Social Engagement through Technology

Dr. Marnie Gibson, Global Director People at T2 Tea

As human beings, we have an innate need to connect and are naturally social animals. We seek to care, compete, and cooperate, not only in society but in our workplaces as extensions of society. But the way we connect in teams, as individuals, and as whole organizations can also be the key to unlocking untapped employee engagement and the social engagement needed to build organizational capability and strong organizational cultures. Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge for organizations is how to synthesize social-human connection and tech in a way that replicates real life, not jars it.

Whilst the employee engagement space has been dominated by job engagement, organization engagement, and job satisfaction, social engagement was first proven in 2012 and has grown significantly post-COVID. Defined as the extent to which one is socially connected with the working environment and shares common values with colleagues, it is much more than the discussions by the water cooler, corridor chats, and Friday night after-work drinks. There is an art and science to driving social engagement, which many organizations are overlooking and missing the benefits of.

In providing the foundations for social engagement, we now also need to consider the prevalence of the new generations in the digital age by replicating everyday life at work. Creating the foundations for social engagement is no longer limited to conferences, seminars, meetings, Slack portals, team-building days, etc. Organizations seeking top performance and engagement outcomes now need to provide their employees with a tech-social ecosystem that mirrors their lives outside work. New generations in the future of work require an ecosystem that seamlessly integrates social engagement at work across all systems and social media platforms, suggesting possible connections, products, and ideas, the same as outside work.

Our phones prevalently hold the integrated nature of past, present, and future social connections, predictive analytics, algo rhythmic marketing, and the nature of ‘one-stop shop’ apps that can manage every portion of our lives, all within a handheld tech-social ecosystem. We go to work, however, except for a few integrative technologies and even fewer tech-enabled organizations, our workplaces just can’t replicate the same ease and harmonization. In corporate environments, you may have single sign-on access at your laptop, maybe suggestions of training programs trending in your organization, you may have Yammer or Workplace to promote informal social connection, but all over, the ecosystem lacks the harmonization and sophistication we experience outside work. Why aren’t we getting notifications of who’s working on a similar project, who’s working in the same system, speaking to a similar customer, or even who’s just logged off and might be able to transit to the train station with you? This level of social connectivity and engagement is now needed in the workplace.

“With the increasing requirement for employees to work collectively and collaboratively, it makes sense for businesses to replicate the social experience of life at work.”

An HBR study revealed employees who used internal social media at work were more engaged and had a better understanding of work context (Bizzi 2018). Internal platforms such as Yammer, Workplace, and Messenger take the social engagement experience closer to the employee as an individual, a social individual who desires to connect as a human being. However, the days of work WhatsApp or email groups are over. Organizations need to remove the barriers and create a more seamless way for employees to connect within a tech-social ecosystem, where they can see what others are working on, thinking about, where they are physically, what programs they’re recommending, what products they may be using in their work; just the same as we do in everyday life.  

Technologies such as Mumba, Rippling, and Jumpcloud are leading the way in bringing together all workplace apps to create a one-stop shop for employees to access the various workplace systems, payslips, chat groups, communications, and employee insights relevant to their work. These ‘front door’ apps, particularly Mumba, are leading the way in bringing the entire workplace to their phones to make the experience of connecting to work much easier and with fewer hurdles. For frontline workers in retail, hospitality, healthcare, and more, this is a game changer that removes the need for bulky computing devices or having to wait to get home to ‘log on’ for proper access. However, there is still a way to elevate this experience to include the tech-social sophistication inclusive of the suggestive connective algorithms we experience across our personal technologies.

With the increasing requirement for employees to work collectively and collaboratively, it makes sense for businesses to replicate the social experience of life at work. Clunky systems and collaborative tech tools that focus on work outcomes are not enough to drive the meaningful social engagement and connection employees now need. Separate engagement portals and surveys are not integrated enough into day-to-day work. Therefore, greater focus is required to create social tech ecosystems at work that do the connecting for us. 

The author completed Doctoral research on leadership and employee engagement in remote workforces in 2021 and is continuing investigations in this area. 

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