Web 2.0 and employment relations

ACAS has published a research paper on the implications of Web 2.0 technologies (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, etc.) for employment relations.

The paper is called Workplaces and Social Networking: The Implications for Employment Relations.

It is written by Andrea Broughton, Tom Higgins, Ben Hicks and Annette Cox of the Institute for Employment Studies.

The aim of the paper is to answer the following questions:

● How extensive is the use of social media in UK workplaces?

● What challenges and opportunities do social media present for management of employment relations?

● What does good practice in this area look like?

Click here to access the paper.

Research report on social networking tools in the workplace

HR Zone have just released a new report about the uses for social networking tools in the workplace.

The report has been done in conjunction with Skillsoft.

To get a copy of the report click HERE.

UnionBook

It appears that LabourStart has re-launched it's trade unionist social networking site.

The social networking site is called UnionBook.

Updated tools include:

- post your photos, videos and music

- join existing groups and create new ones

- add comments to other people's content

- add events to our online labour calendar

- post entries to your blog

- update your status

- make friends

- use the online chat to talk with other trade unionists online

- invite friends and fellow union members to sign up too

- send us your questions, comments, and suggestions - use the special group called "UnionBook Help and Support Network" to do so.

HR practioners and Web 2.0

I've just come across a research report that looks at whether HR professionals have grasped opportunities afforded by Web 2.0 technologies, such as social networking forums.

For more details see Conversations at your fingertips by CHA.

US troops allowed to use Web 2.0

According to the BBC News website over the weekend:

US troops are to be allowed to use social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook following a review of internet use and security.

Defence department officials say the benefits of using social media now outweigh the risks to security.

The ruling means that a number of sites blocked by the Pentagon in 2007 - including YouTube - will be unblocked.

However, commanders will be able to temporarily block access to safeguard missions or save bandwidth.

Correspondents say social media and the internet are becoming increasingly important for the US military.

The web is used for recruitment, public relations and for communications between troops and their families, among other things.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said that social networking can help the Pentagon interact with US military employees, many of whom are in their early 20s and regular users of online services.

For more details see Twitter and Facebook access for US troops.

The "dark side" of social networking

In the long tradition of scaremongering another report has emerged that looks at the "dark side" social networking.

There is a substantial section set aside to what this could mean in relation to employment.

Nothing new of course, but all there in a short space if all this is new to you (where have you been!!?).

See The dark side of social networking by David Gerwitz.

ACAS guidance on social networking site use at work

ACAS has noted a recent increase in the demand for information on how to handle internet and email use at work.

In particular, how to deal with employee use of social networking sites that relates to employment matters.

Questions asked (and answered) in one of their latest bulletins include:

1) An employee has taken photographs at the company’s night out and posted them on a social networking site.

Some of her colleagues have come to me and complained, is there anything I can do as her employer?

2) Can an employer take disciplinary action for the use of social networking sites during work time?

3) My daughter has been dismissed because she wrote on her Facebook site that she did not like her employer and she couldn’t be bothered with them.

However she didn’t name her employer therefore does the employer have the right to dismiss her?

For all the answers see Scotland News - Issue 13.

Web 2.0 as a knowledge management tool

According to an article in the CIPD's magazine People Management, "Web 2.0 technology can identify where key knowledge exists in an organisation and retain this information when employees leave".

By using social networking sites staff can recommend colleagues for their specialist know-how.

It seems that the traditional “corporate skill map”, which used tools such as competencies, is no longer relevant - in that reputation is the now the key to success and reputation can be achieved with staff scoring or tagging colleagues who are judged to be experts on particular things.

For more details see IBM uses social networking site as a knowledge management tool (Laura Chubb).

Please fill in a questionnaire on Web 2.0 and work if you have the time!

Employer consults employees via social networking site

I've just heard of a new employment relations initiative over at Union Renewal blog.

Details are as such:

FNV Bondgenoten approaches employees of ANWB (Royal Dutch Touring Club), Rabobank, Holland Casino and the RaboBouwfonds on Hyves - the Dutch version of Facebook - to involve them in negotiations for a collective agreement.

Workers need not be union members in order to join the discussion on Hyves.

Out of 3,900 ANWB workers, 150 have joined the FNV-Hyves for their company.

See Consulting with workers through 'Dutch Facebook' for more details.

Trade unions find new uses for Web 2.0 communication technology

I've been meaning to post some really interesting stuff picked up on by the Union Renewal Blog.

One is about trade unions launching a social networking site "to bring young workers into contact with each other and to help them exchange information and experiences".

The ventures comes from the Netherlands - see here for more information.

The other involves a rather new and novel way of protesting against an employer.

The strategy involves 'flash mobbing' a department store that is at the centre of a industrial relations dispute.

The action involved people descending on the store in droves and spending lots of time at the checkout, causing long waiting lines, only to decide not to purchase their article after all.

The flash mob incident happened in Stuttgart and involved around 100 people.

It could catch on!

See here for more details.

Social networking research

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has just published (video summary) some interesting research on social networking.

The report is entitled Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use.

It's a full of very interesting statistics and qualitative data, but at 72 pages it's a hefty document!

The objectives of this report are as follows:

- to set social networking sites in the wider media literacy, online and communications context;
- to profile the use of sites;
- to understand people’s use of sites; and
- to investigate concerns about privacy and safety

The executive summary suggests:

- Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adults
- Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites
- The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users
check their profile at least every other day

If you are interested in researching social networking you may want also see a report on the methodological approach.

Should employers be banned from using social networking sites for recruitment?

There are some serious ethical issues involved in searching for extra information on current and prospective employees.

However, before the arrival of Web 2.0, such activities were probably rare and aimed at elite employees.

In today's Times there is a story about some children's charities who are urging ministers to make it illegal for employers to 'trawl' though social networking sites, such as Facebook.

More details:

They say that employers and educational establishments are known to be browsing the internet looking for “digital dirt” on young people who have applied for positions.

The eight charities acted partly in response to a report in The Times that revealed one in five employers used the internet to check on candidates, and two thirds of those who did said that their decisions were influenced by what they found.

At the very least we may get some changes made to data protection law, as a way of making employers seek permission to access online data in the same way that they get permission to approach referees.

It's unlikely to work very well, yet we may end up with a better situation than one we have now.

See Plea to ban employers trawling Facebook by Rosemary Bennett.

Podcast on work and social networking

Radio 4's In Business series set aside a whole programme on work and social networking.

It's very business-orientated, if that's your thing.

Details are as such:

"All Join In"

Social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Bebo and YouTube are revolutionising the way people use the internet.

Peter Day finds how businesses need to respond.

For more details of the actual programme visit the In Business website here.

The podcast should be available for a few days yet.

If not, try here.

Employees would rather blog in private

I came across this article on blogging, social networking sites and corporations over a week ago, but the holidays got in the way.

The main thrust is that employees like to discuss work matters through blogs and social networking sites, but not so keen on doing this through the company Intranet.

It is based on a new study that suggests that the phenomenon of social networking and collaboration does not yet have a natural extension behind the enterprise firewall.

This is because:

- employees may be reluctant to expend the time and effort in keeping up a blog or community profile when they would be prevented from accessing the information if they leave the company.

- knowledge workers that understand the value of social networking may be loath to use corporate social technologies, particularly when Internet-based services provide the same benefits without the loss of what they perceive to be their personal intellectual property.

I can see where the employees are coming from!

The article in question is called The Pitfalls, and Potential, of Corporate Social Networks and is by Elizabeth Bennett of Baseline.

Employment law and social networking sites

I came across a law-based paper the other day that looks at the dilemmas employers face when employees over-use social networking websites on work time.

A summary of the paper is as follows:

This article considers how relevant UK legislation and employers’ policies impact on the use of social networking sites, highlights some of the problem areas that cause employers most concern and provides guidance on how employers can take practical steps to avert the dangers involved.

If you are a manager or employer who needs to understand the legal risks of online social networking use and requires practical advice on what steps you can take to mitigate them, then see Online Social Networking: The Employer's Dilemma (The Register) for more details (requires minimal registration).

From brandishing placards to 'swivelchair activism'

It has been said that students of today and recent years are no longer radical because they'd rather be drinking, going to a club, or that protesting isn't 'cool' anymore.

However, many continue to believe that students are still broadly concerned about what affects them and concerned about injustices from almost any part of the world, but seem put off by actually carrying their concerns into the open.

In other words, students have been put off traditional forms of protest and political involvement, even if discontentment continues to rumble on below the surface.

That is the that point I believe is made in The Guardian today in an article called Swivelchair activisim (Fay Schlesinger), and may, as is the theme of this blog, have parallels with the decline of organized forms of industrial protest.

For example, it is argued in the article that 'hardy student activism is far from over' and there is growing evidence that students are increasingly willing to get involved with campaigns run via social networking sites, such as Facebook.

A spokesperson for the NUS suggests there are three clear advantages of using Facebook as an organizing tool:

- it's incredibly popular amongst school students, university students and post-school and university people
- by setting up a group people can be contacted and informed when not at school or university, etc.
- the networks extend beyond those currently affected by a problem, i.e. tap into the potential of ex-students for support.

Overall, it would appear that it may be rather foolish to claim that structural conflict is largely a thing of the past now that free marketeers have colonised the high political ground, without first of all checking out what is going on in Cyberspace.

Businesses, employees and web 2.0

I received details of an interesting article on how businesses are applying web 2.0 communication technology via Google News alerts the other day - Taking residence in virtual worlds (Mahesh Sharma, Australian IT).

It involves two case studies - Westpac (a bank) and Deloitte Australia - and whether Second Life could be used for business needs.

The experiment proved to be positive and it is expected that an extended experiment will go ahead soon.

Some of benefits that Second Life can help deliver for businesses include:

- People felt more comfortable asking questions in that environment than a normal classroom or lecture environment

- It helps overcome the difficulty of communicating to 30,000 people, and the difficulty of getting people together from different locations and time zones to disseminate information

- It as a way of getting information out without the flying, driving and time-consuming travel to a central location

Deloitte Australia has also been experimented with Facebook as a business tool.

Benefits of using Facebook internally are said to include:

- It increases engagement with the 13,000 Deloitte employees that are members of Facebook globally

- To understand what other employees are at, and create a much higher level of engagement

- It allows an understanding of how other employees are thinking

Westpac has also experimented with an internal version of Facebook.

Are social networking sites storing up problems for the next generation of workers?

A survey of social networking habits and trends by the Information Commissioner's Office suggests - '4.5 million young Brits’ futures could be compromised by their electronic footprint'.

It seems that one of the reasons behind commissioning the survey is to warn young people that the online content they create could return to haunt them in both the near and distant future, i.e. 'damage the prospects of young people and leave many more vulnerable to identity fraud'.

Further commentary from the findings point to the employment related hazards of creating online content:

As many as four and a half million young people (71 per cent) would not want a college, university or potential employer to conduct an Internet search on them unless they could first remove content from social networking sites, according to new research by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

But almost six in 10 have never considered that what they put online now might be permanent and could be accessed years into the future.

There is also possibilities of fraud from engaging in the same activities:

As well as not thinking ahead before posting information on the web, the survey of Britons aged 14-21 also revealed that youngsters’ online behaviour is a gift to potential fraudsters.

Two thirds (eight in 10 girls aged 16-17) accept people they don’t know as ‘friends’ on social networking sites and over half leave parts of their profile public specifically to attract new people.

More than seven in 10 are not concerned that their personal profile can be viewed by strangers and 7 per cent don’t think privacy settings are important and actively want everyone to see their full profile.

Only time will tell if employers will really make big decisions based on what happens on blogging and social networking platforms.

However, if employers crossed off their list every person who had a misdemeanour against their name then they'd be no one to employ.

See 4.5 million young Brits’ futures could be compromised by their electronic footprint for more details.

Facebook, Web 2.0 and protesting

Last week a story emerged that involved people using Facebook to organize a protest about increasing petrol prices.

The story is not related to work, but it seems reasonable to assume that what works in on respect will probably work in another.

More specifically the article from The Times concerns Facebook users organizing a 'no fuel day', or as it was put the writer of the article - Rhys Blakely:

In a digital rerun of the fuel protests of 2000, members of Facebook, the social network website, are planning a massive boycott of petrol stations next week.

I have no ideas of whether the protest worked in any shape or fashion, yet to me, the case in question marks an increasingly creative application of Web 2.0 communication technology for ends that it probably wasn't initially designed for.

I believe such creative initiatives also indicate what appear to be an increasingly common social phenomenon, that of polyphonic organization.

The question for someone with similar interests to myself is whether organizing many Internet-based voices around a grievance is a worthwhile strategy.

The only clear example I can think of where it did work was in the case of Liverpool Dockers in the late 1990s - and Web 2.0 hadn't even got off the ground at that time!

I expect we will not hear the last of such campaigns whether they work well or not.

I'd say there is plenty of research mileage in this subject.

See Facebook's fuel protesters target BP for more details of the case in question.

Some social networking statistics

Until a just a year ago it was the blog that seemed to be commanding a great deal of statistical Internet based research.

The year 2007, however, appears to be the year in which interest in social networking websites appear to have surpassed previous attention vested in rise of blogs and blogging circa 2004 to 2007.

An example of research into the rapid up-take of social networking sites is provided by Comscore (see figure for more details - visit my blog if you are reading this posting in any other form).

Details summarised by Comscore include the following:

- The European social networking community stood at 127.3 million unique visitors in August – reaching 56 per cent of the European online population.

- U.K. participation in social networking usage proved to be the highest in Europe, with 24.9 million unique visitors – 78 percent of the total U.K. online population – now belonging to the country’s social networking community.

- Usage of social networking sites in the U.K. proved heavier than the European average in terms of hours spent, pages viewed, and the number of visits per month.

- The average visitor to social networking sites in the U.K. spent 5.8 hours per month on those sites in August and made 23.3 visits.

- This was a significantly heavier usage level than in France, which averaged 2 hours per month and 16.8 visits per visitor, or Germany, with 3.1 hours per month and 13.8 visits per visitor.

For more details see U.K. Social Networking Site Usage Highest in Europe.