IT professionals at your company probably spend hours erecting software shields around your internal network. They also work to keep the outside world from intruding on productivity by monitoring for sites they deem to be inappropriate to business and preventing them from reaching employee computers. After all, Facebook and Twitter are nothing but time wasters, right?
On the face of it, the logic seems sound. The problem is it’s completely wrong. Increasingly customers, thought leaders, and researchers have an established presence on social media sites. There are people that employees need to reach and information they must have, regardless of the reputation of these sites.
Employees aren’t waiting for IT to catch up to the new reality. They are using mobile devices to perform necessary tasks during work hours, or they’re waiting until they get home to conduct work-related social media activities from their home computers. Our research shows that 55% of employees use social media for work outside of the office while 78% use these sites during work hours.
It’s a mistake to rely on firewalls to decide what’s appropriate social media access for a company. That requires a sound social media policy, informed management and trained employees. Is your company ready for the new reality? Contact Prime Function to learn how to improve company policy and employee awareness.
