Many companies today have reservations about introducing social-like applications into the workforce. By not embracing this modern form of communication they could be missing a huge opportunity.
Funny story, I was speaking to my parents the other night and was trying to explain how to download recent pictures I sent to their email. If you were able to overhear the 25 minute conversation you would have thought that my parents were born in the 1930s and never left. And it’s partially true – bless their hearts. So what’s the point of this? Well, wouldn’t it be nice if they could simply go into their browser, type in www.facebook.com, log-in and BAM, there are the pictures ready for their viewing. But getting my parents over the fear of the internet and to creating an online presence through an application like Facebook would be like convincing the San Francisco 49ers to move south into Santa Clara. (you get my humor? I can’t believe the Mayor of SF allowed this.)
What does my parents fear over social applications like Facebook have to do with the title of this blog post? My parents reservations are not that different to those of companies today regarding social-like applications. If companies were willing to embrace more advanced internet based applications (i.e., Enteprise 2.0) that enable employees to develop an online presence inside the company then many issues regarding employee engagement, retention and even knowledge management could be removed.
For example, providing employees visible online profiles – they could highlight the value they bring to your organization and leverage each other’s knowledge to achieve greater results, faster. These profiles will create dynamic company network where employees can use tagging, social networking, and other tools to paint a complete picture of themselves for all to see. And the best part, the profiles create a repository of valuable employee information that can be accessed by others throughout your organization on-demand. And with this information, you can build more targeted learning, staff projects more quickly, guide more effective hiring and retain critical business knowledge.
In no way am I suggesting that companies should invest in corporate social networking technologies without fully understanding how these tools can be used to gain some of the benefits I mention above. Today, many corporate social networking technologies tend to emphasis value on the individual interactions that coincide through the network. This is false. The true value of a corporate social network are the interactions that relate to specific content. For example:
“My latte is too cold….” – This interaction has no value. And it’s these kinds of interactions that actually annoy the **** out of me.
“First time using flash for a new ad campaign. Any useful tips?” – This interaction has lots of value. It relates to both knowledge (how to use flash), and skill (flash and running ad campaigns).
So in summary, by providing employees visible online profiles, they can highlight the value they bring to your organization and leverage each other’s knowledge to achieve greater results, faster. These profiles will create dynamic company networks where employees can use tagging, social networking, and other tools to paint a complete picture of themselves for all to see. And the best part, the profiles create a repository of valuable employee information that can be accessed by others throughout your organization on-demand. And with this information, you can build more targeted learning, staff projects more quickly, guide more effective hiring and retain critical business knowledge.
So there you go – don’t be stuck in the 1930′s. Go out there and get your employees’ presence online.
Give Employees Presence
0Many companies today have reservations about introducing social-like applications into the workforce. By not embracing this modern form of communication they could be missing a huge opportunity.
Funny story, I was speaking to my parents the other night and was trying to explain how to download recent pictures I sent to their email. If you were able to overhear the 25 minute conversation you would have thought that my parents were born in the 1930s and never left. And it’s partially true – bless their hearts. So what’s the point of this? Well, wouldn’t it be nice if they could simply go into their browser, type in www.facebook.com, log-in and BAM, there are the pictures ready for their viewing. But getting my parents over the fear of the internet and to creating an online presence through an application like Facebook would be like convincing the San Francisco 49ers to move south into Santa Clara. (you get my humor? I can’t believe the Mayor of SF allowed this.)
What does my parents fear over social applications like Facebook have to do with the title of this blog post? My parents reservations are not that different to those of companies today regarding social-like applications. If companies were willing to embrace more advanced internet based applications (i.e., Enteprise 2.0) that enable employees to develop an online presence inside the company then many issues regarding employee engagement, retention and even knowledge management could be removed.
For example, providing employees visible online profiles – they could highlight the value they bring to your organization and leverage each other’s knowledge to achieve greater results, faster. These profiles will create dynamic company network where employees can use tagging, social networking, and other tools to paint a complete picture of themselves for all to see. And the best part, the profiles create a repository of valuable employee information that can be accessed by others throughout your organization on-demand. And with this information, you can build more targeted learning, staff projects more quickly, guide more effective hiring and retain critical business knowledge.
In no way am I suggesting that companies should invest in corporate social networking technologies without fully understanding how these tools can be used to gain some of the benefits I mention above. Today, many corporate social networking technologies tend to emphasis value on the individual interactions that coincide through the network. This is false. The true value of a corporate social network are the interactions that relate to specific content. For example:
“My latte is too cold….” – This interaction has no value. And it’s these kinds of interactions that actually annoy the **** out of me.
“First time using flash for a new ad campaign. Any useful tips?” – This interaction has lots of value. It relates to both knowledge (how to use flash), and skill (flash and running ad campaigns).
So in summary, by providing employees visible online profiles, they can highlight the value they bring to your organization and leverage each other’s knowledge to achieve greater results, faster. These profiles will create dynamic company networks where employees can use tagging, social networking, and other tools to paint a complete picture of themselves for all to see. And the best part, the profiles create a repository of valuable employee information that can be accessed by others throughout your organization on-demand. And with this information, you can build more targeted learning, staff projects more quickly, guide more effective hiring and retain critical business knowledge.
So there you go – don’t be stuck in the 1930′s. Go out there and get your employees’ presence online.