Job satisfaction and online Social networking

Jacob Mathew Pulikotil Research Scholar Annamalai University

Social networking - Introduction

Social networking is most popular online.

People share information and experiences about

cooking, golfing, gardening, developing friendships, professional alliances, finding employment, business-to- business marketing. Online social networking, websites are commonly used. Online networking sites available are MySpace, Friend Wise, Friend Finder, Yahoo! 360, Facebook, Orkut, and Classmates. Social networks at work facilitate continuous employee communication, promote employee

Employee retention issues

Employee satisfaction and retention have always

been important issues for organizations. High levels of absenteeism and staff turnover can affect the bottom line, as temporary recruitment and retraining take their toll. Work environments that attract, motivate and retain hard-working individuals will be better positioned to succeed in a competitive environment that demands quality and costefficiency Positive work place creates increased job satisfaction.

Theory of job satisfaction

According to Locke (1976), the physical

conditions of work, social factors such as supervision and the work group itself, can affect the degree of job satisfaction. The principal features that can affect the degree of job satisfaction manifested by an individual are given below: Features proper to the individual Features of the work atmosphere Features proper to the work itself Features of the organization, and Social features.

Social networking and employee satisfaction

Eight out of 10 employees claim that being

trusted to manage their own time and the internet as they wish is more important than pay. 21 per cent of employees would turn down a job if it did not allow them access to social networking sites or personal email during work time (Clear swift, WorkLifeWeb2011 report).

Who uses social networking at work?

A survey conducted on more than 4000 businesses by Reed consulting (Reed Social networking survey, 2011) concluded the following: 33 per cent of employees do use social networking at office. Profession wise, 44 per cent of marketing employees, 43 percent of IT employees, 33 per cent of engineering, and 27 per cent of finance employees use social networking. As far as organizations are concerned, 40 per cent organizations access is limited, 32 per cent it is open with no policy or blocking and 28 per cent organizations have blocked social networking. Face book remains the most popular social networking

Social Net working improves job satisfaction

Sharing Knowledge: Social networking creates

personal networks of friends and professional networks of colleagues available to offer information at the click of a mouse. Meeting others through online conversations creates and strengthens relationships, alerting employees to know what, where to go for information. Enhancing Communication: Social networking allows people to get and stay in touch, minimizing the need for endless email streams or the wait for an expert.

Social Net working improves job satisfaction

Making Connections, Cultivating

Relationships: By social networking, employees learn new things about their colleagues personally and professionally. Engaging Employees: Social networking enables organizations to have lively group discussions which enable people to become dynamic so that problem-solving can be moved to creativity and innovation. Facilitating Talent Management: Social networking facilitates continuous interactions with other employees for advice, strategies, and best practices

Social Net working improves job satisfaction

Improve teamwork: Companies, who welcome

some informal, social connections in their workplace, find that, social networks often build a better sense of camaraderie and connection within their employee community. Improve sales: Social networking enables employees to connect more closely customers to understand their needs, which is useful to better sales.

The Concerns of Social networking

Productivity: Huge loss of productivity

Affect morale of colleagues who do not spend time

on Social networking Resources: Take up huge amounts of bandwidth, costs the organization Viruses and Malware: Hackers are attracted to social networking sites because they see the potential to commit fraud and launch spam and malware attacks. Social Engineering: Identity theft due to giving personal details such as Social Security numbers, employment details and so on.

Recommendations
Restrict access: Allow employees to access

social networking sites during their lunch break, or before and after office hours. Educate and train staff: Educate employees on security issues for the organization. Set security and usage policies: Employees should sign policies related to the use of the Internet at work, and access to social networking sites. Monitoring of all Web activity is important, and employees should be aware that their actions are being recorded and that failure to adhere to company policy can result in disciplinary actions.

Conclusion
Social networking has its advantages, and there are

many companies that have adopted social networking to improve job satisfaction. By creating an environment that promotes job satisfaction, organizations are developing employees who are motivated, productive and fulfilled. This, in turn, will contribute to higher quality on the job and better customer satisfaction.

Thank You