Humans are social when they live collectively in interacting populations, whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary.
Social media are computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. The variety of stand-alone and built-in social media services currently available introduces challenges of definition; however, there are some common features:
- Social media are interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications.
- User-generated content, such as text posts or comments, digital photos or videos, and data generated through all online interactions, are the lifeblood of social media.
- Users create service-specific profiles for the website or app that are designed and maintained by the social media organization.
- Social media facilitate the development of online social networks by connecting a user’s profile with those of other individuals or groups.]
Social media use web-based technologies, desktop computers and mobile technologies (e.g., smartphones and tablet computers) to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals, communities and organizations can share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content or pre-made content posted online. They introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between businesses, organizations, communities and individuals.
Social media technologies take many different forms including blogs, business networks, enterprise social networks, forums, microblogs, photo sharing, products/services review, social bookmarking, social gaming, social networks, video sharing, and virtual worlds.
Some of the most popular social media websites are Baidu Tieba, Facebook (and its associated Facebook Messenger), Gab, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Tumblr, Twitter, Viber, WeChat, Weibo, WhatsApp, Wikia, and YouTube.
Social Media Key Features
Key features of social media are
- Connectedness – It is the ability to connect and re-connect like-minded people or people interested in same topics and domains. Through this media, 24*7 connectedness is possible through a variety of media and access devices including PCs, Laptops, mobile phones etc.
- Collaboration – The connections enable people to collaborate and create knowledge. Such collaborations can be either open or closed. Wikipedia is an open collaboration for an open web based encyclopedia. GovLoop is an example of closed collaboration wherein experts groups contribute on specific policy matters.
- Community – Connectedness and collaboration helps create and sustain communities. These communities can create awareness about various issues and can be used for seeking inputs into policy making, building goodwill or even seeking feedback into delivery of public services.
Using Social Media
Social media has impacted everything from how we develop relationships to the way we learn about the world.
In an environment where HR professionals are questioning the validity and effectiveness of traditional performance management, technology based on social principles is changing the HR management game. “Companies are using social-influenced software to introduce more engaging and effective ways of giving recognition and feedback. They’re also using these kinds of software, like Intuit or Bamboo HR, to have better conversations with employees – possibly employees working all over the world – when and how they need to.
It is the responsibility of the HR function to communicate and generate conversations about various HR practises such as talent acquisition, leadership, employee communication as well as attracting future employees. Social Media as a tool helps them do just that.
Through social media, conversations have changed both internally and externally in organizations. There is a need to create an engaging two-way dialogue between the company and the employees. HR uses social media to create this dialogue. With this tool, all the employees can engage, collaborate and react in a public forum in the presence of HR. These online conversations around an organization are very critical for building a company’s image as an employer of choice. This makes social media an apt tool for corporate branding and engagement.
Social media provides HR an opportunity to create a relationship with every employee in the organization, irrespective of their location.
Recruitments is one of the most sought-after areas of HR on social media platforms. These platforms have accelerated the speed of recruitment process which involves steps like posting a job, getting resumes, taking interviews, making offers and so on. Platforms like LinkedIn and Glassdoor give every employer, no matter how big or small, access to valuable big data.
In addition to that, social media can also be used for taking a 360-degree feedback from employees. It can drive collaboration between different stakeholders of the company and the employees. It can also aid learning and development through real-time, on-the-go access to training.
Social media also allows for an informal way of interaction compared to official meetings and emails. HR emails often get lost in the barrage of emails employees receive every day. On a social network, it is easier to stay abreast with topics that an employee may follow. HR may make employees follow relevant topics and pages related to the organization on social media to ensure no one misses out.
HR personnel need to ensure administration of social media forums as well.
Social Network Analysis
Social network analysis (SNA) is the process of investigating social structures through the use of networks and graph theory. It characterizes networked structures in terms of nodes (individual actors, people, or things within the network) and the ties, edges, or links (relationships or interactions) that connect them. Examples of social structures commonly visualized through social network analysis include social media networks, memes spread, information circulation, friendship and acquaintance networks, business networks, social networks, collaboration graphs, kinship, disease transmission, and sexual relationships.
Exmaple
When Juniper first conducted a network analysis, company leaders wanted to know which employees were involved in serving one of its major customers. Based on a survey of 300 employees named by various managers, the analysis identified more than 900 employees in 12 locations—representing 14 functions and eight levels of management—who were involved in serving the customer, according to Chris Ernst, the company’s vice president for leadership and organizational effectiveness. Five percent of those employees accounted for more than one-fifth of all the connections.
Knowing who those 5 percent were, and thinking about them in this context, drove different ways for us to recognize their importance to enabling information flow and collaboration so critical to innovation.
Using SNA
There are multiple ways an HR analytics function can use SNA to help improve operational effectiveness, some of which are summarized below.
- Optimizing communication and collaboration: By analyzing the interdependencies between employees, an organization can reconsider its workspace configuration and relocate offices or entire departments so that those who work closely together can more easily collaborate face-to-face rather than just virtually.
- Improved knowledge-sharing: People generally turn to their closest environment if they seek advice, but more often than not the answer can be found outside of that environment. Data sources and dashboards can help visualizing who in the company deals with which topic and whose skills can be related to it.
- Use talent more efficiently: There is often more work performed under a certain job title than is recognized. SNA can assist in identifying the actual work done by each employee and help in redefining their role and identify ‘hidden gems’.
- Leverage connections: This would be an employee holding together a network that can help improving effective communication by leveraging his connections and can be seen as an informal leader. It is important to recognize and award the value of such an employee besides his individual job tasks.
- Succession planning: These important connectors can also play an important role in succession planning. Organizations can use SNA to analyze the social networks of soon-to-retire employees and the role they are playing in them. In this way, companies can take specific actions to further leverage said networks once the employee is leaving the organization.
- Mergers and acquisitions: Use SNA to understand acquired companies’ informal networks and identify their go-to people. Then use the information to support integration efforts.
- Predicting employee absenteeism and churn: Analyzing links between different employee groups can help in detecting more complex employee absenteeism or churn patterns.
Inmplementing SNA
Social network analysis into broad steps:
- Select employees, departments and outside vendors to assess.
- Gather data necessary to evaluate current collaboration patterns; focus the inquiry on both reasons for and frequency of interactions.
- Generate detailed quantitative and visual summaries of the informal network.
The methodology for a social network differs from that of an employee engagement survey. Even with a modest response rate, an engagement survey can be useful. But it is difficult to get a complete picture from a social network survey unless a sizable number of the target group participates.
The survey must explain to employees why they are being assessed, how the results will be used and why their participation matters. Everyone fill out the survey at a staff meeting is a better approach.
The questions asked depend on who is being surveyed and the purpose of the analysis. When Juniper wanted to find out who was involved in serving its major customer, the company asked employees questions such as “Who do you go to for information, to solve problems, to get career advice, etc.?” The software used to assess survey results can also analyze time stamps, links, and subject fields on e-mails and other passive digital data.
Concerns over privacy and loss of employees’ trust, should also be considered.
