Since the beginning of human history we have been forming communities. Scientists argue that the first human communities were created 400 000 years ago. The size and the purpose of communities has varied throughout time and today we continue to use whatever tools we have around us to build new ones.
Social media is one of the latest tools that allows us to create communities made up of people from around the world. We are now embracing diversity by taking part in discussions and activities with people in different time zones, breaking down physical borders and sharing information and knowledge like never before.
Engaging people
Many organizations are already harnessing the natural human tendency to become part of communities to actively engage their workforce in collaboration, decision making and innovation through enterprise social networks. You might have already heard of some of the success stories, such as “Vets Now” in the UK, who created an industry network with the purpose of engaging internal stakeholders.
The VETECC network has not only helped to connect remote veterinary workers across the country, but has also become a training resource for employees, linking to adverts about educational workshops and other events. Most importantly, the community has become a best practice platform, enabling vets to talk to each other and offer advice about medical cases in a private space that belongs solely to them.
What are the benefits?
Creating an internal platform where employees engage and collaborate in real time can have a significant impact on any organization. Benefits include:
- Increasing focus on outcomes and alignment with corporate strategy
- Creating complete transparency and flattening the corporate hierarchy by empowering employees of all levels to communicate and collaborate
- Boosting innovation and capturing new ideas and initiatives
- Increasing speed of communication and ability to share and find resources at any time and location
- Ability to consolidate employee skill-sets to match specific project requirements
- Reducing email traffic
- Linking remote workers and stakeholders
- Identifying new talent
How are you managing your internal employee community and what benefits has it brought to your organization?