Adoption of social media is on
the rise in Indian IT companies as the internal social networking tools that
are similar to Facebook, twitter and collaborative tools like blogs & wikis
help in communication among employees and between employees and managements,
knowledge management, and also helps in curbing the higher attrition levels in
the companies. The rise of social networks like the Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, etc and millions of users that log on to these networks and actively
engage with friends, communities and others have forced the Indian IT companies
to build internal social networks for their employees as the employees
particularly the young employees fresh from the colleges and universities
(average age 22-26 years) who are already active on various external social
networks are also looking for similar platforms for interacting within their
organizations as these companies have more than 1,00,000 employees spread
across the globe. Employees use these internal social networks not only to collaborate
on projects, share knowledge and interact with colleagues and clients but also
share their personal information & opinions, passions, hobbies and participate
in various cultural events. Social networking tools and platforms provide
employees an opportunity to engage with the management and actively participate
in the organizational development activities and voice their opinions on the
various strategies and policies. Employees will be motivated and will work with
greater commitment for the organizational goals.
Indian IT vendors are investing
in these internal social networking platforms both for engaging their employees
and also sell these platforms to their clients who can use them in their
employee engagement. Significant investments have been made by Indian IT
vendors over the past few years as the social networks have seen tremendous
growth and most of the companies be it large, medium and small are all making
sure that they are present on all the major social networks and are also
encouraging their employees to actively participate and interact on these
networks. Most of the companies have formulated a social media policy and
guidelines for their employees too. This provides an opportunity for the Indian
IT vendors to extend their offerings into the social media platforms and help
their clients in communicating with the employees, clients and other
stakeholders, increase collaboration and knowledge management and monitor the
social networks in terms of the employee engagement, brand reputation, consumer
opinions, feedback and complaints so as to avoid any brand or reputation damage.
Companies are looking for social network platforms that are secure, do not
violate the intellectual property rights, and provide an easy to use platform
for their employees, customers and other stakeholders.
Employees in Indian IT companies
are actively engaging in the internal social networking platforms as evident by
the details provided by major Indian IT vendors like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL
and Cognizant Technology. Employees are actively creating their work and
personal profiles, expressing their interest, hobbies, affiliations and
uploading content like photos, music, and videos. Lakhs of employees spread
across the globe are actively interacting, understanding and appreciating the
different cultures and working on their hobbies like forming music bands, dance
groups, literary groups that are totally unrelated to their work or company.
Managements are allowing these activities with an expectation that employees will
stick with the company for longer periods, be loyal and actively involve in
developing innovative products and services and improve the brand reputation of
the company and ultimately increase the revenues and profitability. Some of the
Indian IT vendors have announced that there has been significant reduction in
the attrition levels and employee engagement and satisfaction levels have also
increased.
These internal social network
platforms are not totally internal but also allow consumers and other external
stakeholders to communicate with the company and its employees. Consumers and
other external stakeholders are provided with necessary access and secured
logins. Communication among these groups is significant as it will help in
innovations and development of products and services. Innovation is critical
for the Indian IT vendors and the employees as well as the management have to
constantly learn about new technologies and developments that are happening in
the industry so as to incorporate them into their products and service
offerings. Operational efficiency will increase and the costs of communication
will come down significantly as employees will be using the internal social
network platforms for communication and these communications will be more
productive. Indian IT vendors have to use the various social media and
networking tools internally for their employees before they go to their clients
offering various social media related service offerings. Their implementation
and usage internally will be the best testimonial for the social media service
offerings. The competition among the Indian Vendors and Global Vendors is so
tight and any lapses in identifying the emerging and disruptive trends and
consumer preferences and necessities will have drastic effects on the business
and its survival.
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