AT&T announced today that the use of social networking tools as part of everyday working life has led to an increase in efficiency, according to an independent market report. The survey of 2,500 employees across five countries conducted by Dynamic Markets, shows that of those using social networking tools in the workplace, 65% say that it has made them and/or their colleagues more efficient. In addition, 46% say that it has sparked ideas and creativity for them personally.
The study shows that 65% of employees surveyed in Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands say that their company has adopted social networking as part of their working culture. The research also reveals that the rate of adoption is most popular in Germany, leading the way at 72% while Great Britain lags behind with 59%.
While the reasons behind this must remain the subject for some future research, this result will surprise many. Not the least me who has a foot in both camps as a British business communicator having lived and worked for several years in Germany. I say this not out of cynicism for the validity of the results, or a skepticism of this as potentially being one of Germany’s many strengths - I just haven’t experienced enough anecdotal examples of where I have seen this first hand to say, “yes, that makes sense,” despite lots of exposure to both markets.
According to the survey, the top 5 social networking tools being used by organisations across Europe are:
- Companies’ own collaboration sites on intranets (39%)
- Internal forums within the company (20%)
- Company-produced video material shared on intranets (16%)
- Online social networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook etc (15%)
- External collaboration sites on the web and internal blogging sites (both 11%)
When asked, 74% of European employees think there are benefits to using social networks and online communities in the workplace. Increasing an individual’s knowledge and giving access to solutions to problems (both 38%) were the two main benefits highlighted. Harnessing the collective knowledge of employees, customers and suppliers (36%) and stimulating team building and better internal collaboration (32%) were also mentioned by those employees who have first-hand experience of using social networks at work on a daily basis.
In contrast, the research also highlights a number of challenges, with the two main negatives being that social networks are a distraction to employees (49%) and a source of company leaks of confidential information (45%). In addition, 24% of employees admit they are not sure how the return on investment (ROI) of internal sites could ever be measured.
“The change is sociological rather than technological, thus is will be difficult to justify with traditional ROI models”, says Martin Silman, executive director at AT&T. “Social networking is changing the way corporations communicate and if the corporate vision incorporates and builds upon the move to social networking and web 2.0, then the key performance indicators will easily follow.”
“The research shows that there is a clear trend across Europe for business users to embrace the benefits of ‘web 2.0′ technology to underpin collaboration, improve productivity and embrace business efficiency. It is clear that CIO’s and their colleagues need to think about the implications this has for their own internal networking strategy and ensure that they are equipped to make the most of the opportunities created by social networking.”
Neville Hobson gives a more robust review of the research in his post ‘Survey highlights employee expectations from social networking in the European workplace’ , plus has an exclusive 24 minute interview with Martin Silman on the For Immediate Release podcast.
{ 0 comments… add one now }
You must log in to post a comment.