No Facebook? No thanks. No Job.

by Stevie Smith - Apr 17 2008, 13:18

Stop the press! It would appear that modern man, if given the choice between the lure of monetary gain or the comfort of online communication would rather pass over the former if the latter is not also included. $Employees in Australia say they would turn down a job if it didn\'t have social network access. Credit: Facebook.$

Employees in Australia say they would turn down a job if it didn\'t have social network access. Credit: Facebook.

Specifically, new research conducted in Australia has discovered that employers who do not provide their workforce with access to popular social networking Web sites run the risk of losing staff to competitors.According to a study carried out by Australian law firm Deacons, almost half of the professional respondents, who use the likes of MySpace and Facebook during the course of their work day, said they would turn down a job opportunity that blocked social networking.Deacons’ study, which covered a total of 700 Australian workers, returned that most participants believed employers would likely benefit from allowing social network access during work hours as it displayed an element of employee trust while also enabling them to forge better inter-office connections with other employees, as well as clients and suppliers.That’s not exactly an outlook embraced by those employers who see social networking sites as little more than an ever-present distraction that can only negatively affect levels of productivity, reports News.com.au.However, the most desirable young professional employees are often those most familiar and accustomed to social networking, says Nick Abrahams, head of technology media and telecommunications at Deacons, which subsequently leaves businesses in somewhat of a bind when it comes to striking an appropriate balance.According to Mr. Abrahams, employers must therefore carefully evaluate any risks related to allowing staff to use social networking destination against those likely to emerge through the prevention of access.

He also goes on to say that, beyond employer concerns related to productivity troughs caused by social networking, infrastructure can also be placed under unnecessary stress due to the added weight of image, music and video downloads that go hand-in-hand with the world’s most popular social networking destinations. There are also significant worries related to employees carelessly divulging sensitive company information to outside parties. Deacons concludes that employers need to consider the implementation of official office guidelines surrounding access to social networks during work hours rather than simply blocking access completely. The law firm outlines that such guidance should specifically outline how much time employees are allowed to spend networking while also reminding them to exercise caution regarding confidential company information.

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SteveApr 17th, 2008 - 17:52:53

Woah!That would never fly in the IT Shops here in the U.S.Social networking is one of the top filters for pretty much every filtering appliance sold. Granted restricted access is a good point, but there are seldom policies in place to help control what is posted. The network stress is moot, you can filter by protocol and stop streaming, and downloading of files by weight. All while allowing the site. Linked-in is being allowed in some companies I work with, 'professional' social networking is okay apparently. Steve

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Arjun SApr 18th, 2008 - 19:31:17

Usage of social networking sites during work can add a personal touch to the work ambiance and help employees be more productive. But, companies that allow for 'official' usage hours of Social Networking may create unnecessary liabilities, for instance, if a person misuses a social networking website during this company-granted time slot. It may be better if companies don't interfere and just tell employees that you cannot discuss work related information on the Internet during work hours. This may the optimum control that a company may enforce and yet maintain productivity.

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Jonathan CrabtreeApr 19th, 2008 - 00:54:43

Did you know that there is a new Australian ad-free not-for-profit social network with a twist? Of course not! Nobody does except the 3003 members who have joined in the last few weeks.

You see GMHBA staff (where I work) used to be unable to access Facebook and Myspace. Similarly GMHBA did not have a myspace page because we did not want our brand surrounded by ads for dating services or scammy ringtone sites.

That is partly why we've created buZZ.org.au

Maybe business people worried about all the ads on facebook.com and myspace.com should simply check out the ad-free alternative.

BTW GMHBA staff now have access to both Facebook and Myspace as well during BH and I guess by treating staff like adults they behave like adults!

Jonathan Crabtree
(Disclosure I am the creator of the buzz.org.au website and work for a not-for-profit health fund called GMHBA)

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