Social media has not really been around all that long, and the research to-date is still emerging. And sentiment is mixed on whether it’s good for us or not. But what about enterprise social media? Is it a force for good…or evil?
We know that setting up some boundaries for our personal social media use can help with focus and attention, and can improve our sleep and mental well-being. But back in 2021, former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, spoke out against the company.
Frances, who worked as a product manager, shared some internal research which showed that Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) impacts the mental health of teenagers. The data illustrated that the 32% of teenage girls surveyed, said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. Facebook has allegedly responded to say that the leak had failed to highlight the positive impact the platform had on teens. We think it would be great to see this as well. Like I said, the data is mixed and still emerging. The truth is, we probably won’t understand the true impact of social media on our wellbeing for years to come.
And if the case for enterprise social media, and the impact on our wellbeing, is still emerging, then the picture is way more complex for the use of these types of platforms used inside organisations – referred to as Enterprise Social Networks (ESN). Back in 2017, we conducted our own research, to better understand if, and how, ESNs might impact employee engagement and wellbeing.
What did we find?
Our research included employees from 106 organisations and found that 45% of organisations had an ESN within the organisation. At the time, the platform Yammer was the most popular followed by Jive – how times have changed!
These networks were mainly used to collaborate with others, help solve problems, make employee voice heard and to interact with likeminded people. In our research, 94% of people thought the use of an ESN was an effective way to build relationships across an organisation.
So how does this relate to the key enablers of employee engagement? We found that 85% of participants believed that using an ESN was effective for collaboration and involvement. We then looked at various parameters of engagement, motivation and wellbeing, and discovered a positive correlation between ESN use and levels of engagement, motivation and wellbeing – with over 10 percentage points difference in favour of ESN users.
For example, ESN users:
- scored higher in the questions relating to vigour at work (strength, energy or enthusiasm)
- were more likely to be motivated
In addition:
- 85% of those who had an ESN at work are proud to tell others where they work. This compared to 75% of those who don’t
- and 78% of employees with access to an ESN felt a strong attachment to work. This compared to 64% of employees who do not have an ESN
In 2017, these results showed that ESNs were a force for good and good news for employee wellbeing.
Obviously a lot can happen in 4 years – technological advancements, and the small matter of a global pandemic which has changed the world of work significantly, and with that, more remote and hybrid working.
So, we believe it might be time to look again into the use of Enterprise Social Networks and understand how the changing world of work has had an impact.
Would you be interested the findings? Download the 2017/18 research here or get in touch to get involved in new research for 2022.
