Social Media an Increasingly Important Tool in Keeping Employees
Engaged During Tough Economic Times, Survey Finds
SAN FRANCISCO & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Employers faced with reduced communication budgets and resources are
turning to social media to keep their workforce engaged, according to a
survey released today.
In its “Employee Engagement Survey,” the International Association of
Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation teamed with Buck
Consultants, an ACS company, to determine how organizations are
communicating with employees to keep them engaged and productive. The
survey includes responses from nearly 1,500 participants representing a
broad industry and geographic base. The survey results are being
released today at the annual IABC World Conference in San Francisco.
“Communicating for optimal employee engagement is always a timely topic,
but even more so during challenging economic times,” said Robin
McCasland, a director in Buck Consultants’ communication practice and
2009–2010 chair of IABC Research Foundation. “Our results represent
opportunities for communicators to have greater influence in delivering
messages that encourage employees to remain productive, and to
understand how their work contributes toward achieving business
priorities.”
Almost four-fifths (79 percent) of the respondents report that they use
social media frequently to engage employees and foster productivity,
outranking even email (75 percent). Company blogs are the most popular
social media tool currently in use (47 percent), with discussion boards
ranking the highest for future planned use (33 percent).
“It’s encouraging to see the rising popularity of social media in
employee communication,” said Julie Freeman, ABC, APR, president of
IABC. “Companies are moving away from the one-way communication model
where they would send out information hoping people would read it. Using
the various social media tools, companies can now engage employees in
discussions and foster conversations between teams across geographic and
other boundaries.”
Current use of social networking sites such as Twitter (21 percent),
Yammer (20 percent), and Facebook (18 percent) is significant, but
organizations are planning to use those tools even more in the future.
Other key survey findings include:
-
More than half of the respondents (52 percent) report their
communication budgets have decreased and 35 percent report their
communication staff has been reduced over the past 12 months
-
The most common reasons cited for communication budget and staff cuts
are: the economic downturn (46 percent) and organizational mandates
(42 percent)
-
Forty-eight percent report their employee communication strategy has
stayed the same despite the economic downturn
-
The frequency of ongoing employee listening reflected an “all or
nothing” approach, with 62 percent of respondents who regularly engage
in employee listening activities such as surveys and focus groups, and
30 percent who rarely or never engage in these methods
-
Fifty-six percent of top executives are not using social media at this
time, and nearly half (46 percent) of organizations are not measuring
social media’s effectiveness
-
Almost six in 10 respondents (59 percent) think their company has a
well-established internal or employer brand
About Buck
Buck Consultants, an ACS company, is a leader in human resource and
benefits consulting with more than 1,500 professionals worldwide.
Founded in 1916 to advise clients in establishing and funding some of
the nation’s first public and private retirement programs, Buck is an
innovator in the areas of retirement benefits, health and welfare
programs, human capital management, compensation, and employee
communication. News and other information about Buck Consultants are
available at www.buckconsultants.com.
Buck is an independent subsidiary of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.
ACS, a global FORTUNE 500 company with approximately 74,000 people
supporting client operations reaching more than 100 countries, provides
business process outsourcing and information technology solutions to
world-class commercial and government clients. The company's Class A
common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
"ACS." Learn more about ACS at www.acs-inc.com.
About IABC
The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is a
global network of communication professionals committed to improving
organizational effectiveness through strategic communication.
Established in 1970, IABC serves more than 16,000 members in 80
countries and 100 chapters. For more information, visit www.iabc.com.
Founded in 1982, IABC Research Foundation serves as the research and
development arm of the International Association of Business
Communicators. The Foundation supports and advances the practice of
organizational communication by providing IABC members with research
that bridges the divide between communication theory and practice by
offering in-depth knowledge and tools that improve organizational
communication performance and strengthen the communication profession as
a whole. For more information, visit www.iabc.com/rf.
The 2009 “Employee Engagement Survey” report is available to the media
by contacting Ed Gadowski at 201-902-2825. It is available to other
interested parties at no cost from Buck’s Global Survey Resources, 500
Plaza Drive, Secaucus, NJ, 07096-1533. Telephone 1-800-887-0509. It is
also available online at www.bucksurveys.com
or www.iabc.com/rf.
Buck Consultants, LLC
Ed Gadowski, 201-902-2825
Manager, Media
Relations
edward.gadowski@buckconsultants.com
or
IABC
Archana
Verma, 415-544-4722
425-518-9184 (cell)
Director of Marketing
and Communication
averma@iabc.com
or
Affiliated
Computer Services, Inc.
Carol DeMatteo, 214-841-8110
Director,
Corporate Communications
carol.dematteo@acs-inc.com
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