Social media and employee voice

This report examines the extent to which employers are making use of social media to promote and access employee voice.

 

Social media describes online platforms that allow for user-generated content, interaction and collaboration.

 

It is a relatively new phenomenon, linked to the emergence of ‘web 2.0’ and the move from a static to an interactive internet.

 

This report is largely focused on enterprise social networks.

 

These have the common features of other social media platforms, but they are closed and exclusive, with membership restricted to an individual organisation...

 

For more information see Going digital? Harnessing social media for employee voice (Joe Dromey, ACAS).

Restriction of social media during a strike

Striking unions could face restrictions on their use of social media, the TUC's general secretary has told the BBC.

A consultation document linked to the proposed Trade Union Bill suggests unions involved in industrial action should give two weeks notice if they plan to campaign via social media.

Frances O'Grady said an attack on trade unions was "unfinished business" for "some elements within governments".

Ministers said any restrictions would not apply to posts by individuals...

See Trade Union Bill: TUC fears over social media restrictions (BBC News) for more details.

Workplace trends and social media

ACAS has recently produced a document on contemporary workplace trends.

 

Included in this document is a consideration of social media as an emergent form of employee voice.

 

For more information click here.

Job hunting and Web 2.0

"It's not what you know but who you know," is an old saying about job-hunting.

In the world of social networks we "know" more people than ever and we can be connected to the people they know as well, making it easier to find work and hear about people using our personal networks...

See Why 50 is the magic number for job-hunting by Peter Bowes (BBC News) for more details.

Web 2.0 and finding a job

Is Web 2.0 changing the nature of employee-employer disputes?

According to a conference organised by ACAS: "the rise of social media could see more and different forms of unofficial unrest used in future disputes."

It was argued that "the accessibility and speed of tools such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook mean that workers can be mobilised quicker than ever before."

For more details see Social media needs to be taken seriously warns Acas.

Me, myself and social media

Stuck at a train station today in the freezing weather, I was drawn to an article in the Harvard Business Review.

The article is called: Managing Yourself: What’s Your Personal Social Media Strategy? and is by Soumitra Dutta.

The article is arguing that organisational leaders should do more to lead via social media, or Web 2.0 communication technologies, such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

Reasons why Dutta believes leaders should "embrace" social media:

1) They provide a low-cost platform on which to build your personal brand, communicating who you are both within and outside your company.

2) They allow you to engage rapidly and simultaneously with peers, employees, customers, and the broader public, especially younger generations, in the same transparent and direct way they expect from everyone in their lives.

3) They give you an opportunity to learn from instant information and unvarnished feedback.

Active participation in social media can be a powerful tool—the difference between leading effectively and ineffectively, and between advancing and faltering in the pursuit of your goals.

I think these views have wider relevance and application, although I also think that organisational leaders potentially have an awful lot to lose if they do all the above.

A HR practioner guide to social media

If you are HR practitioner in the UK (perhaps further afield too) and want to know what is happening in the field of HR and social media, Web 2.0, etc. then read on...

Social media sites continue to soar in popularity and this is changing the way we communicate.

You can now engage with us on all the main social networking sites as well as on our home-grown and highly valued community discussion boards.

Read on for details of where to find us and how to join in.

For more details click here.