Social Media and Employee Engagement

It has been over a decade that the concept of employee engagement spread in the environment of big enterprises. However, it failed to garner attention as the competition was moderate in the past. But, as the corporate wars have reached its pinnacle, organizations are finding alternatives to engage employees. And, while doing so, social media and communication appears to be the plausible option to attain business objectives in this direction.

Social media and communication within the organization is shaping the way companies engage with employees. Today, smart companies are using social media to attract, retain and comprehensively engage top talent. Social media communities within organizations have resulted in many proven benefits.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed towards the organizational goals and values, encouraged to contribute to organizational success, and also enhance their own sense of well-being. In addition, providing better work environment to employees offer more of their capability and potential.

Why social media and employee engagement is a big deal in organizations?

The use of social media goes beyond the Like button, popular tweets and compelling posts in organizations. Social media acts as the most effective, reliable and quick channel to initiate communication.  Social media employee engagement is the cornerstone of a successful organization. Employees are the primary source of when it comes to an organization’s culture and values. If they are vested in the success of the company, workforce of two hundred can be equivalent to two hundred brand ambassadors spreading the culture of your organization on the internet. You can use the platforms to –

• Promote community within organization to share ideas, collaborate, communicate and put all levels in all department in a common playing field
• Promote companies culture to show that your company is a great place to work
• Attract new talent better than what a corporate website does
• Transparency is another vital element that would show your company’s personality and culture in the real world

How to engage employees using social media?

Most of the organizations are aware of the pros and cons of social media platforms. They are very well aware of the fact that things on social media spread like a wild fire. This is true, but a careful consideration of social media guidelines can do wonders for businesses. You can engage employees in numerous ways such as –

• Giving employees the freedom to express by defining guidelines on how employees interact
• Announcing company news by linking to a news release on your website
• Recognizing individuals or team of employees for their work
• Welcoming newcomers or congratulating someone on promotion
• Acknowledging customers or sharing business success stories
• Posting photos and videos
• Sharing industry news and asking employees to share their opinions
• Encouraging health and wellness

What social media platforms can be used?

It is always recommended using applications those are meant exclusively for internal communication. This would ensure a safe, reliable and personalized platform for discussion. Employees and clients can actively participate, discuss, share and raise concerns. Before getting started, you must specify the social media guidelines to control or inhibit employees. What can be shared and cannot be shared should be specified.

These days, considering the growth of BYOD trend, social media applications are a perfect ploy for fostering employee engagement. The applications can be bolstered with features those are exclusively meant for the organization.

Business benefits

• Employees engage and develop a sense of responsibility for the company
• Companies with social media based employee engagement models can almost double the quarterly profits
• Companies can experience almost 18% improvement in productivity
• Employee turnover rate increases
• The level of customer satisfaction increases
• A proper employee engagement model motivates creative ideas
• Successful implementation of social media for employee engagement affects the bottom-line of the company .i.e. business profit

On the competitive landscape, social media can be effectively used for the organizational benefits. Giving emphasis on a better employee engagement practices not only contributes toward short-term survival during economic volatility but also acts as a crucial factor for business performance in the long run. Companies that have right engagement channel can enjoy a surplus of competitive edge in talent strategy and improved results that are difficult for others to match.