What is Social Business?

People have been connecting with one another through social media for nearly a decade, using different websites and applications to keep track of what is going on in the lives of others. This technology is now being appropriated by the business world, allowing employees to communicate with one another much more effectively than before. A social business is basically a business that gives social media software to its employees in order to ensure that communication becomes more efficient and accessible. 

As stated in a blog post on Deputy website, "The core of this movement is an internal communications network that makes it easier to carry out our work life, and connect seamlessly with the people around us. The promise of social business is the creation of a more engaged employee base." This means that it is much simpler to build professional relationships between those who work together, which will benefit both the employees, as well as the businesses that they work for.

How Can Human Resources Use Social Business?

Human resources, or HR, tends to be in charge of the culture of a business. This culture sets the standard for how employees interact with one another, as well as with management. Unfortunately, most employees are too focused on their own personal projects and struggles to help improve the culture in an office. As a result, HR is usually completely responsible for any employee surveys that need to be taken, recognising staff for the work that has been done, disseminating necessary information, and recruiting new employees. This can be an overwhelming amount of work for any HR department.

Luckily, social HR programs have made this much easier to deal with. These software programs make it much easier for HR representatives to share information about trainings, which will ensure that every employee has all of the information that he or she needs to his or her job well. It will also facilitate more integrated collaboration between employees, as well as between the employees and the HR departments. This is important because it will make a business much more efficient. Business Bee has stated that, when such a program is implemented, "a high level of communication between employees and [the] HR department, fewer scheduling/payroll issues, and optimised employee performance" can be expected. 

Social HR programs will also ensure that employees are more accountable for the work that they do. This is important because it will help create a culture of engagement. When an employee is held accountable, it is clear that his or her success directly contributes to the success of a business. Social business programs will make the precise contributions that each employee makes very transparent, as each task that is assigned and completed is tracked. Every employee will be able to see what his or her peers are doing.

These platforms allow HR representatives to easily recognise employees who have been doing exceptional work, which will raise overall morale and make employees feel as though the work that they do is important and valued. It will also motivate teams to work together in order to finish projects more quickly and be recognized for that completion.

Social Business Programs as an Implement for Change

Change can be hard but necessary in today's quickly developing business world. Businesses that stay stagnant will be lost. In order to keep this from happening, social business platforms can be employed to allow training programs to be easily accessed by employees. This will reduce the resistance to change because these programs will be able to be worked through at a pace that works for each individual employee.

The workforce is also changing and social business is one of the best ways to smooth that transition. Younger members who have grown up being instantly connected are beginning to work in greater numbers that will only increase with each year. According to a blog post on Social Text, social collaboration led by the HR department is "the most efficient and effective way to engage them while maintaining standard business practices."

Essentially, social media and business perfectly complement one another and allow for a myriad of advantages to be gained. The primary benefit of a social HR program is that it treats employees with the respect that they deserve. Having a social business platform allows employees to do their jobs more easily and efficiently, ensures that those employees are recognised for their achievements, and allows for collaboration. It also makes it easy for every employee to have access to the information and trainings that they need in order to do their job to the best of their ability. This will result in the overall morale of a business being raised and for efficiency to increase.

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