Many businesses have strict regulations that restrict employees and managers from accessing social media during working hours. The argument behind the restrictions is that social media use has negative impacts in the workplace. Although such sentiments are valid, there is a need to know that social media is also a beneficial management tool.
If you’re a manager, read on and learn how social media can help you better manage your employees.
1. Social Media Improves Communication and Collaboration
The use of collaborative social media platforms such as slack and workplace by Facebook is a crucial step towards better management.
Such tools improve communication in the workplace, improving how your team works. They also enhance problem-solving skills as employees can share possible solutions to existing challenges. Team members also take leadership roles without you prompting them, making your work as a manager easier.
Collaborative social tools also allow team members to see the progress in their work and the people responsible for various tasks all in one place. This helps expedite projects and achieve set work targets.
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Other notable management benefits that result from the communication and collaborative abilities of social media include:
- Allow teams and individuals to combine efforts to enhance their workflow and achieve their goals
- Team wide support towards goals enhances productivity.
- Collaboration also improves employee engagement
- Encourages communication with managers allowing for timely interventions.
2. It’s a Source of Information
Social media is a reliable source of information in the workplace. When workers face challenges while completing a task, they can quickly check social media sites such as YouTube. This allows them to complete tasks and achieve goals quickly.
Social media is a source of trends for some industries, such as entertainment, health care, and journalism. Such trends are continually being updated, affecting how businesses are run.
The use of social media grants employees the means to search for work-related information. If employees can get answers to their queries, then goals are met quickly, and your work as a manager becomes easier. Knowledgeable employees are also more productive, which eliminates the need for you to call for meetings, draft emails, or call for office discussions to get work done.
3. Allows Employees to Make New Connections
Social media sites such as LinkedIn allow employees to connect with professionals and to foster meaningful relationships.
Employees can also connect with company influencers through sites such as Instagram. With a little help from an organic instagram growth service like SimplyGram, employees can grow their Instagram engagements and connect with experts in their industry.
Such relationships open up business opportunities for the company. Other connections can result in sales leads and innovations that can enable the achievement of the company goals.
4. Strengthens Relationships among Workers
Social media platforms such as Facebook groups can help workers interact with one another. This can result in stronger and better relationships and more productive teams.
Social media also allows for the sharing of ideas. It’s also a tool for enhancing engagement, both in the workplace and at home. The ability for employees to communicate with each other even outside the workplace improves their morale and can also help teams grow. This makes the work of managers easier, as employees who are happy and well-motivated are easier to manage.
5. Allows Managers to Recruit Top Talents
Leveraging social media is a wonderful way to get top talent for vacant posts in the company. Such talent is always a valuable addition to the organization.
The use of social media for recruitment also reduces the high cost of searching for candidates using traditional recruiting ways such as external agencies.
Posting open positions on the company’s social media sites is a great way to attract talents. Besides, looking at the applicants’ social media handles can tell you a lot about them and also help you narrow down your search to the right candidate.
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6. Use Social Media to Recognize Your Employees
Social media is a tool that can be used to recognize your employees’ hard work and accomplishments. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can be used to highlight employees’ work anniversaries, birthdays, new hires, and exceptional performance. Employees can also congratulate their colleagues to encourage interaction and team cohesiveness.
Such recognition keeps employees motivated, leading to enhanced productivity and lower turnover rates. In one study, the use of social media was shown to improve employee retention. According to the study findings, employees who used 1 to 4 social media sites weekly were likely to stay at their workplaces for longer compared to the others.
7. Social Media Improves Employee Productivity
Many firm managers believe that social media usage negatively affects employee productivity. But according to a study by McKinsey Global Institute, when social media is used effectively, it can increase employee productivity by 20 to 25%.
Social media, when used in the right way, can also offer relief in the workplace. Employees can access social media while at work to take mental breaks from stressful tasks. The short moments spent on social networking platforms allow workers to take a break without being a distraction to others. Such mental breaks also result in improved job performance.
Every manager hopes for productive employees, and social media is a cost-effective means of achieving this goal.
8. Fosters Creativity
Allowing your employees to access accounts such as YouTube and Pinterest enables them to obtain creative ideas that can help your business grow.
Innovation opens doors for new growth opportunities and the expansion of your product line. Engaging with creative social media sites can also encourage a creative culture in the company allowing other workers to embrace innovation. Managing innovative employees is easy as they comfortably meet the firm goals, make better use of the company resources, and increase firm profitability.
Some managers are wary of using social media for management, noting that such social networks are distracting and negatively impact performance. While these arguments are valid, it’s also crucial to recognize that social media use is beneficial in the workplace, especially when it comes to management.