results.