Social networking in office isn’t a productivity black hole; it really is a grey area.
Understandably, productivity takes the first hit in the debate on whether to allow Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn in the workplace or to firewall them. With the use of social networking still evolving – for brand promotion, recruitment or trading ideas – the attention stays centred on how Facebook is largely a ‘social avenue’ and, therefore, a distraction.
Proof: Productivity-fixated research findings — IT services group Morse pegs yearly losses of UK firms using Twitter and other social networking sites at £1.38 bn, and Nucleus Research points to a decline in office productivity by almost 1.5% due to Facebook access at work.
With Facebook’s sticky trappings (read Farmville and Mafia Wars), and an unprecedented rise in the number of such sites, it is small wonder the wall is up.
However, it would be interesting to understand why organisations prefer to employ blanket bans rather than laying down ‘sensible usage policies’ for their staff?
There is an obvious security concern. But if studies are anything to go by (see box above) then productivity seems on top of managerial concerns. Says Judhajit Das, chief HR, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, “We need to take an informed decision due to information security reasons, and have therefore deployed our own new generation applications.” He adds, however, that most ‘external’ social networking portals are blocked as they fear that these sites are used to network with friends and family, “which can disrupt work schedule and the employees’ productivity”. “There are always phones for staying in touch,” he says.
It’s also believed in some circles that a lot of sentiment against social networking sites is generational – the kind that surfaced with Google, and before that with the telephone. Neha Aggarwal (name changed), a group leader in a city-based software firm, says that their company contemplated two approaches to allow access. One was to give the company’s employees a one-hour window to access these sites or to install a dedicated computer that would not have sites blocked. “We finally decided against both as the majority of people we hire are in the early stages of their work life and this is an audience that is likely to be very distracted,” she says.
Manish, an application security consultant, adds that in big organisations, it becomes hard to pinpoint the team member because of whom a project wasn’t completed on time. “Therefore, a blanket ban becomes a preventive measure,” he says.
But rather than laying stress on averages and aggregates as an indication of what social networking is doing to work productivity, a Gartner report suggests that organisations should see web participation “as part of social experience, and formulate a multilevel approach to policies for effective governance”. In short, trust the employee to use these networks within the set ground rules because most employees do not view being policed as good employer policy. A comment on the Nucleus report captures what employees are saying: “What’s a 1.5% loss, an extra toilet break?”
Sugandha Asthana, an associate at a law firm, feels that by firewalling, an employer is saying he doesn’t trust the employee. “Given the number of hours most people spend in office, they cannot be expected to be working all the time. Besides, the fact that I have access to these sites all day doesn’t tempt me to be on it for more than a few minutes everyday,” she says. Deepali, a business analyst with a technology company agrees, “If I have a deadline, I will deliver. The Internet is just one way; the ones who will take cigarette breaks will take that anyway.”
“I may not have Facebook access, but I do have the Internet and I can read movie reviews all day. We also have internal chat systems that can be misused. But the fact is I am mature enough to know how to manage my time,” says Aparna, an employee with a leading bank. It is however easier for firms to keep track of information exchanged on official networks, keeping their use mostly official.
And, then there are the smart phone users in the firewalled space. One of them, a software developer, admits to reading technology news for an average of one to two hours a day. “I can’t access Facebook, but I SMS the headlines using loopmobile.co.in to my phone and then upload it as a status message on my Facebook account or on Twitter. This not only helps me orient myself to my work, but makes me feel connected with those who share my interest,” he says.
It isn’t as if managers turn away from gains such networks offer. Google-chat is available in a number of organisations, especially media houses, where networking with ‘sources’ spread all over can eliminate the need to travel or catch up over lunch, a definite efficiency promoter. “We are watching this space very closely and may employ it in the future as we learn more about hidden issues around information security,” says Judhajit Das.
Complete access could offer line managers the challenge of understanding employee behaviour too. For instance, could it be that the employee using Facebook for long durations is too productive for the role assigned to her? It could then indicate putting her in a role that matches her ability, thereby pushing down Facebook use. That approach is not without its share of anxiety, however. Shraddha, a human resource manager at a post-production company, which gets a fair share of its sources on Facebook, says, “We expect people to manage their recreation. But you would be judged if we do see a chat window up for long durations. There is an anxiety in a sense. If IT detects too much usage, then no matter how helpful time on Facebook is going to be, you have to
answer.”
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