How to Create Internal Social Networks for Employees
By • Leave a commentMore companies are using the power of internal social networks to help employees get the news and information they need, as well as other resources critical to doing their jobs.
Social networks connect employees
Some are at the starting line, just jumping into the social media waters. Others have built a global “digital village” for employees who can post updates in a Twitter-like feed, share information with colleagues and receive crucial corporate information that is fed to them daily.
One of these companies is Pfizer, the world’s leading pharmaceutical company. I wrote about Pfizer’s internal network My World last year. This network is truly awesome and it has only expanded its capabilities since then.
Come to Our Social Networks Webinar
I will be co-presenting with Bob Libbey, senior director of Global Colleague Communications and Corporate Social Media, Pfizer Inc., at an HR.com webinar on Tuesday, May 22, at 1 pm, EDT. You can register by clicking on the title of our presentation: How Internal Social Networks Enable Interacting and Responding to Employee Needs.
I will describe how smaller companies can also establish social networks for their employees by using third-party networks such as LinkedIn, Google+ and Ning.
Bob will explain how Pfizer consolidated more than 400 news and information sites, each with its own look, feel and navigation set-up. In the past year, Pfizer’s My World has attracted 175,000 unique visitors (including outside vendors and consultants) and over 60 million page views.
So I invite you to join us on our webinar to learn how your company can start or expand your employee’s internal social network.
Related articles
- Internal social networking can help employees get engaged (bizjournals.com)
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It seems to me it wouldn’t be a matter of keeping employees engaged but instead getting them to shut things off at times. Will you be highlighting in a future post some of the key points you and Bob will be communicating Jeannette? Sounds like a great program.
Pat — I’ll be posting the slide presentation on my site and some of the highlights. The beauty of internal social networks is they are push/pull. Companies can push out information that employees need, but employees can pull it in at their convenience. As usual, the quality and timeliness of the content is key. Bob Libbey told me just about the only guidelines for use that Pfizer has is that individual countries, which can have their own platforms within the network, must keep their content fresh and if they don’t they could be shut down. As you know, nothing will kill interest more in a social network — or a blog, for that matter — than stale content. Google doesn’t like it either!
Congrats Jeannette…this is so great for you! I will pass this along.
Bea
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Thanks, Bea. Pfizer’s program goes right to the heart of your focus on corporate leadership. The company’s awesome internal social network has created a highly engaged workforce.
Hi Jeannette,
This resonates of companies having Intranets years ago. I’d be curious to know if Pfizer’s program started out that way. I won’t be able to attend your webinar but I look forward to viewing your slideshow when you post it. I hope you have a great attendance.
Sherryl Perry recently posted..Does Twitter Drive Traffic to Your Website Blog?
Sherryl — Pfizer found it had several hundred intranets worldwide, none of which connected. The company decided to consolidate to one platform on SharePoint, although individual countries and business units can have their own sites within the corporate platform. Everyone is connected now and it saved the company a substantial amount of money.
Jeannette, Thanks for the update on Pfizer. I remember SharePoint. I’ve been out of the corporate environment for so long that I had forgotten about it. It actually sounds like it would have been an exciting project to have been a part of. This is interesting Jeannette. I’m looking forward to hearing more about it.
Sherryl Perry recently posted..Does Twitter Drive Traffic to Your Website Blog?
Congratulations Jeannette!! Sounds like you have a great speaking opportunity!!
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I’m sorry that I am unable to view your webinar on Tuesday but I did read your back post about the social media networks that Pfizer and American Express developed for their companies.
My question is, how do they keep the employees engaged in these sites without the paranoid specter of Big Brother (in the form of the company bosses) watching over everyone’s shoulder? The best thing about the old water cooler was the fact that the boss was not standing their listening to your every word. Has this been a problem for either of these companies?
Kay In Hawaii
Kay — Thanks for your comment and reading my earlier post. In Pfizer’s case, they allow their employees a pretty loose rein in their discussions in the company’s internal website. The fact is, most companies already have policies in place about disclosing proprietary information that would also apply to employees’ use of social media. They key is trusting your employees to do the right thing, as Bob Libbey said on our webcast, and to be professional. And mostly they do.
A social networking group within a social group? I think that is a great idea to build camaraderie between your employees, although how you can convince your people to build the group is quite tricky.
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