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…but not in the way you’re probably expecting.

A Harris Interactive poll suggests 41 percent of executives participating in the study believe social networking helps to build and maintain workplace culture, while only 21 percent of employees have the same view.

Moreover, business leaders and employees widely differ on whether social media has a positive affect on workplace culture (45 percent and 27 percent, respectively) or allows for increased management transparency (38 percent and 17 percent, respectively).

Commentary from Andrew Spong

You thought employees were going to be waving the flag, and employers were going to be in the bunker, right?

Wrong.

So why are employees disheartened regarding the utility of social media in the workplace?

‘Big Brother’ issues aside (and the lack of trust here is significant too, of course) it’s because they are the most enthusiastic users of social media.

By which I mean: they’ve already concluded that if their business is not evolving socially across the enterprise (aligning revenue generation with social good rather than ‘at any cost’; taking a firm ethical stance; etc.) then there is little point in undertaking any social activities at all. 

Social is not a communications strategy. It is a mindset. A disposition. A way of conducting business.

If the C suite wishes to engage the interest of its employees, it needs to show willingness to allow its business to respond to its employees intuition and understanding of the social turn in business.

Who will step up?

Source: marketwatch