Corporate social networks: benefits, challenges, advice and solutions

For many companies, the benefits of using corporate social networks (CSNs) are still unclear and sometimes misunderstood.
Often confused with social networks used as a showcase or for professional networking (Facebook page, Linkedin profile, Twitter account, etc.) to communicate with external audiences, they are nonetheless invaluable tools for collaboration and internal communication.
What is a corporate social network, and what exactly is it used for?

If you're here, your tasks involve management, communication and collaboration.
If you're looking for information on how to set up a social networking strategy, why not take this article a step further and find out how to set up a CSN to facilitate collaboration within your company?

You'll learn that it's possible to increase the productivity and commitment of your employees through a solid corporate culture based on knowledge sharing.

Let's take a step-by-step tour, with a few bonus software examples: Facebook's social network for businesses and its alternatives!

See all software Enterprise Social Network (ESN)

Corporate social networks: definition

An Enterprise Social Network (ESN) is a community of natural and legal persons, called members, linked by a platform for professional purposes.
These members may be a company's employees, but also its customers, shareholders and partners.

Intranet 2.0 and knowledge management

The CSR is the logical evolution of the corporate intranet, combined with the collaborative platform dimension.
It is a digital workplace based on the sharing and pooling of knowledge.

Be careful not to confuse CSR (corporate social responsibility) with CSN (corporate social network)!

A tool for internal communication or collaboration?

You could say it's a hybrid of the two.
Strictly speaking, it's not internal communication, because exchanges are not just top-down (from HR, marketing, etc. to employees), but multidirectional, where each member has a voice.

Nor is it a pure collaboration tool, where groups are created for a specific purpose, such as launching a project or preparing for a committee meeting.

The best definition is "socialisation tool", where everyone can share ideas, best practices or launch initiatives. It is a powerful lever for transmitting knowledge.

According to the Spectrum consultancy firm, experts in information management, and its annual Spectrum Benchmark study, the primary purpose of corporate social networks is to share information:

• circulation of information
• co-production of content
• knowledge capitalisation,
• collaboration through conversation.

The CSR trend in a few figures

In 2010, Gartner Inc (an American consulting and research company in the field of advanced technology) and IBM predicted that by 2014, social networks would have replaced email as the main medium of internal communication for at least 20% of corporate users.

But a November 2017 study by the HR & CSR Intelligence Chair at the Institute of Social and Human Resource Management (IGS-RH) and BDO gives us these statistics:

• 58% of large French companies have set up a corporate social network
  (40% of organisations of all sizes and 80% of CAC 40 companies);
• only 25% of managers and 17% of employees use it on a daily basis.

Among employees, the study distinguishes between :

• the passive (48%)
• those who are reluctant (29%)
• adopters (17%), who are not afraid to expose themselves,
• the tactical (6%), who use it "to make themselves look good".

Data protection and legal compliance

A corporate social network is secure and guarantees the protection and confidentiality of the data of the companies and professionals who use it.
Security is based on :

• authentication and verification of network members
• encryption of communications within the network or between a company and its customers.

Since June 2009, the G29 institution (a grouping of European CNILs) has also defined fundamental rules applicable to corporate social networks, such as the establishment of default settings limiting the dissemination of data, or the right to delete personal data, etc.

The use of CSRs also raises questions about rights, with regard to the Labour Code and the Data Protection Act. Sensitive issues include

• risks of harassment and discrimination
• the right to be forgotten, particularly after an employee has left the company,
• consultation and use of CSRs :
  • by employee representatives,
  • as a tool for monitoring employee activity,
  • as part of appraisal interviews.
    NB: the French Labour Code stipulates that "the works council shall be informed and consulted, prior to any decision to implement the system in the company, on the means or techniques used to monitor employees' activity"; and that "no information concerning an employee personally may be collected by a system that has not been brought to the employee's attention beforehand".

It is therefore vital to draw up a code of conduct, reassure users and ensure that the CSR platform is secure.

Why use a corporate social network?

For its functionalities

The CSN is based on two fundamental concepts

• the enriched profile, which highlights employees' expertise and interests,
• the wall or news feed, which allows you to follow the activity and key information of the company, partners and customers, colleagues, and exchanges around a theme.

The basic functions include

• the creation and management of public or private discussion areas, with invitations to participants,
• mentioning members using the "@",
• defining #hashtags to create threads marked by subject,
• subscribe to internal or external news feeds,
• manage a profile: photo, address, profession and links to sites and social networks,
• select and archive information using the "like", "recommend" or "I'm interested in" buttons,
• publishing messages (posts) on the wall,
• manage and search documents (maps, shared diary, shared documents, attachments, events, notes, links, etc.).

source Lecko study 2015

For its advantages

• an easy-to-use, fun interface,
• a personalised news feed,
• real-time monitoring of selected information (notifications),
• encouraging teamwork, such as mobilising colleagues around a problem,
• breaking down silos and creating cross-functional links,
• encouraging employee involvement and commitment,
• knowledge sharing, social learning (defined by UNESCO as "the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes by connecting with others through synchronous or asynchronous electronic media"),
• improving productivity by encouraging this sharing,

20% of working time is spent searching for information, and the CSR helps to reduce this time.

Source: McKinsey & Company 2016 study

• developing skills, complementary talents and creativity,
• facilitating the emergence of collective intelligence,
• keeping abreast of business and/or sector developments,
• encouraging socialisation within the company and the creation of links, particularly for multi-site or international companies,
• creating a new employee experience,
• facilitating the integration of newcomers,
• adapting to new technological uses,
• integrating tools such as shared diaries and event planners,
• employee advocacy: make your employees your ambassadors and develop your employer brand.

source Lecko study 2015

Beware of potential drawbacks or obstacles

• If the tool can be adapted to the new generations, it must also be intuitive, so as not to put off the older ones: the use and links created are intergenerational and the tool federates;
• Some will see CSRs as a waste of time and an additional workload;
• The expected decompartmentalisation is not forthcoming, due to inhibition on the part of some employees (tone control and writing skills required) and fear of control;
• To avoid inappropriate exchanges and get off to a sound, controlled start, it is advisable to introduce editorial and ethical charters (exchanges between employees, moderation carried out by the company);
• The wrong choice of CSR software, unsuited to the company's needs, corporate culture or employee profile, can lead to disinterest and abandonment of the tool.

According to an article in La Tribune in November 2017, CSRs reproduce the hierarchical relationships they are supposed to erase, since they are decided and chosen by management, and the groups are often launched at the initiative of managers.
According to the joint study mentioned above (Institut IGS-RH and BDO), 87% of contributors to a group belong to the team of the manager who created it. So much for cross-functional exchanges...

There are also concerns about the management of personal data, particularly since the Facebook leak scandals.

The article points out that to overcome these obstacles, two concepts need to be taken into account to ensure the smooth implementation of your CSR: training and the right to make mistakes.

How do you set up a corporate social network?

• Reflection phase with definition of :
  • objectives
  • requirements
  • the functionalities required
  • rules (editorial and ethical charters),
  • the person(s) responsible for the project (community managers),
• Selection phase of the appropriate tool after study of existing solutions,
• testing phase by a restricted steering committee (testing of functionalities and suggestions for improvements),
• deployment phase (support for all employees, training, integration with existing tools within the company, communication),
• use and analysis of adoption, features appreciated or ignored, for adjustment.

Bonus: a few tips for publishing on CSRs

As with traditional social networks :

• look after your profile,
• publish relevant and targeted information to interest your employees,
• use a variety of formats (photos, infographics, videos, content curation, etc.),
• Involve your employees and respond to comments quickly,
• invest a little time, publish regularly,
• analyse your statistics to adapt your contributions.

Focus on 4 solutions

As corporate social networks become more widespread, the volume of data in circulation will increase. That's why the cloud has become the model to bank on.

Beware, however, of the data reversibility criterion (the possibility of recovering all your data if you change supplier) and the place where the data is hosted. Not all countries provide the same level of data protection, particularly the United States (cf. the Patriot Act).

Another issue when choosing your solution concerns the APIs it offers. These are application programming interfaces that enable :

• enable your solution to evolve thanks to the functionality bricks available,
• better adapt to your existing tools,
• enable interaction with your application environment by directing your content towards your CSR platform (this is called a hub),
• to encourage easier and more successful adoption of the tool within the organisation.

While the initial trend was towards tools that could do everything, demand is now shifting towards tools that offer a better user experience (UX quality).
CSR tools continue to develop while focusing on the essentials, which is why many of them are becoming collaborative and social platforms.

Jamespot, the CSR pure player turned collaborative and social platform

Jamespot stands out for its high degree of customisation. With more than 80 business applications that can be integrated, most of them free, you can connect all your business tools (CRM, etc.) to its platform and combine all the tasks performed on third-party applications.
It socialises your existing applications, while blending seamlessly into your business ecosystem.

The tool also offers :

• groups that can include a wiki, a document database, tasks, a calendar and specific workflows depending on the business context,
• a suggestion box,
• distribution of news flashes and internal surveys,
• real-time document co-editing and versioning,
• the Jbot bot, which answers users' questions, drawing on the questions and answers they have already formulated.

The plus

• 13 years of expertise,
• an à la carte cloud offering thanks to its many APIs and widgets,
• a high level of parameterisation.

Netframe, the collaborative platform made simple

Netframe is based on three complementary skills: chat, an ESN and a document database (EDM) to combine immediacy, information sharing and the structure of corporate knowledge, according to the appropriate timeframe.
However, it does not offer interoperability with other social networks, the publisher favouring a solution that does not offer superfluous functions, but rather well-developed, easy-to-use modules such as document management and project management.

The tool also offers :

• geolocation, planning, visualisation and project tracking,
• an in-house personal skills manager,
• a powerful video API,
• push notifications,
• document management that adapts to your workspace, groups and discussion threads.

The plus

• shared diary by group or project,
• synchronisation with your personal calendar on demand,
• an integrated photo gallery.

talkspirit, more than a social network, a collaborative platform

This tool, which combines CSR, EDM and chat, has been widely adopted by organisations. Talkspirit is user-friendly and facilitates the dissemination of information thanks to structured conversations and the freedom to choose the content that appears in the news feed.
It's a comprehensive solution that meets both the expectations of managers in terms of internal communication and cohesion, and the needs of teams in their day-to-day work.

The tool also offers :

• the ability to assign a task to one or more people via publications,
• tags to mark the progress of your projects,
• identification of your colleagues' professions, areas of expertise and locations,
• simultaneous document co-editing, revision and versioning,
• the Pipedrive bot, enabling you to create opportunities, add comments or request information via a dedicated chat channel.

Key benefits

• Instant reception of information from your business applications so that it can be shared in real time with the various teams,
• Expertise: the solution has been around since 2008,
• evolution: it was reinvented in 2015 to enhance the user experience.

Workplace, the CSR from the giant Facebook

Workplace has been available to businesses since 10 October 2016; it has the advantage of offering a familiar user experience and is easy to deploy, thanks to an interface similar to Facebook's (the adoption rate is close to 90% within a single company).
But the Facebook brand is both a plus and a minus for the CSR platform, following recent privacy issues. Companies are concerned about data resale, even though the publisher claims "no gateway with public accounts".

The tool offers

• team discussion groups (with several levels of confidentiality) or projects,
• integration of 50 cloud applications
• working with other companies in groups,
• powerful chat similar to Slack and live video broadcasting,
• integration of custom chatbots into groups or the messaging feed to automate tasks.

Benefits

• Available in 100 languages,
• the premium version is free for non-profit organisations and educational establishments,
• customisation (white label, layout and themes).

Comparative table of corporate social networks

See all software Enterprise Social Network (ESN)

Socialising the world of work

Making the most of everyone's skills and knowledge, to the benefit of the company's collective intelligence, is now well established. It can create a motivating employee experience that also benefits the employer brand.

With this in mind, corporate social networks have everything to offer, provided you think about your needs beforehand, communicate your strategy effectively internally, establish a secure framework and opt for the tool that suits you.
The key word is "adoption" by your employees, so that you can reap all the benefits.