Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media Tools on Employee Engagement for Greater Productivity - Literature review Example

Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media Tools on Employee Engagement for Greater Productivity and Autonomy Introduction and Background Social media, as Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), puts it have represented a revolutionary trend that organization cannot ignore. Firms grapple with how best they can use social media tools in networking sites as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Second Life, Instagram, and Wikipedia among others. Social media can take several forms: e-mailing, instant messaging, internet forums, podcasts, videos and pictures, online profiles and online profiles among others (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012). Social media tools include tools embedded in social media sites like Youtube, Tumblr, Wikipedia, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, ZoomInfo, Secondlife, Flickr and Yelp among others. There has been a confusion among academicians on the differences between social media and other interchangeable ideas like User Generated Concepts and Web 2.0. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) define social media as internet-based applications that allow creating and exchanging user generated content building on the technological and ideological foundations of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 refers to technological applications that allow users to create content, share it and communicate through virtual worlds, communities and social network channels (Karkkainen, 2010). According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), the social media era started with the founding of ‘Open Diary’ by Bruce and Susan Abelson which was a social networking site that gathered diary writers. This concept later evolved into ‘weblogs’. This concept saw the introduction of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. According to Nielsen (2010), social media takes nearly one-quarter of all internet activity. One of the most popular social networking sites Facebook was reported to have 845 Million user in 2012 (Aguenza, Al-Kassem & Som, 2012). Social, economic and environmental Considerations Social alludes to the interactions and social relations that employees have with their employers, other employees as well as with customers. Social media sites provide a computer-generated platform through which social relations are formed from a user approach (Aguenza, Al-Kassem & Som 2012). The economic view puts in consideration involves how social media tools are able to influence the information about how works is done and the economic outcomes as a result of this influence. This means answering the question of how social media tools affect how job information is disseminated in regards to employment and wages. It also includes how social media tools influence human capital decisions (Jackson, 2010). The economic view also puts into consideration the kind of implications social media tools have on the economic activities of the organization. The environmental considerations have to do with the factors in the organization (both internal and external) that affect the approach and success of the organization’s business. Internal environmental considerations involve issues like how the leadership style affect the kind of culture that exist in the organization. They also involve the strengths of employees which include issues like talent, motivation and job satisfaction. External business factors include competition Engagement, Productivity and Autonomy Employee engagement is defined as harnessing of employees in their emotional and intellectual commitment in their work roles (Kular et al, 2008). This is in regards to how they express themselves emotionally, physically and cognitively as they perform their work roles. High employee engagement has been associated with more productivity, provision of better customer service and reduced recruitment costs. A study by Buckingham established that engaged workplaces were 27 percent likely to register higher profitability and 38 percent more likely to register productivity that is above average. The Harvard Business reviewers carried in-depth interviews with 550 executives on the area of employee engagement. The executives were drawn from across all economic areas including manufacturing, IT and telecommunications, education, energy among others. They found out that many employers have made employee engagement a professional priority since a highly engaged workforce has been linked with higher productivity, innovation and performance (Harvard Business Review, 2013). While it is true that many business executives acknowledge the need for employee engagement, many have not developed ways to handle this goal. According to Aguenza et al (2012) employee productivity refers to the magnitude and level of production that employees produce from resources given. This is reflected by looking at the hours of labour spent in a particular task. Aguenza, Al-Kassem and Som (2012) sought to study the relevance of social media on productivity of employees. They found out that there is a positive impact of social media to employee productivity as well as collaboration and two-way communication. Job autonomy refers to the how much control, discretion and choice employees have as they perform their job. Where autonomy is fostered, employees feel more responsible to perform their duties are more effective. Theories Social media can be defined by classifying its characteristics. First there has to be media presence and self-presentation: which allows communication between the partners. According to the social presence theory, social presence is impacted by the intimacy and immediacy of the medium (Short, Williams and Christie, 1976). Therefore, according to this theory, the level of social presence is directly proportional to the social influence that those communicating have on each other. According to the media richness theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986), “the goal of any communication is the reduction of ambiguity and the reduction of uncertainty” (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010, p. 61). This theory postulates that there is a variance in the level of information that certain media allow at a certain time. According to this theory, some social media tools can allow more richness and social presence than others. The other concepts on social media are self-disclosure and self-presentation. Goffman (1959), people involved in any social interaction always desire to control the kind of impressions others form of them. People wish to create a certain desirable of themselves to others. Such images are created by self-disclosure. On this aspect some social media tools require more self-disclosure than others. Other social media tools require certain self-presentation. Opportunities and Challenges of social media tools With technological advancements, businesses are taking advantage of the myriad of opportunities for communication. Smartphones as social networking tools have been known to improve knowledge sharing, strengthening of relationship between employees and their seniors as well as their peers as well as promoting autonomy (Pitichat, 2013). However, one of the challenges posed by social media tools is the fact that organizations now demand that employees have to have technical and professional knowhow (Sridevi and Markos 2012). In addition, operational autonomy is also demanded. Opportunities Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) mention one of the opportunities that social networking tools offer; collaborative projects. This is an idea where the joint efforts of employees are utilized in a project. Everyone in the project is allowed to contribute towards the success of the project for instance following the idea behind Wikipedia. One of the companies utilizing this idea is Nokia which uses internal wikis to update its members on trade ideas as well as on status of projects. According to the Society of Human Resource Management (2012) departments, through social media tools, can hold brainstorming sessions. In addition, they can have feedback opportunities by maintaining ongoing conversations on a blog. Wikis can be used to work on projects. Several studies have proved that social media sites increases employee productivity. Fahmy (2009) established a 9% probability that employees who use social media sites as compared to those that do not. In addition, he also found out that 70 percent of employees who use social media for personal use have better concentration and sharpness. This, he attributes to the refreshing of the brain that result from taking short breaths in social networking. On the business environment front, companies have the advantage of doing comparative analysis of business offerings through the use of social media tools and adjust where necessary. Companies are also able to gain a competitive advantage by using information gained through social media tools to develop products and business philosophies that are different from other companies’. Social interactions from social media sites make employees more social which increase their skill in interacting with others in the workplace and quicker at solving problems. Aguenza et al (2012) argue that social media sites are a fast way of collecting information in the organization. This means that businesses that use these sites are more likely to find new business opportunities, expertise and like-minded people. This increases efficiency and creativity and innovation in the organization. Similar findings were recorded in a study conducted by AT&T. The study that surveyed 2,500 employees established that of those employees using social media sites 46% have more creative ideas, 65% were more efficient workers and 38% of them were better problem solvers (AT&T, 2008, cited in Aguenza et al, 2012). Use of social media tools in listening to employees and getting feedback gives them a sense of autonomy because their contributions are incorporated in determining their work Society of Human Resource Management. 2012). Incorporation of collaborative projects also ensures that every employee contributes towards a project. A major opportunity that social media tools is offering is in the recruitment process. Some of the tools help in lessening the amount of Curriculum Vitae on job applications as well as conducting assessment procedures (Aguenza et al (2012). Many organizations have adapted some form of e-recruitment in their hiring process. An adaptation which has been attributed to reduced recruitment costs. On the social front, use of social media tools help companies to communicate with their customers better as well as share vital knowledge with employees, partners and suppliers (Cortada, Lesser & Korstein, 2012). Social media is a good way of listening to business stakeholders and getting feedback. Employees, through social media tools are able to join professional media sites like LinkedIn which allow them to join groups and conversations which help them gain new insights and ideas for greater productivity. Such kinds of engagements also help employees to develop networks which help them stay abreast with current trends. In addition, engagement through social media creates trust between employees which allows and environment of collaborative working environment (Trinet, 2012). Challenges The fact that there are a myriad opportunities afforded by use of social media tools does not rule out the possibility of challenges. Some of the challenges include open access to organizations’ information since some employees have outdated passwords that can easily be cracked, damage in business reputation through careless posts, data leakage, cyber scams, and loss of staff productivity when they use company time for personal social media use (Aguenza et al, 2009). Employees are exposed to cyber-criminal activities which can damage personal and organizations reputation. Quinn (2009) points to a case in which the Virgin Atlantic Plane’s cabin crew are said to have insulted passengers and posted damaging information through social media. Contrary to studies whose results suggested an increase in employee productivity (Fahmy 2009; Kaplan & Haenlein 2010; Aguenza et al 2012) there are studies whose results have suggested otherwise. Peacock (2008) note that most employees have been known to waste company time in social media sites which weakens productivity. Organizations without a social media policy have to grapple with the challenge of employees using company time for personal networking. Similarly, Pitichat (2013) identifies some of the challenges that have been associated with smartphones, they include; giving stress from personal issues at work, separating employees from their realities and creating bad manners which eventually result in lower productivity. In regards to autonomy, most employers use personal profiles in doing background in the recruitment process which may work against an employee. This works against a person’s autonomy. Employees do not have the mandate to stop the distribution of personal profiles uploaded on social media sites (Aguenza et al, 2012). In addition, criminals may get personal information of employees and may cause harm to the employees. It is a popular believe that employees under 30 years engrossed by digital technology. However, a study by Friedl and Vercic (2011), revealed that digital natives prefer digital media when it comes to their personal lives but prefer traditional media in their business communication. This poses a challenge to companies which want to embrace social media in conducting businesses. Economically, training those who cannot use these tools is costly and may use lots of quality company time. In addition, reluctance in use of social media tools by some employees may hinder the process of employee engagement through social media use. Sexual harassment has been identified as a considerable challenge in social media use in the workplace. The lines between personal and professional behaviour in employee engagement are blurred which could encourage sexual harassment (Mainiero & Jones, 2013). Parker-Pope (2011) and Baldas (2009) note that textual harassment amongst workmates is on the rise. Managing Social media tools Delicat et al (2011) says that employers are faced with a tough decision in deciding whether to embrace the social media technology in the workplace or to recoil from it given its myriad opportunities and challenges. To make a decision, every employer should look at the organizational priorities and needs as well as the ability of the organization to tolerate risk (Aguenza, Al-Kassem & som, 2012). Organizations should embrace social media in the workplace instead of working against it. This is because, as Aguenza, Al-Kassem and Som (2012) opine, working against it is combating a losing battle. Rather than focusing on the challenges of social media use to rule it out, organizations should come up with policies that determine how to use social media for job purposes. Use of performance policies and proper supervision are some of the ways identified to solve the problem of use of social media sites during company time (Cornelius, 2009). A study conducted by the Health Care Compliance and Society of Corporate Compliance Ethics in 2009 revealed that half of the 800 respondents did not have a policy guiding how employees use social media sites. While 24% of the respondents had a policy in their organizations, they did not have a discipline strategy for employees found to break the guidelines of the policy (Mikkelson, 2010). In addition, 34% of the respondents said they only had a general policy on online usage but it did not include how social media sites are to be used. The Global Advisory Committee (2013) recommend that every organization should have a social media policy. The policy should clearly articulate that use of social media tools should in accordance to the organization’s regulations and laws. It should also specify which social media tools are allowed and when they are allowed. In addition, the policy should articulate the purpose and reason for personal use of social media use within duty hours. References Aguenza, B, Al-Kassem, AH, Som, AP 2012, Social media and productivity in the workplace: challenges and constraints, Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business, 2 (2) 22-26. Baldas, T 2010, No matter where the employees are, make sure the rules are same, National Law Journal Cornelius D 2009, Online social networking: is it a productivity bust or boon for law firms, Law Practice Magazine. Cortada, J, Lesser, E & Korsten P 2012, The business of social business: what works and how it’s done, IBM Global Business Services- Executive Report. 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