Whether you like it or not, social media has become a massive part of society. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn have taken over and it would appear that they’re here to stay.
In this week’s blog we’re going to be looking at social media and its role in the workplace. We’ve put together a list of reasons as to why you should allow staff to access social media during office hours.
Promoting company content – Informing staff about new content is a great way to ensure that it’s shared across social media. Employees can set custom notifications on twitter so every time an account tweets, they will receive a notification straight to their phone. You can constantly remind staff to look out for new content, but this will ensure that they actually see it and that will improve the chances of it being shared by staff.
Take a break – A quick scroll through social media can be a great way to refresh your mind and have a little break. If you set dedicated times for looking at social media, then you’ll find there is less temptation to look at it throughout the day.
A change in office culture – In recent years there has been a culture of change implemented into the work space. This has been led by giants such as Google, Red Bull and YouTube. Work always comes first but that doesn’t mean an office can’t be a place of social interaction and relaxation. You can check out some of the offices that have embodied this culture: https://www.incomediary.com/top-20-most-awesome-company-offices
Trust – You want to have a healthy relationship throughout the office. Implementing procedures like handing in phones at the start of the day (This does happen) is not the way to do this. You want to give staff an element of freedom that helps to create a trust. If you don’t trust staff to use social media in a responsible manner during work time then how can you trust them with other things.
Building relationships – It’s no secret that the internet is home to endless humorous content. There is a massive culture in tagging friends/coworkers in ‘memes’/funny posts. Allowing this type of behavior to take place in the office (Not all day long) can be a great way to improve relationships between coworkers. Social media can also be used to organise social events for staff.
Communication – Improvements in technology have helped to improve communication throughout the world and this is no exception for the workplace. Facebook/WhatsApp groups can be used with great success for professional communication between workers e.g. a lettings team can keep track of how things are getting on.
Building knowledge of your industry – Social media can be a great way to stay up to date and learn more about the industry you’re working in. Each Twitter user can create a ‘list’ which is a collection of profiles. These lists can be subscribed to by other users and this is a great thing for a company to do to give their staff a bank of useful profiles to follow.
