This guest post is written by Evan Hackel, President and Founder of Ingage Consulting. Throughout his twenty-five year career, he has seen the need not only for improved engagement but for an understanding of why engagement plays such an important role in any organization. Evan’s company works closely with the managers and leaders of franchises, co-ops, and buying groups, to help them improve their business practices. Evan can be reached directly at ehackel@ingageconsulting.com.
A recent study by Gallup discovered that companies in the top quartile in terms of engaged employees outperformed those companies in the bottom quartile by a business growth rate of about 4 to 1. The Gallup study provides graphs and data analyses in this report which proves that engagement is an important factor in the growth of a business. But how does an organization create engagement in the first place? One of the best and easiest ways to do this is by using social media tools inside the workplace.
The social media tools businesses use are similar to Facebook or Twitter but are different because they are internal to an organization and private. Companies have intranet sites that allow employees to create profiles and forums so people within the company are able to find and connect with other employees. Companies also extend this concept to select groups of customers. Franchisors, for example, will create a private online community using social media tools for the franchisees, some early co-ops do this for their members, and businesses in general will do this for their best customers.
This inter-office social media has enabled collaboration and has reduced endless email strings which can drive everyone crazy. Users can view employee profiles similar to Facebook pages or LinkedIn profiles and find employees with certain skill sets in order to collaborate on a project or find particular information that is relevant to their current need. They create communities like you would see on LinkedIn to create collaboration and documentation on a key project. Companies are even using Facebook to plan and promote their holiday party. In the business world, social media tools have become a widely used approach for sharing information as well as involving more stakeholders in an organization.
The use and success of social media tools in the workplace varies greatly. There are some companies that have paranoia and are afraid to create a communication tool that could perhaps disseminate negative news. Other companies have created collaborative areas but have made no major effort to make these ventures successful; consequently, sites sit there built, but dormant. Then, of course, there are companies that have fully embraced collaboration and social media tools in the workplace and have specific personnel to support these widely successful efforts.
There is no doubt the successful application of social media tools within the workplace takes time and planning. First, you need to assess who the users will be and what the primary use of the tools will be, you have to choose the right technology for your organization and an action plan to create and launch active, vibrant communities. When creating communities of customer groups, i.e. franchisees, cooperative members, or a special group of best customers, you have to be particularly careful. A poorly executed online community can be a place where negativity and dissent fester. Conversely though, online communities of customers can be incredibly powerful engagement tools. They create greater loyalty, greater support and an improved business through collaboration.
When it comes to using social media as a business tool, some organizations don’t do it, some do it only half way and some do it exceptionally well. So, why does this matter? Why should companies want to use social media successfully? Using social media tools in business allows a lot of stakeholders- be they employees, franchisees, or members- to participate in the process of making the business better. When people feel engaged, they feel a greater responsibility to the organization and, in all aspects of their relationships; they’re going to be better stakeholders.
How does your company use social media tools? What has been successful, and what hasn't worked so well? What do you think they should be doing that they're not doing? Do you agree with Gallup that engagement matters?
