A Productive Workforce is an
Engaged Workforce: The Case for
Enterprise Social
As HR professionals, we often challenge
ourselves to think about what
is involved to create a truly productive
workforce environment. Is it
maximizing labour and resources? Offering employee
incentives? Cutting down the time it takes
to complete a task? Using new technology to communicate
more efficiently? While productivity
comes in a variety of different shapes and forms,
I think we could all agree that keeping employees
engaged is at the forefront of the equation.
As all HR professionals know, an organization’s
greatest resource is its people. Ensuring that
your workplace community fosters an environment
where employees feel motivated and empowered to
succeed is fundamental to success. A key factor in
nurturing engagement is providing employees with
feelings of inclusion – this is essential in order to retain
top talent.
At Microsoft, we use our Enterprise Social
network, Yammer, to encourage and maintain employee
engagement and promote open dialogue
between different business groups, segments and
geographies. Within our big organization, Yammer
helps our workforce stay connected.
When employees have a holistic understanding
of a project or issue and an opportunity to contribute
to decision-making, they are eager to adopt
the changes because they feel they had a hand in
creating them. Collaboration tools like Enterprise
Social benefit companies by enabling them to listen
to their employees better. By giving every employee
a say in the conversation, organizations can
develop a participatory decision making process.
In fact, among our own customers, 80 per cent of
Enterprise Social users report they are now more
informed about what is happening inside their organization
than before having the technology.
In the 21st century, three generations now fill the
office, each with different work and communication
styles. According to Forbes, millennials are projected
to make up 75 per cent of the global workforce
by 2025 – and they expect instantaneous feedback
and clear access to information. Millennial employees
are comfortable with technology and have
grown to expect tools that provide transparency
– many do not remember a time when instant messaging
and social media applications did not exist.
On the other hand, a study by Deloitte found
that baby boomers prefer face-to-face contact with
colleagues and clients, while Gen X-ers, who joined
the workforce in the dotcom era, like to communicate
via email. To make matters more complicated,
within the next five years, Deloitte expects that 40
per cent of workers will be located outside the office.
This is where the power of Enterprise Social
tools like Yammer becomes so important. Yammer
integrates with Office 365 and allows the user to
choose how they want to engage with it – only on
the platform, through their inbox or a combination
of both – making it possible for teams to communicate
and collaborate regardless of their preferred
work style.
According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital
Trends 2014 report, it is essential for employers
to provide an environment where employees believe
they are making a difference. This is another
way Enterprise Social tools like Yammer can help.
When people don’t feel connected to the company’s
goals and objectives, they begin to feel
disengaged, and disengagement often leads to dissatisfaction.
Dissatisfied workers result in greater
absenteeism and lower productivity, showing the
full circle relationship between employee engagement,
productivity and Enterprise Social solutions.
Technology is also dramatically impacting the
nature of collaboration between employees when it
comes to geography. Enterprise Social tools make
it possible for teams to work in remote locations
across the world, quickly and easily sharing resources,
information and ideas. Almost 70 per cent
of users agree that Enterprise Social improves collaboration
across offices. Enterprise Social tools
also assist in breaking down barriers within an organization,
giving employees that work on different
teams greater visibility to information, allowing
for increased cross-collaboration and information
sharing.
With Yammer and Office 365, it’s easy for employees
to collaborate to make informed decisions
quickly. This in turn leads to greater productivity.
McKinsey Social Institute reports that
organizations have the potential to increase worker
productivity by 20 to 25 per cent when using
Enterprise Social, which can lead to more efficient
business processes.
So, how will you ensure your organization
achieves workplace productivity? Start by asking
employees if they feel engaged, informed and have
the right tools for effective collaboration. If you
aren’t using an Enterprise Social tool, start by testing
one out and see the transformations in your
workplace. Yammer is free to use for the first
month, so you can test it in your workplace and see
if it’s right for your employees.
To learn more about Enterprise Social from
Microsoft or download Yammer today, visit
http://aka.ms/ConnectedWorkforce
