Why workplaces should encourage employees to use social networks at work

Do you start your work day with Facebook and a coffee? Drop a tweet or two after lunch? You should. And your boss should eagerly foot the bill, because your social life lines can (positively!) affect his/her bottom line.

A recent study found that nearly 2/3 of employees hang out on social sites during work hours. These “time wasters” are thought to cost billions ($2.45 billion CDN, it has somehow been determined) in lost wages or revenue. Well over half (and some count it up to 70%) of employers block social network use at work, presumably to stymie these loafing time bandits.

That might be shortsighted. With word-of-mouth about to become the universe’s dominant marketing channel, employers might be wise to ease up on the restrictions, and consider this “unproductive” time to have a different kind of ROI. Besides the fact that having friends makes you happy, (which should interest your HR department if they’ve got even a passing commitment to wellness), your social network is a valuable commodity. Brands can score a lot of followers and fans, but people know the messages coming to them from brands through social media are marketing. Unless you’re giving people major discounts or hilarious viral content, your brand story is probably one people aren’t dying to hear. And God forbid action needs to be mobilized—when you’re asking people to do something for you, people don’t owe brands anything.

So if the brand-to-people social relationship rings a little hollow, where’s the marketing goldmine social media promises? It’s in influence. My local charity asking me to change the world might blow by like so much hot, messagey air, but if a good friend says she’s running for the cure, my donation is in the mail. Authentic recommendations and tales of positive customer experience from friends are far more likely to influence my banner-blind consumer decisions than advertising. Brands using social media to basically repurpose press releases would have more success requesting their staff spread news, contests, photos, calls for volunteers, etc  through their circles of influence. These are higher quality “leads” that may well reach outside the brand’s normal scope of users.

Can you forsee a day when people’s social networks are taken into consideration in the hiring process, with the more valuable connected candidates garnering higher salaries? In industries like PR and media, large networks almost seems like a resume requirement. Your organization should recognize your networking potential and the 10 minutes a day it takes to develop trust and influence through it. It can pay off for them to borrow it from time to time.