....how valuable having SoMe available in the workplace is (and I presume in any business the marketing/comms teams are allowed to have their social channels turned on??), but the findings of this report are heartening I think!
It suggests to me that UK workers have figured out that SoMe are an incredibly powerful resource for learning, training, and honing their skills. For knowledge economy workers I would suggest that social media are a mission-critical tool, ideal for raising profile and promoting skills development - if managed correctly! The trick is to train and encourage staff to use social media not just responsibly (which should be a given if you are dealing with smart, sensible individuals), but effectively, as a means of staying on top of the latest developments in the business world, sharing skills and info, and strengthening the company brand. After all, a good company has good people working for it - for clients and partners to recognise that, the people must be visible and able to demonstrate their expertise, and SoMe is a great way to do so.
Any manager who thinks that they can engage and retain their staff to get the best out of them, while also treating them errant children (blanket bans etc), needs a reality check! What this report shows is that many companies haven't developed a mature SoMe policy, and need to think seriously about how best to use it not just to control their staff's SoMe presence and usage, but leverage it to provide real value for the business.
The company I'm with is working hard at the moment to develop the kind of e-learning platforms that can support experience-based learning relationships amid the hustle and bustle of a modern fast moving business.
We're making some exciting discoveries about adapting traditional e-learning to a contemporary context - I think that enabling organisational leaders to work with social/mobile/tablet-based media and stay in contact with their teams is going to be a key challenge not just for my industry going forward, but for business itself.
Good article, throwing light on a huge blind spot within current business culture. 'A new post-heroic approach to leadership' is a great phrase, a real keeper! The point about this attitude being impossible to 'teach' is also well taken, but it would be a mistake to assume that there is nothing an organisation can do to foster this kind of attitude in its leaders (and those who must of course consent to be stewarded!) I've just taken on a role within an e-learning company which is developing systems to support this kind of interaction between all organisational levels. It's becoming increasingly possible to install practices that support a culture of learning and development that empowers individuals to grow their skills and knowledge in ways commensurate with their own habits and preferences - be it learning from the web, or in informal situations, and wherever they happen to be. If I'm understanding the article correctly, these are the kind of practices that a steward-leader would be looking to inculcate horizontally across an organisation - systems of support and feedback that are smooth with how people experience the reality of their day-to-day work (and their wider lives too!)
My answers
....how valuable having SoMe available in the workplace is (and I presume in any business the marketing/comms teams are allowed to have their social channels turned on??), but the findings of this report are heartening I think!
It suggests to me that UK workers have figured out that SoMe are an incredibly powerful resource for learning, training, and honing their skills. For knowledge economy workers I would suggest that social media are a mission-critical tool, ideal for raising profile and promoting skills development - if managed correctly! The trick is to train and encourage staff to use social media not just responsibly (which should be a given if you are dealing with smart, sensible individuals), but effectively, as a means of staying on top of the latest developments in the business world, sharing skills and info, and strengthening the company brand. After all, a good company has good people working for it - for clients and partners to recognise that, the people must be visible and able to demonstrate their expertise, and SoMe is a great way to do so.
Any manager who thinks that they can engage and retain their staff to get the best out of them, while also treating them errant children (blanket bans etc), needs a reality check! What this report shows is that many companies haven't developed a mature SoMe policy, and need to think seriously about how best to use it not just to control their staff's SoMe presence and usage, but leverage it to provide real value for the business.
...for replying Kai (and Jamie)
The company I'm with is working hard at the moment to develop the kind of e-learning platforms that can support experience-based learning relationships amid the hustle and bustle of a modern fast moving business.
We're making some exciting discoveries about adapting traditional e-learning to a contemporary context - I think that enabling organisational leaders to work with social/mobile/tablet-based media and stay in contact with their teams is going to be a key challenge not just for my industry going forward, but for business itself.
That was my first comment here - apologies for the bad paragraph formatting!
Good article, throwing light on a huge blind spot within current business culture. 'A new post-heroic approach to leadership' is a great phrase, a real keeper! The point about this attitude being impossible to 'teach' is also well taken, but it would be a mistake to assume that there is nothing an organisation can do to foster this kind of attitude in its leaders (and those who must of course consent to be stewarded!) I've just taken on a role within an e-learning company which is developing systems to support this kind of interaction between all organisational levels. It's becoming increasingly possible to install practices that support a culture of learning and development that empowers individuals to grow their skills and knowledge in ways commensurate with their own habits and preferences - be it learning from the web, or in informal situations, and wherever they happen to be. If I'm understanding the article correctly, these are the kind of practices that a steward-leader would be looking to inculcate horizontally across an organisation - systems of support and feedback that are smooth with how people experience the reality of their day-to-day work (and their wider lives too!)