June 10, 2013
Should Social Tools Be Allowed in the Workplace?
Nearly half of employees report that social tools at work help increase their productivity, but more than 30 percent of companies underestimate the value of these tools and often restrict their use, according to a new Microsoft Research study.
Among employees identified as working in the retail sector, 45 percent said their productivity has greatly or somewhat increased, thanks to social tools. Overall, researchers surveyed 9,908 workers in 32 countries who use a personal computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone for at least 75 percent of their job.
"We’re starting to understand the very premise — that social media usage inhibits productivity — is a myth," wrote Nancy Baym, a Microsoft Research principal researcher, on the Microsoft Research Social Media Collective blog. "It’s not just that the premise is wrong — we’re also learning that blocking and banning policies are ineffective, giving traditionalist supervisors a false sense of control that, in reality, has been slipping away for years."
In the U.S., the top professional use for social tools was communicating with colleagues, agreed to by 59 percent; followed by sharing/reviewing documents, 45 percent; and communicating with customers/clients, 35 percent. Other reasons for social tool use at work included growing one’s professional network, promoting a work-related initiative, communicating with vendors, and researching a customer’s or client’s industry.
Companies cite security concerns as one of the top reasons that social tools are restricted, particularly noted in financial and government jobs, as well as productivity loss. Thirty-four percent indicated management underestimates the benefit of social tools in the workplace; 39 percent said their IT department can be a barrier to using social tools; and 31 percent would be willing to spend their own money on a new tool if it made them more efficient at their job.
"Just as email accelerated the pace of business in the ’90s, enterprise social will be the driver of greater agility and transformation in the 21st century workplace," said Kurt DelBene, president, Microsoft Office Division.
The study didn’t specifically explore the use of social tools on retail selling floors. Based on observations, smartphone usage on selling floors seems to be banned at some places but only discouraged at others.
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Should social tools in the workplace be encouraged or discouraged? Should retailer policies vary for office versus sales floor workers?
Poll
It really depends. Having client service and business development staff use LinkedIn and Twitter to develop awareness and thought leadership is a given and increasingly critical, but some others are productivity killers. When staff that should be writing code is constantly breaking their train of thought to respond to IM from girlfriends and other friends, then it does not help and should be stopped.
In retail, I could understand that the all important “listening” aspect of social is necessary in order to make changes in course of action or increase more of whatever promotion, new product, etc., a retailer may be rolling out.
The encouraging statistic is that nearly 70% of companies in the study do not underestimate social media’s workplace value or restrict its use. That is a huge improvement over just a few years ago. Most companies recognize that their customers “live” on social media and that their workers must be mobile and socially enabled to be where the customer is, whether in a B2B or B2C scenario. They also know that both enterprise and non-enterprise social networks enable workers to interact seamlessly across silos, whether cultural or geographic. IT departments are getting the message and utilizing modern network and cloud technologies to enable social networking without compromising data security.
It is a new day. And social networks, especially mobile-enabled ones, are driving the next wave of productivity and customer-centric behaviors and decisions.
Three issues are critical. The first is the type of social media tools, e.g., the company’s social media tools, personal uses, and public vs. privates tools. The second issue is security of the site or separation of the site from the company’s software. The third is how people are using the site, e.g., sending personal comments vs. asking colleagues questions.
Not all social tools are the same so creating a policy for the use of social media needs careful consideration.
It just depends on the business and whether it is more profitable to allow social tools. A business should be able to make up any rules it pleases. If it was me I would not allow cell phones at work and I would block all social media sites. If its an emergency, the authorities will find you. And I would certainly monitor everyone’s activity and email on the company’s ISP. Believe me most companies do.
Many times I’ve been contacted by corporate security departments questioning the subject of an email. I can recall 12 plus years ago all the distractions I had with eBay, trading stocks, and online wagering. Now toss in Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and fantasy sports. Work is work, and play is play. Employers just need to decide who gets to do what and when.
Communication and information sharing are critical to successful businesses. These new tools can be very helpful when used properly (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter).
Some employees can manage the potential distraction of these new social tools. Others struggle, just like the “water cooler” gossipers of previous generations. Managers must hold employees accountable for getting the work done. Employees must be treated like adults, and given the most up-to-date tools to get the job done.
Put me squarely in the “it all depends” category.
Is letting a researcher, a customer service officer, a marketer, etc., access social media at work a good thing? Maybe so, maybe not.
Is letting the mailroom clerk play Farmville all day a good idea? Doubt it!
Cisco and I recently hosted a dinner discussion in Chicago to discuss social and mobile. Participants noted multiple benefits from associates’ use of social technologies in the store, including localization and better communications with customers. Everyone’s still finding their way, but the interest level is significant.
Social tools are still in their infancy. It will take time for companies to figure out which tools work best for them. Once that is determined, they will be encouraged. In the meantime, the early adopters will have an advantage. And, there will be many more tools—ones we can’t yet even imagine—that will be coming to us sooner than you might expect.
Social channels can be tremendous tools for business collaboration, both internally and externally. Our company is working to encourage not only internal employee brainstorming, education and collaboration, but also external business partner and client efforts around the same areas.
Trust in employees is the first step to driving tangible ROI in social business.
The use of social tools for business purposes is likely to continue to expand. In this sense, Microsoft is correct. This is a bell that cannot be un-rung. New collaborative business methods may ensue. Some may add significant value.
But no organization wants to encourage employees to divert time, energy and attention to personal use of social media. It’s way too likely for these activities to soak up productivity. Worse, it may feel like work to the employee, even when it contributes nothing to advance corporate goals.
This is highly situational, of course. Tweeting while driving a delivery truck is generally a bad idea, one might conclude. Sharing relevant articles using LinkedIn might be a core part of the mission for a corporate marketer. A social-type collaboration tool might significantly elevate planogram implementation; but cashiers in the same store should be counseled to avoid Facebook while interacting with customers.
Just as it was with cell phone adoption. New media. New norms.
Count me as skeptical. It should not come as a surprise except to the naive and/or politically correct that a great deal of office time can and does get spent on Facebook, eBay, porn, etc. But also, having worked for a company that tracked everyone’s searches, it got really annoying sometimes when I was doing legitimate research. Finding a balance is sensible; carte blanche is not.
While it certainly does depend on the use and the user, this reminds me of when I had to beg to have America Online when it first came out. As a researcher, the access to information, articles, reports and so on was invaluable. But I had to convince others that it was indeed a tool, not a diversion. Happily, I was able to do so and became that much more productive.
Yes it all depends. One might remember that when cell phones were coming into common use, apolog…er some “experts” claimed they would IMPROVE safety because people could reports problems more readily; which is true as far as it goes, but hardly the whole picture. Given that this site is oriented toward retail, and managing sales floor staff, I think in this case the usage trends more toward the distraction/nuisance than the beneficial end of the spectrum, how many Walmart or Macy’s sales associates really need to use LinkedIn to share an article with their coworkers? The scattered legitimate uses—like answering customer e-mails or twittering sales announcements—can be done on a company machine, with access controlled. Management, of course, should continue to be allowed the important ability to communicate on blogs…particularly RW.
We’ve had that issue here, and my stance on it is pretty simple: we have tools to measure productivity, and if someone’s not productive, let’s talk to them and figure out how we can help. Social media has nothing to do with that; either they’re being effective or they’re not. If they’re effective, I couldn’t care less how much they’re online, or picking their nose for that matter.
How is business and personal seperated so the employer will know they are getting what has been agreed when the employee is on a social media site? Abuse is too easy to occur if total access is given. I can’t see it as an asset on a sales floor during business hours.
Stating the obvious—it depends on how these tools are being used (or abused). I would agree that preventing the use of such tools is not a solution, especially with an increasing number of people making use of their mobile devices for accessing social sites. Opening up these sites at the workplace also increase security risk.
On the other hand, companies are also starting their own social networking sites to network and share with their colleagues, which has great benefits for a large organization.
I think what is required is developing a social media policy for employees and educating them. You can’t and should not do away with use of social media at the workplace completely. Education may help in using these tools more constructively.
I think the access should be according to the need of the role based at least on the corporate network. With higher penetration of smartphones and data plans, all the corporate access controls usually do not stop employees from using social media at workplace.
The biggest challenge, as rightly pointed out in this article, is that of security. Banning social media in office network does not improve productivity; employees have enough distractions that could lower productivity.
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It really depends. Having client service and business development staff use LinkedIn and Twitter to develop awareness and thought leadership is a given and increasingly critical, but some others are productivity killers. When staff that should be writing code is constantly breaking their train of thought to respond to IM from girlfriends and other friends, then it does not help and should be stopped.
In retail, I could understand that the all important “listening” aspect of social is necessary in order to make changes in course of action or increase more of whatever promotion, new product, etc., a retailer may be rolling out.
The encouraging statistic is that nearly 70% of companies in the study do not underestimate social media’s workplace value or restrict its use. That is a huge improvement over just a few years ago. Most companies recognize that their customers “live” on social media and that their workers must be mobile and socially enabled to be where the customer is, whether in a B2B or B2C scenario. They also know that both enterprise and non-enterprise social networks enable workers to interact seamlessly across silos, whether cultural or geographic. IT departments are getting the message and utilizing modern network and cloud technologies to enable social networking without compromising data security.
It is a new day. And social networks, especially mobile-enabled ones, are driving the next wave of productivity and customer-centric behaviors and decisions.
Three issues are critical. The first is the type of social media tools, e.g., the company’s social media tools, personal uses, and public vs. privates tools. The second issue is security of the site or separation of the site from the company’s software. The third is how people are using the site, e.g., sending personal comments vs. asking colleagues questions.
Not all social tools are the same so creating a policy for the use of social media needs careful consideration.
It just depends on the business and whether it is more profitable to allow social tools. A business should be able to make up any rules it pleases. If it was me I would not allow cell phones at work and I would block all social media sites. If its an emergency, the authorities will find you. And I would certainly monitor everyone’s activity and email on the company’s ISP. Believe me most companies do.
Many times I’ve been contacted by corporate security departments questioning the subject of an email. I can recall 12 plus years ago all the distractions I had with eBay, trading stocks, and online wagering. Now toss in Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and fantasy sports. Work is work, and play is play. Employers just need to decide who gets to do what and when.
Communication and information sharing are critical to successful businesses. These new tools can be very helpful when used properly (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter).
Some employees can manage the potential distraction of these new social tools. Others struggle, just like the “water cooler” gossipers of previous generations. Managers must hold employees accountable for getting the work done. Employees must be treated like adults, and given the most up-to-date tools to get the job done.
Put me squarely in the “it all depends” category.
Is letting a researcher, a customer service officer, a marketer, etc., access social media at work a good thing? Maybe so, maybe not.
Is letting the mailroom clerk play Farmville all day a good idea? Doubt it!
Cisco and I recently hosted a dinner discussion in Chicago to discuss social and mobile. Participants noted multiple benefits from associates’ use of social technologies in the store, including localization and better communications with customers. Everyone’s still finding their way, but the interest level is significant.
Social tools are still in their infancy. It will take time for companies to figure out which tools work best for them. Once that is determined, they will be encouraged. In the meantime, the early adopters will have an advantage. And, there will be many more tools—ones we can’t yet even imagine—that will be coming to us sooner than you might expect.
Social channels can be tremendous tools for business collaboration, both internally and externally. Our company is working to encourage not only internal employee brainstorming, education and collaboration, but also external business partner and client efforts around the same areas.
Trust in employees is the first step to driving tangible ROI in social business.
The use of social tools for business purposes is likely to continue to expand. In this sense, Microsoft is correct. This is a bell that cannot be un-rung. New collaborative business methods may ensue. Some may add significant value.
But no organization wants to encourage employees to divert time, energy and attention to personal use of social media. It’s way too likely for these activities to soak up productivity. Worse, it may feel like work to the employee, even when it contributes nothing to advance corporate goals.
This is highly situational, of course. Tweeting while driving a delivery truck is generally a bad idea, one might conclude. Sharing relevant articles using LinkedIn might be a core part of the mission for a corporate marketer. A social-type collaboration tool might significantly elevate planogram implementation; but cashiers in the same store should be counseled to avoid Facebook while interacting with customers.
Just as it was with cell phone adoption. New media. New norms.
Count me as skeptical. It should not come as a surprise except to the naive and/or politically correct that a great deal of office time can and does get spent on Facebook, eBay, porn, etc. But also, having worked for a company that tracked everyone’s searches, it got really annoying sometimes when I was doing legitimate research. Finding a balance is sensible; carte blanche is not.
While it certainly does depend on the use and the user, this reminds me of when I had to beg to have America Online when it first came out. As a researcher, the access to information, articles, reports and so on was invaluable. But I had to convince others that it was indeed a tool, not a diversion. Happily, I was able to do so and became that much more productive.
Yes it all depends. One might remember that when cell phones were coming into common use, apolog…er some “experts” claimed they would IMPROVE safety because people could reports problems more readily; which is true as far as it goes, but hardly the whole picture. Given that this site is oriented toward retail, and managing sales floor staff, I think in this case the usage trends more toward the distraction/nuisance than the beneficial end of the spectrum, how many Walmart or Macy’s sales associates really need to use LinkedIn to share an article with their coworkers? The scattered legitimate uses—like answering customer e-mails or twittering sales announcements—can be done on a company machine, with access controlled. Management, of course, should continue to be allowed the important ability to communicate on blogs…particularly RW.
We’ve had that issue here, and my stance on it is pretty simple: we have tools to measure productivity, and if someone’s not productive, let’s talk to them and figure out how we can help. Social media has nothing to do with that; either they’re being effective or they’re not. If they’re effective, I couldn’t care less how much they’re online, or picking their nose for that matter.
How is business and personal seperated so the employer will know they are getting what has been agreed when the employee is on a social media site? Abuse is too easy to occur if total access is given. I can’t see it as an asset on a sales floor during business hours.
Stating the obvious—it depends on how these tools are being used (or abused). I would agree that preventing the use of such tools is not a solution, especially with an increasing number of people making use of their mobile devices for accessing social sites. Opening up these sites at the workplace also increase security risk.
On the other hand, companies are also starting their own social networking sites to network and share with their colleagues, which has great benefits for a large organization.
I think what is required is developing a social media policy for employees and educating them. You can’t and should not do away with use of social media at the workplace completely. Education may help in using these tools more constructively.
I think the access should be according to the need of the role based at least on the corporate network. With higher penetration of smartphones and data plans, all the corporate access controls usually do not stop employees from using social media at workplace.
The biggest challenge, as rightly pointed out in this article, is that of security. Banning social media in office network does not improve productivity; employees have enough distractions that could lower productivity.