On the heels of a study indicating that social media can significantly impact a brand’s bottom line positively, another one has come out saying that Facebook is costing companies productivity.
To be more specific, the new independent study from Nucleus Research is saying that Facebook costs companies 1.5 percent of total productivity, and that one in every 33 employees has built their entire profile during work time.
“If your company is facing tight margins and low profitability, as many are now, then how can you accept any work distractions that drain your overall productivity?,” asks Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research for Nucleus Research.
“While it won’t make you popular, restricting Facebook can reclaim lost productivity. If your profitability is say two percent, this could be the difference between staying open or closing shop,” says Wettemann.
Here are a few statistics from the study:
– Nearly half of employees in the study and 77 percent of those with an account use Facebook during work hours
– Some employees use Facebook as much as 2 hours per day while at work
– One in 33 employees use Facebook exclusively while at work
Of those using Facebook at work, the study indicates that 87 percent of them couldn’t define a clear business reason for accessing the site. “Further, the analysis reveals potential security concerns through email, as most organizations do not monitor and manage Facebook as closely as email,” says Nucleus in a release. “This creates an opportunity for Facebook users to circumvent controls and violate corporate communications policies.”
While there are clearly concerns about employees accessing Facebook and other social networks from work, it is hard to get behind the notion that social network use should be entirely restricted by staff. The study we talked about here, suggests that the most successful brands have dedicated teams using social media. These teams would certainly be able to define “business reasons” for using the site(s). On the other hand, in some cases it appears to be wise to let a broader range of staff participate in online communities on behalf of the company.
It’s really going to come down to a variety of variables. What are your goals? What kind of business are you in? Are your employees responsible? These are the types of questions business owners should be asking themselves when deciding how to approach their social media strategies.
Do you have suggestions for business owners struggling with this issue? Please share your thoughts with murdok readers.
