It seems these days that Social online networking is all the trend.
Frequently questioned and treated with caution by employers, it’s often viewed as a time wasting activity that leaves employers feeling their staff are wasting company time, not producing revenue generating or supporting work and solely focused on individuals having a great social time at the companies expense.
In response to this view many organisations have banned the likes of Facebook and Twitter and other such sites from company computers, but is this really the right approach?
Networking events are common place in the business community, and widely recognised as a way to forward your business. You meet new people, socialise with them at the event, make new contacts, swap ideas, learn new things, challenge your thinking, gain different perspectives, feed creativity and build lasting business partnerships.
It’s these lasting business partnerships that are the aim of these events and why employers actively encourage employees to attend, often without question.
If you look at any of the online social networks more closely you will find successful business people maximising their networking capacity, opening business forums/groups where people can share problems, knowledge and get feedback and whilst there will be some social interactions these help to build lasting business relationships.
They also network all over the world. The ease of logging on at any time of the day or night means that they are able to form relationships and networks they wouldn’t previously have had access to.
Those that are really active on the networks are also building their business profile and reputation, sharing their experience and knowledge and therefore solidifying their professional credibility. More and more people are using social networking to find the products and services they want, and others are adjusting their business offerings to reflect the changing demands of the customers as a result of the feedback.
Whilst there are obviously counter arguments to the positives of online social networking, maybe we should be asking whether the benefits can outweigh these, both in terms of the new connections made, the relationships built and the trust your employees feel when you let them decide what is appropriate for the work place.
So should we rush to dismiss online networking?
Article by Hayley Oats
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