Ok, I admit it. Several times a day I check LinkedIn to find out who is checking up on me. I might watch a You Tube video or two if my mind is really wandering. There are definitely going to be a couple of tweets and re-tweets. And I culled my Facebook friend list as Jeff Reeder suggested while doing research for this post. Time suck? Sure. Does it make me happier and more productive? That’s what the research shows.
A McAfee report found 40 percent of the thousand businesses they surveyed recorded an increase in productivity after allowing employees access to “Web 2.0 tools,” and 75% hoped to increase revenue by using these tools.
In other words, don’t block my access at work and we’ll get along fine.
Before we get too far down this road though, the purpose of this piece isn’t really to go into why companies should or should not block social media sites for their employees.
Plenty of others have written about that.
I just wanted to bring you up to speed – and date – on who is using social media sties and how and for how long… and how many of you are still blocking access. (Maybe I am trying to make a case for not silencing your best brand advocates).
Earlier this year, Robert Half Technology interviewed over a thousand chief information officers of companies with over one hundred employees.
Here is what they found about using social networking sites at work:
• 31% of companies prohibit all access (down from 54% in 2009)
• 51% of companies permit access for business purposes only (up from 19% in 2009)
• 14% of companies permit access for limited personal use (down from 16% in 2009)
• 4% of companies permit any access for personal use (down from 10% in 2009)
31% of companies prohibit all social media access.
Read the details of the study if you want to know more.
Now, of those who are online at work, you might guess that marketing types lead the way, comprising 44% of the at-work social media users. Let’s hear it for the creatives!
The IT folks aren’t far behind, though, with a 43% share. (Research, I’m sure).
Engineering is further back at 33%, and only 27% of the bean counters in accounting are checking out social media sites while on the clock.
Here is the breakdown as far as the specific social media sites go:
• 45% of the people who access social media sites at work are on Facebook
• 20% go to LinkedIn
• 18% hit up You Tube
• 14% for Twitter
• 3% visit specific Blogs
45% of the people who access social media sites at work are on Facebook
The device details aren’t surprising:
• 64% access these sites through a mobile device, thereby circumventing company blocking policies if there is one
• 36% use their work computer
64% access these sites through a mobile device, thereby circumventing company blocking policies if there is one
There is a combo platter as far as why they access these sites:
• 10% say it’s personal
• 35% do it for business
• 55% do it for both reasons
35% of social media at work users say they do it for business purposes
Now, how often?
62% 1-2 times/day
24% 3-5 times/day
9% 5-10 times/day
5% 10+ times/day
62% 1-2 times/day
So check me on my math, but according to the Social Networking at Work Survey stats I am citing here, of those who are using social media sites at work, a full 14% are doing it at least five times in a day, and a portion of those at least twice that.
That seems kind of excessive, doesn’t it –even for someone who champions unfettered access.
And before I get all kinds of angry cards and letters and emails, yes — I know there are plenty of stories about employees truly abusing their online privileges that have cost companies hard cash and so on.
I still think the good outweighs the bad.
We want to hear what you think though.
Do you restrict social media access at your workplace if you are an owner or a boss?
And if you are an employee, do you have full access to social media sites, or are you blocked? Tell us why you are pissed off – or happy – about either.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post David. I was at the Minnesota Recruiter’s Conference last week, as were you I know, and heard that woman who spoke about SEO ask the audience how many work for companies that block social media access. About a fourth of the people present raised their hands, which is fairly consistent with the numbers you use in the article. Of course most of these people are corporate recruiters, working for large organizations, so I didn’t find the response surprising. My expectation would be to find a lower number of social media blockers in the staffing community. I wouldn’t say technology and social media makes our jobs any easier, but it certainly has changed the way we reach and find people. Thank you for the article and the current numbers. I do know of several clients who block social media access for their employees and this is an interesting subject that won’t be going away.
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Thanks for the comment and the feedback Ravi. You are right, this issue isn’t going away regardless of how companies and organizations are dealing with it.
I was recently asked to speak by a professional trade organization about social media policies, and I did quite a lot of research leading up to that speech.
A fairly recent report from Manpower shows that only 29% of companies nationwide have a formal social media policy in place.
Interestingly enough, that is almost exactly the same number of companies across the country who block all social media access for their employees.
So you might have a situation where a company is in essence saying, “We don’t have formal guidelines about you can and cannot do online, we just know you’re not going to use a company computer to access any social media sites.”
That seems kind of crazy to me.
Other thoughts/comments?
I don’t like the term social media. It no longer works. Replace it with telephone and it’s the same conversation we had 30 years ago…”Don’t block my phone calls” or was it “No personal calls at work” – I don’t remember which.
If my workforce were did boring and repetitive work I would block personal communications, “social media” or otherwise. Why allow the temptation?
As it is, Tempworks is made of up of knowledge workers, and tools like Facebook and cell phones are just that, tools to make the knowledge worker more effective.
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I share your dislike of the term social media, Gregg. But it is a shorthand and people do know what you are talking about it when you use it. Maybe there’s an opportunity for you to coin a new word or phrase.
And yes, restricting access to personal communication, whatever the channel or means, while “on the clock” is not new.
Thanks also for sharing how you view this subject with regards to your own employees.
This is a great article. First off, if an employer is really worried about their employees being on facebook then they have the wrong people working for them. Also, if someone is in fact wasting so much time lurking around on linked in, twitter, FB etc…..then would they really be getting their work done? Either way, as long as things are getting done…why does it matter? Plus, you find out SOOO much good info. on employees when surfing the social media airway…..I personally LOVE it!
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