Social Networks in the Workplace

Social Networks focus on developing and enhancing social relationships between people, who share a common interest. These social networks [platforms] can display personal information etc… (i.e. Facebook & Twitter) and/or professional particulars (i.e. LinkedIn).

The early social networking philosophies were to bring individuals together as a part of a community group with which they can share personal information and/or ideas (i.e. chat rooms). These, as we can see, have become very successful methods of communicating.

With this success come some concerns with regards to users making too much personal information available for all to see!

This has led to privacy issues where; not only do users disclose too much, [hosting] sites don’t take adequate steps to protect user privacy and third parties are actively seeking out user information.

I am aware of one particular organization that thought using such social network sites as a recruitment tool. Their idea was to look at a candidates profile to see what kind of person they appear to be, and use this to help determine the candidates’ suitability to the role and the culture of the company.

Interestingly the perception of using social network to help you find a job may be good in theory; however a recent survey conducted by Hays Recruitment found that 45% of job seekers didn’t see this as a viable option to help find work.

Notwithstanding some within the recruitment industry believe that this is an important medium to help promote an individual. It is important that people know about you, to get a feel for the sort of person you are. So the opportunity to connect via (say) LinkedIn is a good way to consider who the person is.

It is believed that LinkedIn is a particularly helpful way for making business connections. A Deloitte’s study has found that 23% of Companies already use social networking as a recruitment tool.

This of course all suggests that the process is ‘out in the open’ and potential candidates are maybe aware of who is viewing their profile!

Interestingly, I read of a European business that uses Facebook as a virtual ‘open house’ where candidates and Companies can meet on line and network…

So we see that social networking is in the workplace and is having an impact on the way we work. It appears that a majority of employers (worldwide) do not have a formal policy in place regarding the use of such sites at work, and therefore adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach before they do. But for those who support such mediums, the need for waiting can’t be understood.

The results of surveys of social networking appear to identify the following benefits; brand building 20%; fostering collaboration and communication 19%; new talent recruitment 15%; candidate assessment 13% and professional development of employees 13%

- John Cachia