Social Media in the Workplace

List of Illustrations

Figure 1: The association between Age and Gender        8

Figure 2. Association between social media platforms and average time spent on them.        10

Figure 3. Association between views of social media and employee relations.        11

Figure 4. Comparison between effective communication, procrastination and productivity.        13

Figure 5. Views on the effects of social media posts and the banning of social media in the work place.        14

Figure 6. Comparison between social media being a tool to aid the organisation and policy dictating its use in the workplace.        15

Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceptions of individuals on social media in a business organisation and to make recommendations on how to better utilize them. Social media (defined in the scope) has been a separate and distinct method used from traditional means of communication technologies often used in today's organizations. This investigation sought to garner a clear understanding of why people hold various perspectives on social media in business firms.

Problem

The problem was that the general perception of social media has been that it has adverse effects on the individuals within an organisation. With the advent of new technologies and social media mediums and its proliferation across organizations, it has become imperative that we have shown apt adjustment with the times.

It has also been essential to have a firm understanding of how these social media platforms have enabled and constrained the communicative activities within the working environment. These platforms have changed the methods by which work has been accomplished along with the external environment within which business has been undertaken. This has been evident in the dynamics that constitute and perpetuate organizational development.

Scope

Social media has conquered the world by storm and has achieved an astounding worldwide increase in development and popularity which has therefore led to not only interests but attention from not only marketing departments but also a variety of researchers globally who have and still are curious about the pros and cons of social media.

Social media has been defined by the Investopedia as, “the Internet-based software and interfaces that allow individuals to interact with one another, exchanging details about their lives such as biographical data, professional information, personal photos and up-to-the-minute thoughts.” Another definition stated that social media “is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.”

 The advent of social media has played a very imperative role in the personal lives of individuals, to point where some people cannot live without it, but it has also helped to shape the growth of organisations that persons may be involved with through marketing development and growth strategies.

In relation to social media, these have been a few stances or perceptions persons might have on its utilization in the workplace. Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge (2011) stated that “The perception of a person is Individuals base their behaviour not on the way their external environment actually is but rather on what they see or believe it to be.”  Perception has been defined “as a process by which  individuals organize and interpret their sensory perceives in order to give meaning to their environment”. Factors such as attitudes, motives, interest, experiences and expectations have all shaped the way individuals have viewed various topics.

Social media created an avenue for much debate more specifically, whether it has shown to improve or cripple communication skills within the organisation. Individuals may have suggested that, sitting behind a computer and the communication with cyber friends has been easy and fun however, it has taken time that could be invested in productivity within the working environment and it should be carefully monitored as it have an implication of poor performance by employees.

Some individuals have viewed social media in a totally different fashion. They believed that social media has been the greatest invention that can be incorporated within an organisation. Additionally, it helped to improve communication among employees and therefore stimulated productivity. In conjunction, it facilitated with the marketing and growth of the organisation because of its ability to reach a wide audience. In the analysis these perceptions they must be used to identify the advantages and the disadvantages of the usage of social media to give validity to this perception.

One social media advantage in relation to the workplace has been remarked that it strengthened and built personal relationships among co-workers.  Social networks influenced a “broad range of important outcomes for employees, including their performance and career progression” (Brass, 1984; . Employees have been involved in various types of informal dyadic relations with others at work (e.g., friend, advisor, and adversary). Whereas negatively valence ties between two individuals at work have been characterized by animosity, exclusion or avoidance of the other party (Krackhardt, 1992).

In contrast positive ties are characterized by liking and respect, where one individual is motivated to seek out the other for resources including friendship and general advice (Krackhardt, 1992). When employees have been able to communicate with each other in the workplace they tend to feel a sense of belonging and therefore are motivated to come to work which in turn reduces absenteeism which related to the Hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow which identified the need to be social by gaining affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship. This advantage can also be linked to the Herzberg’s two factor Hygiene theory on which poor interpersonal relation lead to job satisfaction. This theory has been posited as one of motivation based on job satisfaction. It stated a satisfied employee is motivated from within to work harder, and a dissatisfied worker is not self-motivated to work  (Robbins and Judge, 2011).