Companies, Left and Right Are Jumping on the Band Wagon!

If your company still hasn't taken hold of social networking for its internal and external community, it is not too late to get started now...  Although, I fear for those companies and CEO's that believe it's OK not to have a social network for their workplace.


In today's world, you hear more and more companies joining social media; growing slowly but surely.  Yes, social networks are great tools for building brand reputaion, and reaching out to consumers in a more individualized kind of way.


Yet, the social media trend is branching out, and more emphasis is being put into the "internal" networking community.  While, 23% utilize social networking as a tool to manage and build their companies brand, 21% utilize social networking to engage employees along with 23% for recruiting purposes...


Clearly, there is a lot of potential in Social Media:  from sharing of ideas to improving reputation, facilitating communication to targeting a wide audience... Can your company really afford not to create a community and engage their employees in a Social Netwrok?


According to Davis & Company, when it came to creating a social network for Merck, a way for employees to learn about the new company as well as to connect with one another, 58% of employees actually registered for MerckToday.com, while 93% of registered employees continued to visit the site weekly or more frequently.  These numbers are favorable, showing that the creation and utilization of this community is quite a success.


Also, companies such as Johnson & Johnson, have had follow-up surveys regarding their experience using internal social networking, which showed that employees were "enthusiastic about the new identity and valued interaction with leaders."


There are many other success stories regarding businesses adapting into a social network.  Such as allowing employees to solve work-reated challenges, recieve and provide information to colleagues, and give employees the feeling of being more "part" of their company...


Companies left and right are jumping on the band wagon! If this is a favorable trend, why wait to be the last ones to join in? Companies should not fall short, but take advantage of the tools around them which will make their company stronger and up-to-date!


Companies choosing not to engage in a social network is like saying companies don't need computers in their workplace...  Such companies hesitating to do so need to overcome their objections; rather, embrace the modern way and use Social media to YOUR advantage!

Lidia Yadlos