Workplace without Borders 

Why companies are using social networking 
as a team building tool

Author: Bonita Summers

When Amanda Wilson finishes her night shift, her work day isn’t over. The MacDonald’s restaurant manager heads home to log on to StationM, a social network developed by MacDonald’s as an online meeting place for crew members. The 20-year-old Okotoks, Alberta native was selected as this year’s resident blogger for the North American site.

Since its launch on March 28, 2008, StationM has registered more than 14,000 users with an average of 95 new registrations per week, exceeding company expectations. MacDonald’s management created StationM as a medium for staff that allows for immediate feedback and engagement. This network replaces a quarterly newsletter that did not meet the needs of its younger workers. StationM has imparted a sense of community that has taken on a life of its own for crew members. Wilson reports that some users are logging in on a daily basis to stay in touch with their colleagues in restaurants all over North America.

StationM is one of a number of social networking sites designed by companies to encourage communication and raise morale among their workers. The use of social networking tools, also known as Web 2.0, especially resonates for Canadians. According to the comScore World Matrix, Canadians communicate via social network more than any other country, with 86.5% of us reaching out online compared to 70.2% of Americans. A recent study by IDC Canada found that 51% of Canadians have a profile on some sort of social networking forum.

While some sites, such as LinkedIn, Xing, and Biznik, have been designed to connect people of similar expertise for information sharing and networking outside of a formal organization, increasingly companies have turned to creating Web 2.0 tools specifically to meet the needs of their staff. Scotiabank is using SharePoint to create a social network among its employees, while Best Buy enables its workers to make contact via Blue Shirt Nation.

Other companies prefer blogging as a way of bringing its people together. Hewlett-Packard has 55 corporate blogs and IBM has 125 in its cadre of interconnectivity. IBM also sports its own social network, N-Square.

Being able to connect with coworkers outside of one’s immediate workplace adds a new dimension to team building. New recruits at McDonald’s StationM log on to ask for advice and support, and fellow users are quick to respond. “It offers a lot of information,” explains Wilson. “Say a crew person who is very, very shy doesn’t want to approach a manager about [an issue], he or she can easily find the information… or just asking in a comment or emailing me and asking a question about it that way. It makes that person more comfortable.” Morale improves with the support of fellow workers as well. “They get that little boost of confidence, and they can go into work the next day, and they do that much better,” says Wilson.

Wilson received a number of responses to a blog entry about her interview with Your Workplace magazine. One crew member from Cincinnati, Ohio writes, “I really benefit from this because I see what is going on at other McDonalds all over and what our store could eventually be. I can really relate to the stories from other crew, instead of it all being all formalized and serious. It’s more at my own level.” Another crew member from Buchanan, MI has this to say:

“StationM has made my workplace a lot more enjoyable. I realize that we’re all different people around the with different backgrounds, customs and languages, but here on StationM we can find others like us and make new friends with people around the world. With new ways to communicate about problems online with people who’ve had the same issues, I find the store to be a lot more relaxed and easier to be in. Crew are always taking advantage of the opportunity to talk about how big StationM has been for them, how much they’ve learned and the new friends that they have made. Even managers enjoy coming on to StationM to see how crew the world over are doing.”

Companies endeavouring to make a deeper connection with today’s tech-savvy workers have found spin-off benefits in creating social networks for their teams. “At McDonald’s, we care about our employees and greatly value their input on how we operate our business and fit into their lives,” says Len Jillard, Chief People Officer at McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada. “StationM offers a forum for crew to share their views and communicate with each other in a way that is relevant to them. Through the site, we’re also able to gather important feedback—on such topics as training and career development, incentive programs and benefits—to gain insight on their needs, which helps us become more responsive as a company.”

Of course, concerns about the use of social networking give some companies reason to pause before jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon. Organizations looking to control the type of information their employees discuss on the Internet may find their hands tied as worker connections spill over into the use of non-company networks. A poll conducted by Sophos, for example, found that 66% of workers believe that their peers share too much information via Facebook. For this reason, organizations are starting to ban the use of social networks during work hours. Imprudent social networking has led to discipline for 14% of companies responding to the Forrester Research study and firings for 5% of cases related to social networking offenses.

While sites such as Facebook and MySpace have proven lucrative for viral marketing, recruiting, and information sharing, they are also largely beyond the control of businesses wishing to monitor the way they are utilized by staff. Organizations need to plan carefully before the launch of a Web 2.0 product how they want this tool used by staff and what steps they need to take to defend against information leaks and time wastage.

Despite these challenges, social networks have proven invaluable as a tool for attracting and engaging employees and facilitating the team experience. Through multifaceted profiles and a number of media options, time and distance have ceased to be obstacles to the team-building process.

Further research can be found here and here. 

Photo: Dreamstime

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN ISSUE 11-2 OF YOUR WORKPLACE  MAGAZINE.