Nowadays, social media seem to be the perfect channel for employee voice. It is known as the ideal provider of innovation and helps with employee involvement.  However, there are still many organisations which are holding back. There are lots of reasons why.

 

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Companies are afraid of the misuse which can happen. Unfortunately, this restricts the company's development and innovation. Moreover, it prevents employees from using social media at work, even if it is related to work.

 

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Secondly, organisations are not trained how to use social media effectively. Many companies use it in traditional and corporate way which is focused on monologue rather than two-way communication. In this way employees can express their concerns and be part of the decision making. Although, the important kind of communication for employee voice is the upward type.

 

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Companies tend to use social media externally to communicate with customers and stakeholders rather than use them internally to communicate with their employees. CIPD says that only one in four people use social media at work while three people in four use social media at home (CIPD, 2014). That is why creating a transparency and trust is . Every organisation should create a culture where nobody is afraid to express their ideas. To set up this kind of culture the company needs to implement social media policies which will help both sides.

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Another reason why companies are holding back is because they are afraid the use of internal social media will get out of control. However, this can be solved by setting of clear social media procedures and policies.

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The latest Workplace Employment Relations study has found out that employers tend to favour direct types of communication. This can be supported by the fact that there is an increase in a use of emails. However, there are some organisations which are already working on decreasing the use of emails by using social media instead. Because they know social media offer an open place for discussion for everyone within an organisation.

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TIPS

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