What is corporate social networking?
With the expansion of the internet and the need to modernize the company’s internal communication , managers started to adhere to solutions that:
- offer greater engagement among employees;
- more practicality in everyday life;
- are high connectivity, as is the case with the corporate social network.
A corporate social network can be compared to traditional social networks, however, with innovative features.
We can define what is a corporate social network as a space where several people who have the same interest can exchange information on a given topic.
It is an environment in which employees, customers, suppliers and other people who are part of the company’s day-to-day interact in some way.
The functioning of a corporate social network is similar to other social networks , however, it is intended for internal business communication .
This means that each employee has a profile in the tool, which allows:
- share opinions, information, photos;
- start debates;
- to encourage interactivity among employees , just like on Facebook or Twitter.
Companies that use corporate social networks perceive significant changes in all areas of the organization, from strategic to operational.
Many managers have already realized the strategic value of communication and internal marketing and are looking for alternatives that go beyond traditional marketing and sales.
What are the benefits of a corporate social network?
Now that you’ve learned what corporate social networking is, it’s important to understand the advantages of adopting it in business.
A corporate social network is characterized by being an important tool for the work environment, mainly used to assist in internal communication between employees.
The main advantage of using this channel is the rapid ability to disseminate information when compared to other media.
In addition, a social network works as a learning vehicle for all employees of the organization, as it allows the sharing of files, spreadsheets and other information and data, replacing the old intranets .
Other benefits related to the corporate social network are the speed gain in the execution of internal processes and the ease of access . This is because it is a means of communication that strengthens:
- connectivity;
- participation;
- information sharing among members.
In other words, it provides for the implementation of a more participatory management among all hierarchical levels of the company.
Corporate social networking requires employee training and empowerment and mentoring.
Management must provide all employees with adequate preparation for accessing the internal network. That’s because it doesn’t make much sense to have a social network if access is restricted to a small internal group or if adherence to the tool is low.
Examples of corporate social networks
1-AppTalk
AppTalk is an application that aims to connect employees and also measure the reach of your company’s internal communication strategies. With it, you share information in a secure, 100% digital environment with real-time reach.
2-Social Base
With the communication platform you can send announcements, chat with everyone in real time, access the organization’s systems quickly and reduce bureaucracy with a few clicks.
3-Workplace (Facebook)
Workplace is a corporate social network created by Facebook with the aim of promoting internal communication in companies, and, for this reason, with a completely separate profile from the other, which you use outside of work.
4-Yammer (Microsoft)
Yammer is an application that is part of Office and allows you to create a true internal social network in the company. It can even work, if well used, as an intranet.
5-Currents (Google)
The new social network was announced as a successor to Google+, but only in July 2020 it was officially launched for Android and iOS . The new network is intended to create “more meaningful discussions and interactions” among users.
Is there any free corporate social network?
LinkedIn, a free social network aimed at professionals. The site allows the user to establish connections with colleagues at companies he has worked for, ask for recommendations from contacts and apply for vacancies published on the network.
What are the indicators and metrics of this internal communication tool?
| Indicator | Description |
| Users’ daily visit | Sum of the number of times an employee accesses the network per day. |
| engagement rate | Ratio between the total number of company employees and the profiles registered on the network. |
| Subject reading rate | How much each story was read by unique users. |
| interactions | Number of comments, likes and shares on corporate social network news and campaigns. |
| adhesion | Percentage of employees who use the tool |
How to create a corporate social network?
After all, how to create an exclusive social media for your employees to use, if you want to develop your own platform? In this case, you can create a new and unique page for your company.
First, analyze what your business needs are and what needs to be done to improve the communication and engagement of your teams. After all, creating a custom tool needs to perfectly suit your company.
For this, you will need to have a team specialized in technology. They are the ones who will carry out the entire infrastructure of the online corporate social network. Afterwards, access to the new social network needs to be shared with all employees, as well as the instructions for use.
The ideal is to create a version that can be accessed both by cell phone and by computer. This makes it easy to share and engage wherever your employees are. This is a possible solution, but remember that it is often worth investing in an existing alternative and saving time and internal resources.
What features should a corporate social network have?
When looking for the best corporate social network option, some essential features should be considered to ensure a good employee experience. Check out the examples below.
- Publication of text, image and video content.
- Creating closed groups.
- Publicity of events.
- Conducting discussion forums.
- Chats for sending instant messages.
- Basic usage rules and policies.
- Responsive structure and design.
- Data security.
What is the importance of corporate social networks?
In case you still have some questions about the importance of having a business social media to interact and engage your employees, we want to remind you of the importance of this investment. Check out:
1. Motivate the team
During the work routine, employees need to be motivated to become more participatory and engaged. Therefore, the corporate social network manages to involve professionals in a deeper way in the business environment.
After all, the integration and union that this type of resource offers can effectively contribute to the contact between people and increase the motivation index.
2. Increases productivity
The increase in productivity among employees, in addition to the drop in wasted time, are notable when implementing a social network in the work environment.
After all, this type of business media also helps to organize work, communicate better with other colleagues and store important documents and information. In addition, with extra resources, employees can still perform daily tasks on this same platform.
3. Competitive advantage in the market
According to a survey by the McKinsey consultancy , published on the Extra website, 93% of companies in the world use at least one corporate social network , in addition, in 74% of these companies, the network is linked to the work of employees.
This data shows that many institutions have already recognized the power of a corporate social network, so if your company stays out of this trend it will not compete with the competition.
4. Improves the team’s communication flow
All types of communications can be released within the corporate social network, such as working hours, code of conduct, work ethics , labor updates, among others.
This type of resource helps the company and team to align and stay in tune, in fact, social media also facilitates horizontal communication between the employees themselves.
5. Decreased time spent in meetings
A survey carried out by Asana , published on the Small Business & Big Business website, shows that employees spend about 58% of their time just coordinating work , such as meetings and messages.
By implementing the practice of disclosing important announcements and information on the corporate social network, the number of meetings can decrease, as professionals know about the most important events and events.
6. Facilitates Onboarding
Depending on the size of the company and the locations of employees throughout Brazil, integration between teams can become a more difficult process. In addition, onboarding processes are much more agile when the employee finds everything they need on the same platform.
Therefore, the corporate social network can be a great resource to integrate employees . In fact, large companies with offices spread across the country or that have workers with different work models (face-to-face, home office and hybrid) have professionals focused on their bubble, that is, without knowing other colleagues.
Therefore, this type of social network can reduce these distances and increase integration between employees, providing a welcoming environment for everyone.
How to make employees engage in networks?
Finally, we want to show you how to engage your employees so that they use corporate social networks, ensuring the investment made by the company. Look:
- Create an incentive program. Reward teams for using the network by spreading content, sharing and interacting.
- Invest in quality content.
- Prioritize content that comes from the employees themselves.
- Share information, news and decisions.
- Recognize good ideas and initiatives.
- Collaborate, share knowledge and generate integration.
Now you know the importance of having a corporate social network to improve communication in your company.
Count on Factorial’s Employee Portal feature that centralizes everything on a single platform, ensuring access to personal information, documents and other features.
