Are you looking for an effective way to improve communication and collaboration within your business? An internal social network is a perfect tool to help mold your company culture, improve communication and skyrocket employee engagement.
This article will explore the benefits of implementing an internal social network for your business and why it’s essential for success in today’s ever-changing business landscape.
Discover why investing in an internal social network will help your business reach its fullest potential in the long run.
In this article, we will talk about:
- What is an internal social network?
- Why do you need an internal social network?
- Internal Social Media Options and What They Can Do for Your Business
- Strategies for team building with social media
- How to maintain your internal social network?
- Pitfalls of internal social media to watch for
What is an internal social network?
An internal social network is a powerful tool to facilitate communication and collaboration and mold organizational culture among employees in your business. It creates a private, secure platform where employees can connect on their terms.
Employees can use an internal social network to exchange ideas, know-how, hobbies, interests, and work-related news.
An internal social network keeps everyone in the loop on all the projects, allowing the company to move forward quickly and reducing the risk of misinformation.
Finally, the business becomes more productive by creating a user-friendly space for employees to connect and collaborate. As a result, it gets the most out of its resources.
Why do you need an internal social network?
As per the Datareportal January 2023 global overview, more than half the world (59%) uses social media, and they spend, on average, 2 hours and 31 minutes daily.
This statistic shows how vastly social media are adapted and incorporated into everyday behavior.
One of the consequences of using social media in our behavior is shortening our attention span. With information overload in today’s agile environment, it is hard to recognize the priorities and keep the focus.
To obtain deep work, you should create a surrounding to support it. That is why having the right communication channel keeps your employees updated with important information, improves their collaboration workflow, and gives them a fun and engaging place to take a break while still focusing on the company-related content.
Internal Social Media Options and What They Can Do for Your Business
Company Posts
Using an internal social network, employees can interact with news and stories about the company in real time. Photos and videos are shared in story form, making them highly engaging. It operates as a two-way communication platform, allowing employees to react to and interact with the shared content.
News posting on the internal social network represents a significant shift from the traditional one-way communication of a standard newsletter, as it encourages active participation and employee feedback.
People Directory
The People Directory is an option that allows employees to connect easily with one another. It lists all employees within the company, including their names, department, and contact information.
In addition, it integrates with many other tools, such as; WhatsApp, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and similar, to connect you to your other communication channels.
By promoting easy access to contact information, the People Directory encourages collaboration. It fosters a sense of community within the company. Whether you need to reach out to a coworker for work-related reasons or to say hello, the People Directory makes it easy.
Strategies for team building with social media
An internal social network can help businesses of any size to improve communication and collaboration within the workplace. By allowing employees to ‘connect’ with each other and access work-related information and documents, businesses can encourage teamwork and camaraderie amongst staff.
Additionally, internal social media can reduce the time it takes to complete tasks. Employees can easily share information and resources with an internal social media.
Businesses can also leverage social media to build team morale. For example, an internal social network provides a platform for employees to engage in conversations and share experiences outside of the work environment and promotes a colleague appreciation system.
With the help of internal social media, companies can create a supportive environment that encourages team-building and motivation by transparently showcasing employees’ work and enabling other employees to give them kudos.
This can help build relationships between colleagues, create a sense of belonging to the team, and reduce employee turnover.
You could use an internal social network to host, organize and promote online team-building activities.
By hosting online team-building activities such as quizzes and debates, businesses can encourage employees to work together, think critically, and develop problem-solving skills. Great timing to host that kind of activity is on the annual Employee Appreciation Day.
How to maintain your internal social network?
Maintaining an internal social media platform is crucial for effective communication and collaboration within a company. To ensure its success, consider the following tips:
1. Clearly define the purpose and objectives of the platform.
Some of the pain points you would like to conquer could be: One-way Communication, Transparency, Cross-department Transmission, Company Culture, Real-time News Flow, Distributing Feedback, High Employee Turnover, Giving Endorsements, Gap between High levels and Low levels in the company, Low response to the company activities and events, Surveys response rate, and much more.
At Jenz, we have a team of employee engagement consultants and employee engagement experts that handle your internal social media strategy based on the pain points you would like to tackle.
2. Establish and enforce guidelines and policies for usage to ensure that the platform is used productively and professionally.
Sometimes, the content could go in its way, and molding the company culture on such a platform could take its course based on your employee engagement. That is why at Jenz, we recommend to our Jenz Admins to set specific guidelines and policies on the usage of Jenz.
Here is an example of a policy on using a closed social network:
- Compliance with Laws and Regulations: All posts must comply with relevant laws and regulations, including data protection and privacy laws, anti-money laundering regulations, and the company’s policies.
- Professionalism: Posts should be professional and appropriate, reflecting the company’s values and reputation. Posts should not contain offensive or inappropriate language, images, or content.
- Confidentiality: Employees should not post confidential information, such as client information, trade secrets, or proprietary information, on the internal social network.
- Accuracy: Posts should be accurate and not contain false or misleading information.
- Respect for Intellectual Property: Posts should not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, including copyrights, trademarks, or patents.
- Personal Views: Posts should not express personal views or opinions that could be perceived as representing the company’s views or opinions unless they are clearly labeled as such.
- Monitoring and Enforcement: The company reserves the right to monitor posts on internal social media and remove posts violating these guidelines or other company policies.
These guidelines ensure that employees use the internal social network responsibly and professionally, protect the company’s reputation, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
3. Encourage employee participation by making the platform easily accessible and user-friendly.
Having an intuitive and positive user experience is crucial to excellent user adoption and usage of the platform. Jenz is quite similar to Instagram, making it intuitive and cutting short any adoption periods.
The UX/UI design of the app was essential to us, so we conducted an anonymous survey with our users. As a result, more than 86% of the users love the design behind the app.
4. Foster a positive and inclusive culture by promoting open communication, encouraging teamwork and collaboration, and recognizing and rewarding contributions.
As we already stated, creating a healthy company culture and working environment starts with some of the critical values internal social network helps you to nurture.
5. Create a content strategy to foster an engaging employee experience.
- Regularly monitor and moderate the platform to ensure that it is being used appropriately and that any negative or disruptive behavior is addressed promptly.
- Create Internal Promotional Campaigns for higher user adoption.
- Create a content plan for: Company News and Company Culture (Meet the Team, Employee Recognition, Team Building Activities, etc.)
- Engage and post regularly to keep the engagement high enough.
By following these tips, you can maintain a thriving internal social media platform that supports effective communication, collaboration, and culture within your company.
Pitfalls of internal social media to watch for
Internal social media can be an excellent tool for businesses to improve collaboration and communication. Still, it is also essential to be aware of its potential pitfalls.
One common issue is the need for more security. Internal social networks often require employees to share personal and company information. This puts the company at risk of a data breach or unauthorized access. That is why we at Jenz take a longer and safer route to successfully using the company’s official employee engagement app.
Additionally, internal social media can be used as a platform for gossip or inappropriate behavior. If these issues aren’t addressed quickly, they can cause significant damage to the company’s reputation and morale.
Lastly, suppose the internal social network is being spammed by Company Stories. In that case, it can promptly distract employees, resulting in decreased productivity. That is why we developed an Important Story in combination with a Pop-Up Feature. There you only receive notifications for the most important posts and have to see them before using the rest of the app. It disturbs your deep work only if it’s important enough.
It is essential to take the time to ensure your internal social network is secure and properly monitored. Create rules and guidelines for using the web, and ensure everyone knows these rules and expectations.
Additionally, it is beneficial to have a designated internal network manager (Jenz Admin) who monitors the network and provides it is used appropriately. By taking the time to address these potential pitfalls, you can ensure your internal social media is used to its fullest potential, and your business can reap the rewards.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an internal social network is an invaluable tool for businesses today. It enables companies to increase collaboration and communication, boost productivity, and increase employee engagement.
With the proper implementation strategy and tools, an internal social network can give businesses a competitive edge and set them on the path to success. Investing in an internal social network will help companies to reach their fullest potential. Build a strong, connected, and engaged workforce.
The technology that underpins internal social media is constantly evolving. Businesses should stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments.
With a well-thought-out strategy and the right tools, companies can unlock the power of an internal social network. Reap the benefits of improved collaboration, communication, and employee engagement.
An internal social network is essential for success in today’s and the future business world.
