Employee social networking − Sabre Town case study. By Toby Ward − Once the domain of the Internet, social networking has virally spread to the intranet with impressive results for Sabre.
We humans are social creatures. With rare exceptions, we strive to relate, converse and connect with others. Social networking promotes online communities of interests and activities that promote connections between users in a more open and robust manner than simple e-mail. While best represented by the quintessential Facebook, social networking has made significant strides into the corporate intranet where employee networking is becoming a valuable asset to leading organizations that covet the new breed of employees.
This young, web savvy employee cohort desires – if not demands – a more social and dynamic work environment that uses the best possible Web 2.0 (Intranet 2.0) technology. Sabre Town Case Study Recognizing their own unique needs as a global, distributed workforce, Sabre embarked to build their own employee networking intranet from scratch. The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies. In a few short years, social technologies have given social interactions the speed and scale of the Internet.
Whether discussing consumer products or organizing political movements, people around the world constantly use social-media platforms to seek and share information. Companies use them to reach consumers in new ways too; by tapping into these conversations, organizations can generate richer insights and create precisely targeted messages and offers. While 72 percent of companies use social technologies in some way, very few are anywhere near to achieving the full potential benefit. In fact, the most powerful applications of social technologies in the global economy are largely untapped. Companies will go on developing ways to reach consumers through social technologies and gathering insights for product development, marketing, and customer service. Exhibit Enlarge Two-thirds of this potential value lies in improving collaboration and communication within and across enterprises. NationalField: Barack Obama's social network of choice. A social network started by a British entrepreneur helped President Obama get voted into power and is now being touted as Facebook for the workplace.
It is the social network where no one is friends. After all, there just isnât time to make them when your network is geared towards winning the race to become the most powerful man in the world. Four years ago, Barack Obama strode into the White House on a wave of hope and euphoria. But every great frontman needs a fantastic backstage team. And then would-be president Obama had NationalField â a social networking site thought up by a British member of his campaign staff. Chief executive Edward Saatchi, 26, came up with the idea with two other Obama staffers to make their jobs a little bit easier. But before he knew it, the service took off and became the driving force to keep the campaign on track.
Soon, he and colleagues Aharon Wasserman and Justin Lewis realised that long meetings and multiple emails were slowing them down. GE MarkNet – How an Innovative Internal Social Networking Tool Broke Down Organizational Silos and Cut Costs. Title of Post: GE MarkNet – How an Innovative Internal Social Networking Tool Broke Down Organizational Silos and Cut Costs Organization Name: GE Industry: Diversified Machinery Web references: Description of how social media is used for business performance With 5,000 marketers working for GE around the world, embedded in 30 business and sub-business units, many are not even aware of each other’s existence.
MarkNet has seven “hubs,” or communities, such as “Value Proposition and Pricing” and “Marketing Communication”. Lessons for others Executive Director of Global Marketing at GE, Steve Liguori, comments, “MarkNet allows executives to become experts in something new by allowing them to engage partners all over the world, and has in a very short time turned our marketing department into a much closer-knit community. In one of the clearest demonstrations of MarkNet’s value, a marketer in one of the divisions was searching for a vendor to complete a marketing segmentation study.
The ROI of Internal Social Networking. Www.towersperrin.com/tp/getwebcachedoc?country=usa&webc=HRS/GBR/2008/200805/ENGAGEMENT_IMPROVES_BOTTOM_LINE.pdf. Www.mckinsey.de/downloads/publikation/social_media/Social_Media_Brochure_Turning_buzz_into_gold.pdf. Executives: Get Social or Get Out. Social media engages employees.