There is an interesting tension being played out today involving employers and social networking, with implications for employee performance and rewards. Organizations are on a fast-moving ride, trying to come to grips with the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon and what it means for them.
Just a little over a year ago, the impetus seemed to be one of control (with the presumed undertone that social networking activities were a waste of time and drawing employee attention from their primary work responsibilities). This is evidenced by a February 2008 survey by the American Management Association (cited here in a recent BLR Daily Advisor) which showed that 65% of employers were using Internet blocking software and, of these, 50% were blocking social networking sites and 18% were blocking access to blogs.
More recent Deloitte research suggests that employers are becomingmore aware of the fact that social networking presents opportunities as well as risks, and that managing this balance is a strategic activity. From the Deloitte study:
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27% of executives surveyed agree "Our executive team regularly discusses how we can best leverage social networks to our advantage while mitigating risks."
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17% of executive surveyed agree "My company has a program dedicated to monitoring and mitigating risks related to the use of social networks."
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22% of executives surveyed agree "My company has formal policies that dictate how employees can use social networking tools."
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22% of executives surveyed agree "Our senior leadership team addresses issues related to company-wide social networking."
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And 80% of executives surveyed agree that social networking should be a board room issue.
It is good that employers are grasping this. While employee networking activities undeniably raise risks, a recent study conducted by IBM in connection with MIT (via the HR Capitalist) points out that networking activity is positively related with performance, productivity ... and revenues. Among other insights fromthe IBM study, which examined the impact of network activity via email and instant messaging, is the finding that strong ties to powerful individuals ("authorities or experts within one's network") resulted in additional individual incremental revenue of $588 a month.
Which suggests pretty clearly that employers not only need to move beyond simple control initiatives, but must consider how to encourage productive use of social networks. Perhaps consider whether this is a skill or behavior that should be reflected in their performance management process. And perhaps even ponder whether there should be a connection to employee rewards.
Your thoughts?
Image: Creative Commons Photo "Web" by kurtxio
This is a really interesting topic to me, and one I have done some research on from the perspective of what are the incentives and barriers to employee participation and contribution in internal communities. Some of the research that I have seen indicates 'soft' or non-cash type rewards like recognition of expertise, and 'status' as an internal expert actually are more of a motivator to increase employee participation in a knowledge community. I think there is still lots of work to be done in this area, as more companies want to use these tools, they will need effective ways to incent and reward employees.
Posted by: Steve Boese | May 22, 2009 at 02:18 PM
Steve:
I'd love to see some of that research. My thoughts would parallel your findings, that 'soft' or non-cash type rewards are best for directly incenting and recognizing the demonstration and use of this expertise, with cash rewards best reserved for the overall group performance outcomes that these activities help make happen.
Topic for a follow-on post, perhaps.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience here!
Posted by: Ann Bares | May 22, 2009 at 02:37 PM
I agree with Steve's take. It seems that for now, until social network adoption becomes more prevalent and the norm, employers will have more success in getting greater participation through a combination of demonstrating trust (in that employees will feel "safe" using the tools and won't be taken advantage of because they shared their knowledge) and sharing success stories of people helping each other get things done through social networks (including recognition/kudos for the folks who contributed.) Once adoption has become the norm, or of course if the role specifically calls for it, or if the shared values of the company are simply strong enough w.r.t. social network use, then it would seem to make sense to include it in desired skills or behaviors.
Posted by: Mark Bennett | May 22, 2009 at 03:58 PM
Mark:
I appreciate both you and Steve weighing in. Your advice about focusing more on encouraging participation and showcasing the success stories as initial steps make sense to me. As the Deloite research suggests, most companies are still trying to find their way here.
Thanks for the thoughts and great discussion!
Posted by: Ann Bares | May 22, 2009 at 04:07 PM
Great article and I love seeing others openly exploring knowledge management as a competitive tool for organizations and development opportunity for individuals.
Posted by: Brad Herbert | May 23, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Thanks for the comment, Brad!
Posted by: Ann Bares | May 26, 2009 at 08:48 AM