Reasons of using social media at workplace. 3
Misuse of social media at workplace. 7
In the current era, social media has been one of the indispensable parts of the human life and thus, a majority number of humans are somehow associated with its usage. In workplace, social media usage is greatly encouraged as that allows a positive ambiance to the employees to work and also allows them to freshen up their mind. A number of studies have shown up that the percentage of social media usage among employees is high. Henceforth, this is indicative of the fact that the use of social media among the employees is a significant scenario and thus, in case the employers curb the higher officials from using social networking sites at workplace, then that shall culminate into their dissatisfaction. In the current society, social networking sites have turned out to be irreplaceable parts of the society and in businesses as well where these sites have turned out to be an effective marketing tool for attracting the customers. As reported by Collins, Shiffman and Rock (2016), this helps in building a social relationship between the companies and their customers. A cautious see at the different sorts of existing social organizing locales proposes that businesses seem select to embrace either an endeavor social organizing location or a buyer social organizing location, or both, depending on the level of integration craved for coordinating organizational objectives with promoting endeavors, organizational learning, and open relations methodologies.
Reasons of using social media at workplace
Employees shall never be able to work in an environment which is continuous and does not provide them with a break. In the opinion of Arora and Tandon (2017), the primary reason for which people adhere to social media is because of its entertainment purpose and therefore, similarly in workplace as well social media acts as a break factor for the employees. It helps them get a break from the monotonous work pressure and thus, refresh their mind. This is advantageous in terms of other forms of break because this is something where one only individual is associated. On the contrary, if employees start communicating between themselves as a form of break then it shall hamper the work procedure of other employees and as a result, there would be hindrance in the productivity process of the company. This is supported by Nyaribo and Munene (2018), there are many social networking sites are there which makes a difference in upkeep of a proficient relationship between the individuals of diverse organizations. A noteworthy occasion of this can be Linkedin on which individuals can rummage around for others based on their proficient field and thus, this makes a difference keep up that social bond between the workers. It also helps them make that social bond which not as it were boosts the intellect of the workers, but too benefits the organization within the long run as a result of the bond and in this way, the concerned organization picks up improvement.
The enormous popularity of social media in the current era has called for the integration of it in the business world as well. As reported by El Ouirdi et al. (2015), the total number of people adhering to the use of different social networking sites is more than 500 million. Thus, when businesses integrate social media it has increased likeliness of engaging more number of customers. This would result in the increase of popularity of the business. This would also result in ease of the recruitment and selection process and thus, putting advertisements on social media shall easily attract employees for employment in the organization. However, the study of Robertson and Kee (2017), focuses more on the importance of social networking sites on recruitment and selection process in an organization. The specific account of social media might be utilized to get it how the candidate is which might offer assistance within the enlistment and choice handle. The foundation check of a candidate is a fundamental portion of enlistment and choice handle and this should be helped by social organizing location. The conventional way underpins the audit of as it were a CV or continue for enlistment reason. Be that as it may, with the advent of time, there's a alter in certain things and so point by point examination is done on the history and individual life of the candidate.
However, the study of Guraya (2016) has opposed to this and thus, there is dissimilarity in thoughts and thinking. The negative effect of social media is sharing substance that included alcohol and drugs was not far off behind. Additionally, the companies rejected candidates for bad-mouthing past bosses, co-workers, or clients on social media districts. Without a doubt the utilize emoticons or smiley faces that have finished up especially common when communicating mechanically are seen as a negative to companies. Be that as it may, this is often not characteristic of the reality that their companions nearly the party they went to last conclusion of the week on social media districts (Cardon & Marshall, 2015). The different social networking sites have made it conceivable to form your profile private. There are many different settings that can be changed in arrange to form beyond any doubt as it were wanted individuals can see a full profile on their respective social networking sites.
Employees are the plethora of productivity process in an organization and thus, the extent to which the organization shall gain betterment rests on their efficiency to a great extent. This can be supported by the study of Turel and Bechara (2017), which states that employees shall confront issue as well in their work and hence, social organizing destinations might be utilized in those circumstances for checking those issues and reflect onto capability. Hence, this can be also advantageous for the concerned organization within the long run, in this manner, coming about into the improvement of efficiency and at the same time makes a difference the worker develop and exceed expectations in their proficient field. Owing to the resolution of one issue, the employee gets to solve the issue that he is facing and thus, the gap in his professional behavior is bridged. Social media is associated with the presence of a number of people with different mentality and knowledge (Kock et al. 2018). Thus, when an employee gets to share his issue he shall get a number of responses for the resolution of the issue and those responses shall rest on different aspects which would only contribute to the knowledge gaining of the concerned individual, thereby, shaping his professional character in a better way.
Due to hectic work pressure, employees sometimes shall face difficulty in having direct communication between them. Therefore, as influenced by Tudu and Pathak (2015), in those situations social networking sites shall act as a perfect platform to the employees to have a communicational process among them which would help them create that internal workforce that is essential for the business procedure of the organization. This is crucial and advantageous for the organization because as a result of communication over social networking sites, there would be strong teams. Moreover, communication issues which shall be resultant from geographic limitations shall also be curbed with the help of social networking sites. For instance, when an employee is working from home and another employee is working from the workplace there is likely to be difficulty among the employees in terms of communication. Thus, as mentioned by J-Ho and Ramayah (2016), social media curbs that barrier and allows a smooth communicational process between the employees. This would also result in innovation and creativity owing to betterment of communication and each of the associated members would get equal chances of participating in the communication process. Henceforth, the involvement of different ideas would culminate into innovation and uniqueness.
When there is direct verbal communication among the employees, a number of factors shall remain unnoticed. On the contrary, according to Turel (2017), interaction and communication of employees on social networking sites shall result into easy recognition of the employees when they come up with good work and positive output. Moreover, whenever the company is engaging itself into a new work procedure it shall keep its employees updated and at the same time the information on the employees’ performance shall also be accessed by the employers. This helps keep a hold of the information; which is an essential component of the performance management and review procedure and therefore, there would be betterment of the employees’ performance through motivation. The presence of relevant information on social media allows the employer to know who is working well. Therefore, as opined by Thomas, Rothschild and Donegan (2015), he shall be provided with certain benefits and facilities as a form of reward. This is hugely motivational for the employee and thus, due to that he would gain betterment in his work performance. In a study conducted by Taylor et al. (2016), it has been witnessed that the use of social media by the employees of a company shall reduce the turnover rate and therefore, shall be beneficial for the company in the long run. Therefore, there is similarity found between the two studies which focus on efficient employee performance management and betterment owing to the integration of social networking site in business.
Employee engagement is an important factor that leads to the betterment of productivity in a company. As studied by Silic and Back (2016), social media usage shall result in increased engagement of the employees due to the motivational factors associated with it. Thus, the role of managers in this regard is huge where they can use social media for providing training facilities to the employees to make them more competent at work. Thus, the issues of employee turnover that shall be associated with social media shall be curbed with the help of social media training and there would be greater collaboration, satisfaction and engagement of the employees. In addition to that, it must be noted that there are certain threats associated with the business procedure of a company. The purpose of a business is always to curb the threats and working towards making those as opportunities. Thus, as influenced by Stoughton, Thompson and Meade (2015), social media groups shall be created by the managers which shall call for increased communication process, thereby, resulting in collaboration. This would cut down the risks of employee turnover or any negative impact that shall be incurred in any of the business procedures. The creation of social media groups shall culminate into the understanding of the objectives and the specifications of the employees in a detailed way and henceforth, those shall be fulfilled for putting a positive impact on the employees.
The advantage of social media in a business directly affects onto the efficiency of the employees working in the company. However, the study of Mäntymäki and Riemer (2016) opposes to this. The issue that wins with social media utilization by commerce is the restriction within the utilize of social media and more than 20% of the businesses fall flat to totally utilize social media for their commerce reason. It is contended that when social media is coordinates into commerce completely and it is utilized with full potential that might account into the increment of effectiveness of the representatives by at slightest 20-25%. One of the points that businesses have is to reflect into way better efficiency of its representatives and hence, that takes put with the assistance of social media. The advantage of social media lies in its fetched adequacy and so, it may be a instrument that should makes a difference within the improvement of employees’ execution at a generally lower fetched which would be useful for the company and its client relationship administration within the long run (Meishar-Tal & Pieterse, 2017). Thus, the focus of the businesses and the employers must be given on proper utilization of social media instead of curbing the employees from using social media at workplace.
Misuse of social media at workplace
However, despite the many positive uses of social media, there are certain risks that are associated with a business entity in terms of misusing social media. As stated by Collins, Shiffman and Rock (2016), employees who do not have sufficient knowledge on the appropriate use of social media shall fail to keep the privacy and confidentiality of the important information of the company and as a result, that information shall be accessible by the competitors. This shall be detrimental for the business procedure of a firm as it shall associate a number of legal risks due to the breach of data and confidentiality and thus, the business would face difficulty in the long run. Furthermore, as observed by Arora and Tandon (2017), this shall also culminate into the imposition of employment issues for the concerned employee as he shall also be deprived of his employment. Henceforth, the factor that is important in this regard is the formulation of a policy which would have a detailed set of standards for efficient use of social media for the business purpose. Moreover, necessary training and communication shall also be done with the employees to make them more knowledgeable on the use of social media and how to curb the legal and employment issues associated with it.
In a study conducted by Nyaribo and Munene (2018), it has been revealed that almost 70% of the businesses adhering to the use of social media had to take disciplinary actions against their employees due to the misuse of social media. This is evident of the fact that despite the enormous hype and advantage of social media, the knowledge and the skill required for the efficient use of it is not known and thus, it leads to more bad than good of a business. the study of El Ouirdi et al. (2015) also states the same and there is similarity in the views of both the authors. The abuse of social media should forever influence the competitive advantage and maintainability of a firm through the revelation of the vital information. As a result, the other companies within the division get to know the vital data and in this way, they coordinated more successful procedures for competing with the concerned company.
Along with that, it must be stated that there are certain views that higher officials and board members of a business have. It is important to pass this information to the subordinate members of a company. As commented by Robertson and Kee (2017), the presence of this information helps the employees understand the objectives of the company and therefore, they shall work accordingly. However, in this regard the factor that is most important is to ensure that the employees are actually concerned of the aims and objectives of the company. In case there is a misinterpretation of the data and information, it is likely to reflect onto the social media as well which would create a different impact on the related people and thus, the business would face difficulty in fulfilling the objective and aims in the long run. According to Guraya (2016), this shall also call for negative impact of the associated people on the company and its employees. Thus, the customers shall be negatively impacted and as a result, there would be negative impact on the customer base of the company, thereby, affecting its well being in the market.
It has already been studied earlier that social media usage shall culminate into lowering down employee turnover rate. The dissimilarity to this thought shall be found with the help of the study conducted by Cardon and Marshall (2015) which states that social networking site in workplace shall create opportunities for the employees to communicate and develop relationships with other employers and thus, this might turn out to be an issue for the organization. When a representative sees that other boss is superior to his possess manager, he might create the likeliness of taking off that organization and connect the other manager. As supported by Turel and Bechara (2017), it has been witnessed that more than 75% of the employees have the likeliness of looking and searching for employers who are better and thus, they develop the tendency of joining them. This shall be a risk for the concerned organization and thus, there is a huge need for strategy implementation for better employee management and motivation of the employees. However, it is to be noted in this regard that employers shall not create discrimination on the basis of their social background such as cast, creed or cultural background. This shall result in the imposition of certain legal consequences on the company as discrimination by employers on the basis of social background is considered to be illegal (Kock et al. 2018). However, the issue that prevails mostly with the use of social media is that employers often end up judging the candidates on the basis of their social background and therefore, this creates an unbiased attitude for the candidate and thus, the organization shall gain negative impact from the people.
Based on the discussion and analysis in the current essay regarding the use and misuse of social media at workplace it can be stated that use of social networking site shall be both advantageous and disadvantageous for businesses. Social networking use in workplace helps them create that social bond which boosts the mind of the employees. It also results in the ease of the recruitment and selection process and thus, putting advertisements on social media shall easily attract employees for employment in the organization. When an employee gets to share his issue he shall get a number of responses for the resolution of the issue and those responses shall rest on different aspects which would only contribute to the knowledge gaining of the concerned individual, thereby, shaping his professional character in a better way. It also results in innovation and creativity owing to betterment of communication and each of the associated members would get equal chances of participating in the communication process. However, there are certain issues as well. it has been revealed that almost 70% of the businesses adhering to the use of social media had to take disciplinary actions against their employees due to the misuse of social media. There shall also be misinterpretation of the information by employees provided to them by the higher officials. This creates a negative notion. Thus, it can be concluded that managers must look into the proper use of social networking sites into business.
Arora, R. G., & Tandon, A. (2017). Social networking sites vs. employee performance: An insight. In International Conference on Strategies in Volatile and Uncertain Environment for Emerging Markets, New Dehli, India. Retrieved from http://www. strategiesinemergingmarkets. com/proceedings (Vol. 2).
Cardon, P. W., & Marshall, B. (2015). The hype and reality of social media use for work collaboration and team communication. International Journal of Business Communication, 52(3), 273-293.
Collins, K., Shiffman, D., & Rock, J. (2016). How are scientists using social media in the workplace?. PloS one, 11(10), e0162680.
El Ouirdi, A., El Ouirdi, M., Segers, J., & Henderickx, E. (2015). Employees' use of social media technologies: a methodological and thematic review. Behaviour & Information Technology, 34(5), 454-464.
Guraya, S. Y. (2016). The usage of social networking sites by medical students for educational purposes: a meta-analysis and systematic review. North American journal of medical sciences, 8(7), 268.
J-Ho, S. C., & Ramayah, T. (2016). The Good, Bad and Ugly Sides of Internet Usage in the Workplace. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 2(2), 159-166.
Kock, N., Moqbel, M., Barton, K., & Bartelt, V. (2018). Intended Continued Use Social Networking Sites: Effects on Job Satisfaction and Performance. In Social Issues in the Workplace: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 472-493). IGI Global.
Mäntymäki, M., & Riemer, K. (2016). Enterprise social networking: A knowledge management perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 36(6), 1042-1052.
Meishar-Tal, H., & Pieterse, E. (2017). Why do academics use academic social networking sites?. The international review of research in open and distributed learning, 18(1).
Nyaribo, Y. M., & Munene, A. G. (2018). Effect of social media pertication in the workplace on employee productivity. IJAME.
Robertson, B. W., & Kee, K. F. (2017). Social media at work: The roles of job satisfaction, employment status, and Facebook use with co-workers. Computers in Human Behavior, 70, 191-196.
Silic, M., & Back, A. (2016). The dark side of social networking sites: Understanding phishing risks. Computers in Human Behavior, 60, 35-43.
Stoughton, J. W., Thompson, L. F., & Meade, A. W. (2015). Examining applicant reactions to the use of social networking websites in pre-employment screening. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(1), 73-88.
Taylor, M., Haggerty, J., Gresty, D., Wren, C., & Berry, T. (2016). Avoiding the misuse of social media by employees. Network Security, 2016(5), 8-11.
Thomas, S. L., Rothschild, P. C., & Donegan, C. (2015). Social networking, management responsibilities, and employee rights: the evolving role of social networking in employment decisions. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 27(4), 307-323.
Tudu, P. N., & Pathak, P. (2015). Social network sites: Can they enhance employee productivity in an organization?. The International Journal of Management Science and Information Technology (IJMSIT), (17), 23-35.
Turel, O. (2017). Organizational deviance via social networking site use: The roles of inhibition, stress and sex differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 119, 311-316.
Turel, O., & Bechara, A. (2017). Effects of motor impulsivity and sleep quality on swearing, interpersonally deviant and disadvantageous behaviors on online social networking sites. Personality and Individual Differences, 108, 91-97.
