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Social Networking at Work: Benefits and Drawbacks
Social networks are often criticized by organizations since those can be one of the major distractions for employees during the working hours. However, the benefits of networking outweigh its drawbacks. Moreover, it is always in your power to minimize the negative effects of social networking and maximize the positive ones.
It is Hard to Argue with Statistics
In their article, Kaupins, Coco, and Little (2012) give an impressive statistics. According to it, Twitter receives more than 6,000 corporate signups every day. Besides, approximately 17% of small businesses examined during the study admitted that they used Twitter and had already saved thousands of dollars on promotion and advertising due to this platform. Many companies indicated that they were using other social networks. Some of them are searching for preferred vendors with their help, some try to find new talents, others simply create the environment for communication among employees. The opportunities are limitless.
Finding New Talents and Retaining the Existing Ones
Doherty (2010) describes networks as an opportunity to create a sense of community among employees (39). Indeed, while many companies prohibit the usage of networks, why cant we encourage it? It will obviously improve the teamwork, since co-workers will be able (and encouraged) to communicate with each other not only within an office but outside of it as well. Besides, with the help of those, HR managers or supervisors can get to know their employees better, set goals for teams and so on. The primary advantage of social networks is that people love them, and if they are given with tasks, which should be completed with the help of social networks, they will do those with enthusiasm. And satisfied employees always work harder. Additionally, it is possible to find new talents using social networks, which will significantly reduce external recruitment costs.
Knowledge Exchange
In her book, Belton (2014) brings to light another significant advantage of the networking the possibility of sharing knowledge. Social networks are not only about communication, better teamwork and talent searching. While such networks as Facebook or Twitter are more casual, Yammer and LinkedIn have a professional value. The employees can use those to find mentors and become more cognizant and experienced in the spheres they work in. They can find role models to learn from, monitor their activity and even search for other platforms, which they use, such as blogs, Facebook or Twitter pages. Nowadays, there are a lot of opportunities to learn and gain experience for free, and social networks definitely go first on the list.
Why do We Need Social Networking Policies?
Still, despite all advantages mentioned above, networking is one of the biggest distractions and a huge temptation for employees to escape from work. Akinbode, Opayemi, and Sokefun (2013) conducted a study that resulted in 40 respondents out of 65 admitting that they usually spend nearly two hours using social networks for personal gain during the working hours. Besides, there are also privacy issues, which should become one of the biggest concerns since employees can accidentally share too much information about the company they work in. All of this requires organizations to set social networking policies, which would help to avoid all pitfalls: banning of private internet facility use in the workplace, time management training, the policy of non-disclosure, etc.
To conclude, whether you are an employee, an HR manager, or CEO, you can and should do something to contribute to the business development through the usage of networks. You can use those to promote the company, advertise new vacancies, create communities, set objectives for the employees and even reach people who would share their experience and knowledge. And what is even more attracting, all of this is free. So, why dont you start right now?
References
Akinbode, J. O., Opayemi, R., & Sokefun, E. (2013). Impact of Online Social Networking on Employees Commitment to Duties in Selected Organizations in Lagos State, Nigeria. International Journal of Business and Economic Development, 1(1), 94-100.
Belton, A. (2014). Social networking in recruitment: build your social networking expertise to give yourself a cost-effective advantage in the hiring market. Birmingham, UK: Packt Publishing.
Doherty, R. (2010). Engage with your talent through internal social networking. Strategic HR Review, 9(1), 39.
Kaupins, G., Coco, M., & Little, A. (2012). Organizational Social Networking Usage and Policy Restrictions. International Journal of Business and Public Administration, 9(1), 38-51.
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