by Crystal DeGoede*

Image: NBC.com

Are you fortunate enough to work at an organization that allows, let alone encourages their employees to access and engage on social networking sites?  I have many friends that work in varying professions and industries and are restricted from accessing sites such as, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. at work.  But that still hasn’t stopped them from updating their status and tweeting during the 9-5 workday. In fact, they are using any type of device they can to access their profiles. If organizations are worried about employee productivity, I would say, this takes even more away from productivity – than if the companies had simply implemented social media policies that allowed for allotted social networking time. But productivity isn’t necessarily the only reason or even the number one reason, for that matter, why companies don’t want their employees logging on.

So why are organizations banning these sites? In a recent survey conducted by British research firm Sophos, 72 percent of companies believe their employees’ activities on social networking sites could endanger their business’s security. Other data backs up that fear: The number of businesses that were targets for spam increased from 33.4 percent in April 2009 to 57 percent in December 2009, a dramatic increase in such a short time period.

Now that Facebook announced it has 400 million users, and is pretty much forcing users to make their profiles open to everyone, the security risk increases. In fact, Sophos, deemed Facebook the most potentially dangerous network, with 60 percent of businesses saying they believe Facebook presents the biggest security risk, significantly ahead of other popular social networks. It’s not just Facebook that poses a threat; I am sure that we all changed our Twitter password when a phishing attack was reported last week.

No matter what your profession is, most of us rely on social media everyday for advertising/marketing mediums, the ability to communicate with clients/prospects, colleagues and peers and most importantly how we get our news. For this reason, some argue that access to social networking sites benefits the company more than it poses a threat.  I would have to agree.

Here at BurrellesLuce, having access to these tools within the past year has made a difference in the way we communicate to our customers and prospects, the amount of information we have obtained and distributed, along with the relationships that have been established, among other things.

A HBR blog post “The Über-Connected Organization: A Mandate for 2010” by Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd breaks-down a survey “WHISTLE – BUT DON’T TWEET – WHILE YOU WORK” conducted by Robert Half International on the importance and benefits of organizations being on social networking sites.

• Access to social media improves productivity. According to Dr Brent Coker from the Department of Management and Marketing at University of Melbourne in Australia, workers who engage in “Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing” are more productive than those who don’t.
• Millennials will seek jobs that encourage the use of social media. Those born between 1977 and 1997 — the ones you need to hire to replace the retiring boomers — are networked 24/7 and expect the company to accommodate pervasive connectivity. An Accenture survey of Millennial preferences for various technologies at work found that they prefer to communicate via instant messaging, text messaging, Facebook and RSS feeds.
• Companies that provide access to social media create a more engaged workforce. Take the case of Cerner Corporation, the health IT firm. In 2009, Cerner implemented uCern, a corporate social network. In 2010, it will extend this social network to its customers and suppliers.

So what does all of this mean?  Social media needs to be embraced now by those organizations that can benefit from it.  Employees need to be aware that using Facebook or Twitter at work is a privilege and rules established to prevent its abuse. And precautions need to be taken to ensure safety. If you are using social networks, strengthen your passwords (PasswordMeter.com is a great resource that can help you assess the security of your passwords) and change them often; don’t click on a link that doesn’t look right or is not from a trusted source. With all parties in agreement and working together, there is nothing to fear. 

What would you do if your company suddenly restricted access social media?  How would you argue that the benefits outweigh the risks?  How has social media helped your overall communication plan? If you are one of those that doesn’t have access, being able to participate in the conversation would benefit the organization you work at? 

*Bio: After graduating from East Carolina University with a Marketing degree in 2005, Crystal DeGoede moved to New Jersey. In her four years as a member of the BurrellesLuce marketing team and through her interaction with peers and clients she has learned what is important or what it takes to develop a career when you are just starting out. She is passionate about continuing to learn about the industry in which we serve and about her career path. By engaging readers on Fresh Ideas Crystal hopes to further develop her social media skills and inspire other “millennials” who are just out of college and/or working in the field of marketing and public relations. Twitter: @cldegoede LinkedIn: Crystal DeGoede Facebook: BurrellesLuce