INTRODUCTION

According to Scarlett Surveys, "Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employee's

positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organization that
profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work". Thus engagement is
distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organisational culture.
- Wikipedia
An engaged employee is willing to work more and is more enthusiastic about company tasks
which further the companys interest. The term employee engagement describes an employees
emotional attachment and satisfaction with his work or job in his/her organization
Actively engaged employees are profoundly connected to the organization that employs them.
They recommend the organization and its product/services to others and they are committed to
help the organization succeed.
With the advent of the digital age and the increasing of social media websites like Facebook and
Twitter, traditional methods of employee engagement have increasingly been changes to modern
methods. Organizations have started encouraging employees to use social media to spread
awareness about the product and services offered. In return, organizations have also started using
their own websites and social media websites to display promotions, rewards and incentives.
Recognition on an openly available platform instead of a company only platform motivates
employees to work harder. Using social media as a tool also removes the drivel and boredom of
email threads and office memos. Better employee engagement strategies ensure employee
retention and improves attrition rates.
















Social media provides users with information via blogs, podcasts, and webinars. Users write
reviews or create forums, wikis, and videos. Users connect with each other and providers
through virtual worlds and social network communities.
Social networking has caused a fundamental and transformational shift in the way that people
are connecting, knowledge is being shared and information is flowing, says Charles B.
Kreitzberg, Ph.D., CEO of Cognetics, a firm dealing with the human aspects of computer
technology.

What should we share?
Of course, not everything within a business should be up for public sharing and discussion.
Obviously, information pertaining to benefits and retirement, private personnel matters, salary,
and performance reviews should be communicated privately and securely with employees via
corporate email, an intranet, private social network, internal blog or at a staff meeting.
But there are numerous other ways to use social media in order to connect and share with your
current and prospective employees:
Announce company news by linking to a news release on your website
Welcome a new hire or congratulate someone on a promotion
Link to a news article about your company
Post photos and videos
Highlight your community involvement
Recognize individuals or teams of employees for their work
Share industry news and ask employees to share their opinions
Acknowledge customers or share business success stories
Encourage health and wellness



SHARING KNOWLEDGE
Social networking creates personal networks of friends and professional networks of colleagues
available to offer information at the click of a mouse. Meeting others through online
conversations creates and strengthens relationships, alerting employees to who knows what,
where to go for information. Through social networks, people share common interests or needs
who wouldnt normally meet; they support each other in knowledge sharing and problem
solving.



Social networking helps form business strategies and strategic alliances. Howard Rheingold,
Rheingold Associates, notes that a large teachers organization had developed and was promoting
new standards for teaching math at all levels. Getting everyone together was unrealistic so what
was the most efficient way to promote the new math standards?
Ultimately, the teachers organization partnered with a public television station to produce and
distribute videos showing real teachers teaching to the new standards. A teacher facilitated
interaction on a social network with groups of teachers to share teaching experiences, student
projects and best practices. One teacher noted that just reading about the new standards would
never have given him the rich, depth of information, and resources obtained through the
social network.


ENHANCING COMMUNICATION
Social networking allows people to get and stay in touch, minimizing the need for endless email
streams or the wait for an expert. Online users are surprised by how quickly they get responses
from employees at Sears and Kmart in response to questions and complaints posted on company
websites. Timely communication fosters customer satisfaction, which creates brand loyalty and
contributes to the bottom line.
Online social networks at work facilitate continuous employee communication, which promotes
awareness of and helps employees better understand the roles and responsibilities of colleagues
in other departments. This helps employees feel a part of the whole, increasing employee
satisfaction at work.


MAKING CONNECTIONS, CULTIVATING RELATIONSHIPS
Information and knowledge are shared with people, not organizations. We all know that creating
relationships is essential to business success; social networking connects people, who often
establish relationships lasting a lifetime.

Two-thirds of all Zappos employees are on Twitter, where they are encouraged to let their
personalities shine through when connecting online with customers to offer tips on shoe care or
respond to customer questions. Customers describe it to be like having their own personal
shopper at the company! Such customer satisfaction can only drive return business.
For 71 of its 75 years, Indium Corporation of America, developer, manufacturer and supplier of
solders and thermal interface materials, acquired business through direct marketing and trade
shows. Four years ago, the marketing director tapped an engineer on the shoulder and asked him
to start blogging. Four years later, Indium has ten blogs and 15 bloggers, professional staff who
cultivate relationships that have moved offline to ongoing business relationships. Made
worldwide, these relationships have not only enhanced customer satisfaction and brand loyalty
but employee satisfaction as well; employee bloggers feel empowered to interact with customers
in new ways.

Relationships in business mean everything; the relationship should be with the people behind
the site, not with the site itself. Those in the organization must foster and nurture the
relationship, states Anne Pauker Kreitzberg, President of Cognetics.
By social networking, employees learn new things about their colleagues personally and
professionally. One employee was struck by insightful comments made online by a colleague, a
man who appeared aloof during face-to-face meetings. This realization prompted the employee
to interact more often with this colleague. Social networking opens up infinite possibilities and
resources not the least of which may be increased employee satisfaction.


ENGAGING EMPLOYEES
Social networking also increases employee satisfaction on the job because employees feel more
engaged in their work. An $8-billion energy company was conducting a strategic analysis of
factors influencing its industry. The usual practice was for the company to hire external
consultants to work with its corporate officers.
Recently, however, the company created an online network to engage people at all levels of the
company around the world in discussions (real time and asynchronous) about industry trends,
new technologies, the economy and factors influencing the success of the company. Some group
discussions became so dynamic that problem-solving moved to creativity and innovation! Social
networking activities made information relatively easy to locate and summarize in a report.


FACILITATING TALENT MANAGEMENT
Social networking facilitates talent management. Among the largest law firms in the world,
Latham & Watkins LLP has a private social network containing policies, procedures, forms,
invitations, upcoming events, calendars, forums and photos. The network is used early in the
recruiting process through to the alumni relationship, when attorneys leave or retire from the
firm.
The firm grants second or third round recruits limited access to the network. Once a position is
accepted, on-boarding is managed through the social network. When new attorneys show up for
work the first day, they have already made connections and developed relationships with other
staff. This social network stimulated a 15% increase in first year retention and a 38% increase in
first year productivity.
In addition to enhancing productivity, social networking creates an environment in which
employees continuously contact others for advice, strategies, and best practices just-in-time to
apply it on the job. This helps minimize the need for training outside of the organization, saving
both time and money.




CONCLUSION
Social media creates another dimension to strategically improve employee engagement. It
enhances the creativity of employees. It results in employee development and discovers hidden
talent. Employees are more aware of the affairs of the company as social media tools are popular
and used by everyone on a regular basis.
Although organizations fear the backlash of an inappropriate comment, the pros of using social
media are more than cons. Use of social media can increase customer following as there are
more people(employees) sharing information about a product/service. It also increases efficiency
which improves the image of the company.
Employees can be brand evangelists and expose their friends and family to the product/service.
They can respond to customer complaints and improve customer satisfaction. They can gather
ideas and intelligence that can improve the companys product/service or solve problems. Social
media also helps in recruitment of employees and helps make the process easier and faster.
Social media for employee retention makes information mobile, enhances creativity and
innovation, open lines of communication and improves efficiency.
About 50% of large companies and 75% of small ones (fewer than 500 employees) are using
social media of all types. Of those, it is estimated that 40-60% have their own social network.
Microsoft has the Town Square, IBM the Blue Pages, and Best Buy the Blue Shirt Nation.