Facebook as a business tool
Published: Apr 15, 2008
Facebook, the social networking site, has been dubbed every employer’s nightmare. But late last year, the impact of the website hit home for me after my boss sent out a company memo on its usage.
“Guys,” my boss wrote, “while it is okay to use Facebook modestly, anything unrelated to work should be carried out after hours.”
The rise of Facebook has garnered a fair amount of attention from both concerned employers and human resource practitioners alike – with many worried about the cost of lost productivity.
A recruitment firm found that it costs UK employers an estimated £150 million in lost employee productivity every day. Another survey by IT security firm, Sophos, discovered that one-third of employees say that they check their Facebook profiles once or twice a day and a staggering 15% of employees say that they are virtually logged onto the site all day.
With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that many companies have raised the alarm and disabled access to the website on employees’ computers.
However, there are also a small number of HR practitioners who feel differently.
Recently, Human Resources interviewed the HR director of Serena Software on its policy of actually encouraging employees to use Facebook during company hours. Every Friday, the company allows their employees an hour to log on to the site and interact with their colleagues.
Mary Helen Waldo, vice president, global human resources says Facebook Friday was introduced to overcome the difficulties of building cohesion among its employees – many of whom were scattered in various offices or worked off-site.
With the use of Facebook, Serena employees relate to each other better on a personal level. “Our CEO now regularly talks to a number of employees about English soccer games,” she said. “I learned that our SVP of marketing used to be a disco DJ when he was growing up in Europe.”
And Facebook isn’t just fun and games either. Serena found that Facebook can be used as a valuable tool to teach employees all about Web 2.0, as well as extending their business and recruiting networks.
But is there concern some workers may abuse the company’s liberal practices? Waldo says if a work culture is built around trust, employees “would eventually reward you in the long run.”
While Serena Software’s Facebook policy might not suit all companies, it drives the message HR practitioners should be open to new ideas and technology - even if it runs counter to their initial instincts. With some broad minded thinking and trust, HR might just be able to turn it around and make it into a profitable business tool instead.
“Guys,” my boss wrote, “while it is okay to use Facebook modestly, anything unrelated to work should be carried out after hours.”
The rise of Facebook has garnered a fair amount of attention from both concerned employers and human resource practitioners alike – with many worried about the cost of lost productivity.
A recruitment firm found that it costs UK employers an estimated £150 million in lost employee productivity every day. Another survey by IT security firm, Sophos, discovered that one-third of employees say that they check their Facebook profiles once or twice a day and a staggering 15% of employees say that they are virtually logged onto the site all day.
With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that many companies have raised the alarm and disabled access to the website on employees’ computers.
However, there are also a small number of HR practitioners who feel differently.
Recently, Human Resources interviewed the HR director of Serena Software on its policy of actually encouraging employees to use Facebook during company hours. Every Friday, the company allows their employees an hour to log on to the site and interact with their colleagues.
Mary Helen Waldo, vice president, global human resources says Facebook Friday was introduced to overcome the difficulties of building cohesion among its employees – many of whom were scattered in various offices or worked off-site.
With the use of Facebook, Serena employees relate to each other better on a personal level. “Our CEO now regularly talks to a number of employees about English soccer games,” she said. “I learned that our SVP of marketing used to be a disco DJ when he was growing up in Europe.”
And Facebook isn’t just fun and games either. Serena found that Facebook can be used as a valuable tool to teach employees all about Web 2.0, as well as extending their business and recruiting networks.
But is there concern some workers may abuse the company’s liberal practices? Waldo says if a work culture is built around trust, employees “would eventually reward you in the long run.”
While Serena Software’s Facebook policy might not suit all companies, it drives the message HR practitioners should be open to new ideas and technology - even if it runs counter to their initial instincts. With some broad minded thinking and trust, HR might just be able to turn it around and make it into a profitable business tool instead.