By Jon Ingram, Strategic Dynamic

The term social media refers to the still comparatively new set of Internet technologies that enable people to connect, share knowledge, develop relationships and collaborate with each other in ways that rarely have been possible before. 

The other name for these technologies is Web 2.0, where the tag “2.0” indicates a new release, rather than just a new version of technology. Social media is a “new release” because it is qualitatively, not just quantitatively, different from the previously used technologies.

In this article, I will argue that social media provides the basis for qualitative change in organizations. However, it is an opportunity that, as yet, few organizations, particularly those outside of the technology sector, are leveraging. In fact, the typical response of many organizations to social media still seems to be to worry about its impacts on security and productivity. 

In Evolve, Vol. 3, No. 2, Ryan Leary gave corporate recruiters some advice about developing social media strategy, but these technologies also can be used in onboarding, performance management, communication, learning and development, reward and recognition, mobility, exit and other HR processes.

In addition, the use of social media can be taken beyond these processes to improving the quality of an organization’s human capital. (Please note that I am not calling people human capital. Human capital is the sum of the attributes people can contribute to their organization. However, to gain any benefits from social media, it is important to treat people, not as human resources, or as human capital, but as multifaceted and talented, albeit sometimes idiosyncratic, individuals.) 

This article focuses on the role social media can play in better meeting employees’ needs to create higher levels of engagement.

The Social Workplace
Social media already has a significant impact on the lives and work of people who are using it extensively. In particular, it is helping them to form new connections, create deeper relationships and participate in more valuable conversations. 

For example, consider a microblogging service like Twitter. This tool is often criticized for being full of inane comments about what people are having for lunch. However, most of this criticism comes from people who are not using it and people who are just following the wrong people. It is also suggested that using Twitter can negatively impact the quantity and quality of relationships in the real world. However, most people who do use Twitter would say it does almost exactly the reverse—allowing them to develop many new online relationships, which also can lead to further relationships in the real, rather than only the digital, world.

At work, social media provides the potential to develop more socially connected organizations. But the social workplace is based on more than technology-based change. It is not even only about a change in the workforce—it is about a deeper change in society, at least in the developed world.

The change is shown most deeply in Generation Y. This is the generation described as “bathed in bits”—they have grown up with what those of us from older generations often refer to as new technologies, and expect to participate in two-way communication as a matter of course.

However, more importantly, Gen Y exhibits a number of other traits that differentiate it from older generations. In particular, Gen Y members are more interested in finding meaning in their lives, and are also more assertive in demanding that meaning is provided. (Perhaps this assertiveness is the reason Gen Y gains feelings of personal accomplishment to about the same extent as other generations—see Brenda Kowske’s article in Evolve Vol 3, No 2.)

On the other hand, this increased desire for self-actualization is exhibited in other generations, too. In a sense, Gen Y is a mindset, as well as a description of a generation—and this mindset is something more and more of us are taking on.

In addition, this change is being exacerbated by changes within work itself. Growing numbers of us are knowledge workers—acting in roles where the inputs to, and outputs from, what we do are knowledge based. Many other employees in production, service and other roles also are finding that knowledge is increasingly important in their roles. People increasingly are working in teams, and are focusing on intangibles, such as customer service, where success is based upon relationships and conversations. The result of these shifts is that business has to become more people-centric. 

A good indication of this change is the way businesses have become comfortable talking about emotional intelligence. A decade or so ago, people were expected to leave their emotions behind when they went to work. Nowadays, it is generally recognized that emotions are an important part of doing work, and that high performers tend to be those who can understand and influence their own and other people’s emotions. Emotional intelligence has become an accepted part of business, but it is just one aspect of work becoming more people-centric.

This is the real reason that a social outlook is becoming more important. Business has become more focused on people, and people are social beings—we have an innate need to develop mutual caring commitments with each other. Work, then, has become social. 

As a slight aside, the deep emotional need of people is why I do not think it’s enough to say that business has become more social. Although I agree with those who emphasize the need for HR to become more business focused (meaning more knowledgeable about their business, more comfortable with financials and analytics), to me, it is psychology, particularly social psychology, and allied fields like sociology, that are the most important “new” skills for HR practitioners to learn.

Benefits of Social Media for Engagement
Social media has the potential to enable qualitative change in organizations, because it enables the social workplace. It encourages and enables people to develop more connections, to develop deeper personal and professional relationships, and to enter into effective and productive conversations, meeting people’s need to bond. 

This benefit applies particularly to remote and dispersed workers, and to employees in global and virtual workforces, whereby using social media, people can connect with other employees they otherwise would never meet.

Another related advantage is that social media allows people to communicate openly, regardless of position in the organizational hierarchy. This would be appreciated not only by people at the bottom of the hierarchy, but also by those at the top, because it allows leaders to act more like accessible human beings, rather than simply as bosses. 

The second reason social media is important is that it enables people to work more effectively. Of course, although this is debated—because many organizations and research studies only take into account the time employees spend on social networks, rather than the increased effectiveness this can bring—using social media to work more effectively can provide a variety of benefits, such as increased productivity, collaboration and innovation. 

However, the benefits for engagement are quite significant, too, because most people need to feel they are contributing effectively in their jobs. They are going to be less engaged if they are prevented from using the tools that can enhance their contribution. Lastly, social media increases and avoids the reduction of trust.

Where Social Media is Being Used
Most case studies of the use of social media within organizations come from the technology sector, for example, Accenture’s Knowledge Exchange, BT’s BTpedia and Blog/Podcast Central, eBay’s iWeb, IBM’s extensive use of social media, including Second Life, Intel’s Intelpedia, Microsoft’s Academy Mobile, O2’s mingle, Nokia’s Sphere, Virgin Media’s use of Twitter, and Vodafone’s broad range of tools. 

You can judge for yourself whether this sector-focus is because these organizations are most comfortable with the technology, make or sell these or supporting technologies themselves, are already more people-oriented businesses, or are more generally leaders in taking on new innovations (my guess that the truth includes a little of all of these factors).

However, social media also is being used within organizations in other sectors, too; for example, in Asda’s Green Room, Aviva World’s on-demand digital video, Best Buy’s Blue Shirt Nation, Dow’s Connect, ING’s Web Expert Centre, McDonald’s’ StationM, NASA’s Spacebook and Zappos’ use of Twitter. There are a number of other organizations that use social media, but are not saying anything externally, because they see it as part of their competitive advantage. I believe social media is something we are going to see used by organizations in just about every sector. 

It might also be useful to look at the functions driving social media within organizations—and, in general, it is certainly not HR. In fact, the function most generally responsible for social media usage is IT (where use of social media within the organization is being called Enterprise 2.0 or, increasingly, Social Business). However, much of the discussion about social media within IT involves the challenges of adoption, culture and behavioral change—things that fit more naturally within the influence of HR. Maybe this is why Gartner predicts that, through 2012, 70% of IT-driven—versus only 50% of business-led—social media initiatives will fail. So why is it that HR is not usually involved in, or even leading, this development? 

Taking Action
If you want your organization to take advantage of social media to achieve benefits for employee engagement and other areas, and you want to lead this change, what is it you should do?

I would suggest three actions: implementation, policy and training.

Implementation
The first thing to do is decide which technologies will increase employee engagement. This will depend upon the particular needs and constraints of your own organization, and could include use of public social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) or enterprise solutions, such as Sharepoint and Yammer. 

To encourage adoption, it probably will be useful to allow employees to use the new technologies in ways that make sense for them, including “non-work’”applications—for example, sharing photos and videos of the things they do outside of the work environment.

Policy
In this article, I have tried to share some of the potential benefits social media can provide. However, there are downsides, as well. In a growing number of examples, employee use of social media has damaged the reputations of individuals and organizations. One important means of avoiding problems is to provide clear guidance to employees through a social media policy, detailing what behaviors are being encouraged, and those that should be guarded against. 

(You can find examples of policies at http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php).

Training
Social media technologies are generally intuitively simple and easy to understand. However, adopting them as part of ongoing behavior, ensuring compliance with the organization’s policy and achieving the desired benefits for employee engagement can be harder than it might appear. Training might not be needed on the same level as at Intel, with its Digital IQ training program with 60 online courses, but some development of the appropriate and effective use of social media certainly will be required.
 

References 

Kowske, B. (2009). The “Generations” Debate Degenerates: Finding Facts Among the Myths. Evolve HR, September, 7-14. 

Leary, R. (2009). Developing a Social Media Strategy. Evolve HR, September, 16-19.

About the Author

Jon Ingram serves as an independent consultant through Strategic Dynamics. In his role, he focuses on helping businesses that already have sound approaches to people management gain further improvements in the capabilities and engagement of their people, and the effectiveness of their organizations. He is the author of Strategic Human Capital Management: Creating Value Through People. He also speaks, instructs and lectures at workshops on strategic management, change management and human resources as part of executive MBA programs in the UK, Russia and Croatia.

During his career, he has worked at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a systems development consultant. After 10 years in IT, change and HR consulting, Mr. Ingram joined Ernst & Young as an HR Director, working in the UK and then in Moscow. More recently, he has worked as Head of HR Consulting for Penna and Director of Human Capital Consulting for Buck Consultants (the HR consultancy owned by ACS). Mr. Ingram holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, a Master’s in engineering and a Master of Business Administration. He is a Certified Management Consultant, a member of the BPS and occupational psychology division, a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a Fellow of the RSA.