Local employees are demonstrating new levels of awareness, self-education and self-regulation when it comes to social media, at the same time an increasing number of workplaces are restricting access to the ‘social web’.
According the Clearswift WorklifeWeb research report, despite 48 percent of Australian organisations believing web collaboration is critical to future company success, the report registered an overwhelming sense of caution when it comes to social media, with one third of managers discouraging or blocking its use.
However, Clearswift Asia Pacific Regional Director Phil Vasic believes that prohibiting social media tools creates implications.
“A ‘stop and block’ approach will only hold their organization back online and reduce their ability to win employee trust.”
89 percent of respondents believe data loss and security concerns prevent technology adoption, and almost half of managers surveyed confirmed a security incident as a result of using an internet based application. Moreover, more than half of the managers have reprimanded staff for using social media in the workplace.
Social security was also addressed in the report, with an increase in the awareness of appropriate content and behaviour revealed. In comparison to last year, where 50 percent of employees were happy to discuss a work related matter on a social networking site, 72 percent this year would not do so.
Work/Life balance improves
Responses under the survey’s Work Life Blur section indicates that Australians have improved their balance, with 35 percent of employees admitting to the work-life overlap down from 48 percent in 2010.
Also, thanks to the increase of personal devices in the workplace, more than half of organisations have moved to include the use of these devices in their security policy.
“Clearswift’s 2010 WorkLifeWeb research showed that Australian organisations were taking a somewhat chaotic approach to social media and there was a blurring of work/life boundaries for employees. Twelve months on, it’s a positive story for employees, who are starting to work smarter, take advantage of collaborative technologies and act responsibly, while being aware of the pitfalls,” Vasic added.
