"Know who", the real "know how". Happening now.

According to a study made by Robert Half Technology earlier this year that allegedly processed the answers of 1.400 chief information officers from companies across the US, more than 54% of them responded that their companies do not allow employees to visit social networking websites for any reason during office hours. Together with messaging tools like Yahoo or MSN Messenger, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter are seen like the devil's work in these companies and are, as such, regarded as counterproductive. Amongst the main reasons why different employers block social media, the main is, of course, loss in productivity, but "exposure of company's computer and network to viruses and spyware" and "leaking of corporate information" rank high as well. This kind of study only confirms what you might already be thinking, that this happens elsewhere in the world as well. After all, throughout the world and especially outside some industries like online advertising or media in itself, Social Media websites are regarded as entertainment.  

In fact, considering all of these websites as entertainment is the weapon of choice for those who argue that it is more productive for companies not to restrict their employees access to Social Media. According to another study from the University of Melbourne, "short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf on the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a day's work, and, as a result, increase productivity." According to this study, those who engage in WILB (Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing) are 9% more productive than those who don't. But this is Australia we're talking about, so this might explain the result of the study.

Nevertheless, keeping in mind that companies do need to focus on trying to find the right balance between trying to increase productivity and keeping the employees happy enough (in order to be more productive), leaving Social Media open for office hours browsing might have another upside. Of course, it's true that people often show a natural tendency towards mintrubbing, but instead of fighting natural impulses, companies might actually find that it's easier to just put them to good use. Radical solutions seldom work, so keeping one's employees happy and well connected might be the Holy Grail of the Sales & Recruitment Effort. How? Simple.

Instead of blocking social media, the company can actually encourage people to engage in it, get connected and maintain their connections active. Then, gathering the overall social media connections of all employees into one searchable database gives the company a pool of connections that is, if not priceless, then certainly more worthy than the time spent by the employees creating it.

In this simple way, know how transforms into know who, as companies realize more and more nowadays that reaching potential clients through recommendations is much better than going through all the negatives of cold calling. Of course, the same applies to the recruitment effort.

Read more about the benefits of combining traditional CRM with the Social Networks at www.clintelica.com.

Studies via blog.socialcast.com