When communications budgets are tight, companies are turning to social media to keep employees productive, a new survey found.
It’s an interesting twist, considering that one large criticism of social media is that it sucks up too much time. While recent reports have found that more companies are banning social media, on the flip side, some companies are finding it useful as a cheap communication option to keep employees engaged and productive.
A survey from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation and Buck Consultants looked at how almost 1,500 organizations communicate with employees to keep them engaged and productive. It’s no wonder companies are looking to creative strategies: More than half (52%) reported their communication budgets have decreased and 35% report communication staff reductions in the past 12 months, according to the survey results.
Companies find social media to be a better tool than e-mail to engage employees and foster productivity: 79% reported using social media frequently for those tasks, compared to 75% who use e-mail, according to the survey.
As far as what companies are doing with social media, most are fairly vanilla: The most popular social media tool is blogging (47%). However, companies are looking toward more employee interaction: Discussion boards were the most cited tool companies are planning on using in the future (33%). A significant minority of companies are also using other social networking sites, such as Twitter (21%), Yammer (20%) and Facebook (18%).
"Companies are moving away from the one-way communication model where they would send out information hoping people would read it,” said Julie Freeman, president of IABC. “Using the various social media tools, companies can now engage employees in discussions and foster conversations between teams across geographic and other boundaries."
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