Reflections on ‘Facebook for Business’

Last week’s Fortune magazine had an interesting discussion about social networking in the workplace. The article, “Facebook for Business,” raised some interesting questions about whether social networking will change the way we work – or whether it’s just a fad best left outside the office.

It reminded me of similar discussions heard in the mid 1990s about whether employees should have access to the Internet at work. Today, of course, most businesses cannot imagine operating without the internet. Yet what I remember most about that debate was a comment from a Senior Leader with whom I worked at the time. He said, “I remember when they decided to put telephones on the clerks’ desks. It was the same discussion then. ‘If we put phones on the clerks’ desks, they’ll be on the phone all day instead of working.’”

It would be easy to say “the more things change, the more they stay the same” and “we don’t want to be stuck selling buggy whips.” But I was still skeptical about the value that social networking brings to the workplace. So I reached out to talk to organizations that have implemented social media platforms.

My first stop was Doug Molitor, I/O psychologist and a Manager in HR Measurement for global conglomerate 3M. Long known for their focus on innovation, 3M is pushing their culture forward and using social media as a medium to get people thinking differently. 3M has replaced their corporate employee directory with a social media platform. Now when you search for a coworker, you’ll find a page with their profile populated with the usual (i.e., phone number, e-mail and mailing address, job title, department) plus any additional information that they’ve chosen to add. Employees can include descriptions of key projects, photos, work history, work updates and timelines. They can even add a blog or upload a video if they choose. In addition, online public communities allow employees to connect to others who have similar interests, needs or work projects. Being a user of social media myself, I was beginning to see the ways in which a platform like this may help its more than 74,000 employees across 35 business units working in 65 countries to connect, share information, and communicate.

I soon learned that leveraging social media to facilitate work is not confined to large, global organizations. Small companies are using it as well. I talked with Susan Jambor, Human Resources Director for Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minnesota. Prince of Peace uses a social media platform to facilitate information sharing – not just among the staff, but also between church members. Members can upload photos, share recipes, learn about events, and communicate with others about topics of interest. But more than that, the church uses existing social media sites like Facebook to help staff connect, not just with members but with the community at large.

Assuming social networking is the wave of the future, what can we expect its impact to be? For that I talked to Richard Landers, Assistant Professor of I/O psychology at Old Dominion University. Beginning this summer, more than 500 students and faculty will have access to an online social networking system called socialPsych. The platform includes many of the features familiar to Facebook users such as user profiles, status updates, and messaging. It also includes class specific discussion areas and opportunities for virtual mentoring. A few weeks into the pilot, feedback has been very positive. By the end of the summer, Dr. Landers and his colleagues will be testing the impact of social networking on key outcomes such as student commitment/loyalty measures and course satisfaction.

Personally, I am eager to learn the results of their research. In the meantime, we’d love to hear what your organization is doing with social media. Leave your comments here or take our poll on the Questar website.

Anna Erickson, Ph.D. | Director, Consulting Services

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