The Connected Company
A recent Nielsen survey revealed that 300 million people worldwide are spending an average of five-and-a-half hours per month on Social Networking (facebook, LinkedIn). This is an increase of 80 % vs. last year, and this does not even include time spent on reading and writing blogs; sharing YouTube videos or Flickr photos.
These people represent customers, employees, and stakeholders. Thanks to social media, they have found their own channels of communication, ones which companies do not own and cannot directly control. This means they now hold more influence over buying decisions, and brand and employer reputation, to name but a few.
This 2.0 interaction affects your business not only in the future, but right now.
Social media as a tool has proven to be in many cases an accelerator for changing (intentional or unintentional) culture, leadership, and business models. More and more companies are using social networking and Web 2.0 technologies to reinvent management. Take for example, a case study featured on Management Exchange, Gary Hamel’s initiative to drive management innovation; US insurance giant Nationwide that just launched a series of initiatives on the belief that by creating the technical and cultural fabric of a social network inside Nationwide, they could challenge the management orthodoxies and help transform the culture of the company.
There is also a growing demand for sharing and collaboration from the next generation entering the workforce, the ‘digital natives’, which this year became the biggest cohort in the global workforce. The May 2010 Harvard Business Review describes how the next generation in the workforce is asking more and more for ‘a sense of purpose’ in their work. They want a constant stream of feedback, are in a hurry to be successful, and many don’t remember a world without social media. Rather than turning to hierarchies and superiors for knowledge and information, they focus instead on connecting and collaborating with their peers, achieving their individual goals via shared means and a connection to a shared goal.
As The Economist recently put it: “Social-networking technologies are creating considerable benefits for the businesses that embrace them, whatever their size”. Businesses that get this right, experience higher employee engagement, higher customer engagement, lower communication costs, better innovation results and better decision-making.
- How will you leverage social media for powerful business impact?
- What discontinuities does the use of social media create for your business and industry and as a result, how should your leadership styles evolve to ensure success in this new environment?
- How will you engage your social media savvy leaders and turn this “2.0″ phenomenon into an advantage?
- What do your leaders and the next generation see as critical areas for action and impact?
- And how do the next generation leaders, today’s talented graduates that join your company expect to be managed - can your leaders keep them engaged with yesterday’s leadership styles?
Because in this increasingly complex world, business as usual is not an option.
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