Source: Bring Your Own Service, Microsoft Press Release, May 27, 2013

Nearly half of employees report that social tools at work help increase their productivity, but more than 30 percent of companies underestimate the value of these tools and often restrict their use, according to new Microsoft research.

The survey asked 9,908 employees in 32 countries and found that 39 percent of them feel there isn’t enough collaboration in their workplaces, and 40 percent believe social tools help foster better teamwork. More surprisingly, 31 percent said they are willing to spend their own money to buy social tools.

“Employees are already bringing their own devices into their workplaces, but now they are increasingly bringing their own services as well,” said Charlene Li, founder and analyst at Altimeter Group, a firm that studies social media and other technology trends. “Employees expect to work differently, with tools that feel more modern and connected, but are also reflective of how they interact in their personal lives. Enterprise social represents a new way to work, and organizations embracing these tools are improving collaboration, speeding customer responses and creating competitive advantages.”

The research also found distinct differences between countries, sectors and genders as they relate to the levels of productivity, collaboration and communication tools used in today’s workplace.

Regions

• Employees in the Asia-Pacific region were most likely to attribute higher productivity levels to the increased use of social tools, followed by Latin America and Europe. Employees in Latin America, however, were most likely to credit social tools with greater collaboration in the workplace, followed by the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.

• Greater proportions of workers in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region are using social tools — and with greater frequency. In contrast, those in North America and Europe have been slower in adopting many social tools.

Sectors

• Financial services and government employees are most likely to say their company places restrictions on the use of social tools, likely due to the high level of regulation in those sectors.

• Moreover, professionals in financial services (74 percent) and government (72 percent) are more likely than those in other fields to say these restrictions are due to security concerns, while those working in retail (59 percent) and travel and hospitality (57 percent) are more likely to blame productivity loss.

Gender

• Men are more likely than women to attribute higher productivity levels to social tools in a professional setting.

• Women are more likely than men to believe their company restricts the use of social tools.

• Men are more likely than women to say these restrictions are due to security concerns, while women are more likely to blame productivity loss.

“Just as email accelerated the pace of business in the ’90s, enterprise social will be the driver of greater agility and transformation in the 21st century workplace,” said Kurt DelBene, president, Microsoft Office Division. “As we look ahead at how collaboration and communications continue to evolve, we believe the tools people use today — email, instant messaging, voice, videoconferencing, social — will come together and be deeply integrated into apps in ways that will speed collaboration and truly transform the way people work.”

Microsoft envisions enterprise social as a fiber connecting all collaboration tools within an enterprise, not as a separate website or app that must be added into employees’ daily mix of activities. As companies start to use social tools such as Yammer, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Lync and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for collaboration, sharing and communicating outside and inside their organizations, they stand to benefit from an increase in team collaboration, employee engagement, organizational connectedness, and the flexibility required to react nimbly and quickly to business changes and demands.

For example, “with Lync-Skype connectivity, Skype users will now be able to reach a broader network of colleagues, partners and customers who are using Lync, Microsoft’s unified communications platform, connecting them into organizations of all sizes,” Skype said in a blog post. “Lync provides a consistent, single client experience for presence, instant messaging, voice, video and meetings for business productivity and is owned by over 90 of the Fortune Global 100 companies.”

Done correctly, enterprise social can drive significant business value by improving how employees connect, share information and work across teams and geographies, as well as beyond the firewall to customers, vendors and other key relationships.

“Enterprise social tools like Yammer have helped Red Robin transform a widespread employee base of nearly 30,000 across 44 states into a more tightly knit workforce focused entirely on team member and guest satisfaction,” said Chris Laping, senior vice president of Business Transformation and chief information officer, Red Robin. “Even more importantly, it helps us ensure we reach our workforce — 87 percent are millennials — in the right ways for learning and engagement because how they want to be engaged is through social and mobile.”

More information about the Microsoft survey is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/enterprisesocial. Microsoft also invites participation in the social enterprise conversation happening on Twitter. At “The Worldwide Water Cooler” — http://www.theworldwidewatercooler.com — participants can answer questions and share thoughts via Twitter directly from the site.

This article originally appeared: What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Enterprise Mobility, Citrix Online

Photo courtesy of: Legoagogo via Flickr

Being on the Starship Enterprise was like being in the workplace of the future. In fact the Enterprise operated with the same challenges that enterprises face today. Everyone had lots of devices, needed access to lots of different apps and desktops from these devices, and the ability to share data and do this with complete security and control. On top of that, everyone wanted the ability to work at any time, from any device and from anywhere. The Enterprise was definitely the workplace of the future.

Let’s take a step back and actually put this into context. On your average Star Trek work day the following occurred:

1. The entire Enterprise crew used communicators (remember those Tricorders), various devices, monitors and screens of all shapes and sizes to access the apps and data required to get their jobs done. In other words, they needed a client that could be installed on all these devices, connect to a centralized backend system, deliver all these different apps and customize it to the form factor they were using.
2. Each crew member had varying levels of access to the ship’s apps and data from their devices. The lower your rank, the lower access you had. In some cases it was necessary to deprecate or block a crew member’s level of access in the event they became compromised by some alien life form. Can’t have a possessed crew member disabling the ships engines.
3. Securing communication from an external source was essential. Only Enterprise crew members had access to apps and data while off the ship. Nothing worse than the Romulans being able to access the ship’s internal data and find out the ship deflector shields were down or that you were out of photon torpedoes.
4. And last but not least, Captain Kirk was always talking to the Romulans face-to-face through a large screen on the ship’s bridge. Face-to-face collaboration in hi-def video was clearly important when developing relations with a foreign race especially in life or death situations.

Yup, you guessed it right. The Enterprise had a mobile workstyles strategy and a very good one. They managed multiple devices, secured their apps and data, and collaborated with people working in multiple locations… the same issues facing today’s organizations. They knew that a complete end-to-end mobile solution that addressed the challenges of working on a starship was required for success.

Learn what the Starship Enterprise knew….an end-to-end enterprise mobility strategy is essential for success.

***

PS… for a little extra Star Trek fun, check out Citrix Online’s infographic: Which Star Trek Character are You Most Like?

TalentKeepers just released its 2013 Talent Engagement and Retention Trends Survey Report which is now the largest and longest running study of its kind.  This year’s research signals another shift in nearly every aspect of how organizations manage human resources is underway, and finally this time the shift is signaling a brighter outlook. This optimism shows up in a wide range of measures as organizations gain confidence and take a longer view in planning their talent strategies.

In all, it’s a great, comprehensive report and a valuable read for any human resources and employee engagement leader and practitioner.

What Was Learned

Viewed broadly, the trends are clear. For example, in the four year period from 2010 to 2013:

• Organizations reporting significant layoffs or employee downsizing dropped from 43% in 2010 to 21% in 2013
• Urgency in making changes in major business practices declined significantly, and broad changes in business strategy have steadily slowed being replaced with a greater focus on execution
• Fundamental human resources practices such as compensation and benefits have largely stabilized, with just 18% planning significant changes, down from 31% in 2010.

The study also highlights a more significant trend. Employee engagement and talent retention are becoming more embedded as a core talent management practice and, more importantly, an integral business strategy. For the first time, over 30% of the respondents are operations executives, from sales and service to finance and manufacturing. Sixty-five percent of all organizations now budget for engagement initiatives and another 18% are considering formal budgets for it.

Benchmarking the Best of the Best

This report also includes, for the first time, data for a select group, which represents the top 10% of all organizations that lead the way in commitment, focus and results. This “Best in Class” group keeps their employees engaged in their jobs and create a culture where employees want to stay with them in spite of options elsewhere. As benchmarks, the report highlights the specific strategies and practices that achieve high performance they consistently do well and from which others can learn. Specifically:

1. dedicating resources;
2. executing impactful processes;
3. holding leaders accountable at all levels for energizing their teams and retaining them longer; and
4. showing proven results.

Executing for Change

Isolating the Best in Class group gives deeper insight beyond just high level “best practices.” Now, we were able to determine an array of strategies and tactics that, when executed systematically, greatly increase the likelihood of achieving the targeted outcomes. There is synergy among particular strategies that warrants close attention when planning your next steps.

In all, there are seven strategies and tactics that can be learned from the Best in Class. Some we’ve seen before, for example, actively involving senior leadership or effectively sizing the problem. One of my biggest challenges for this year is to align my efforts with business practices not only through strategy but through data, so it’s nice to see metrics appear in the list of best practices. You can read the full report to see the entire list of seven practices, but below are my personal top three:

1. Work from Data through internal metrics and well-designed employee surveys which yield highly valuable data and make sense for your organization and culture, and will resonate with executives in your company; hold stakeholders accountable for improving key engagement metrics just as you do sales, service and productivity metrics
2. Link Engagement and Retention Metrics to Business Results to build sustainability and to negotiate for resources; recruit accounting or other internal support teams to develop a small number of metrics that everyone can agree on
3. Focus on High-Impact Areas including onboarding, job/career discussions, strong relationships with leaders and co-workers

The Ultimate Goal: Sustainability

The most important lesson we can learn from the Best in Class has less to do with selecting strategies and everything to do with systematic, sustained execution over time. This is the hard part. Building and strengthening an engaged culture where retention is the norm is a process that requires a well-grounded foundation and continuous reinforcement over time. Meaningful cost savings and performance gains require vision and tenacity. And those attributes will take you well down the road to best in class results.

TalentKeepers® offers proven, award-winning employee engagement and retention solutions that span the employee performance continuum. From igniting engagement during on-boarding and creating an energized culture that promotes high performance, to comprehensive employee and leader survey and development tools, they specialize in creating a thriving culture built on mutual trust and collaboration. http://www.talentkeepers.com

Last year, Oracle President Mark Hurd outlined the ways that executives can use HR intelligence to help them make better business decisions, shape the future of their organizations and improve the bottom line.

He highlighted that talent management is one of the top three focus areas for CEOs, and explained how HR intelligence can help drive decisions to meet business objectives. Hurd urged HR leaders to use data to make fact-based decisions about hiring, talent management and succession to drive strategic growth. To win the race for talent, Hurd explained that organizations need powerful technology that provides fact-based valuable insight that is needed to proactively manage talent, drive strategic initiatives that promote innovation, and enhance business performance.

What Employee Data Should Be Tracked?

According to Oracle, the key to aligning talent intelligence to drive business outcomes starts with access to the most important employee/talent data. This includes:

• Knowledge of an employees experiences’, their skills and competencies before and during current employment enables you to place the hire appropriately.
• An understanding of an employee’s career ambitions enables you to align your development plans and identify succession candidates.
• Employee performance ratings enable you to ensure that high performers are identified and retained.
• Access to succession plans enables you to understand the transferable skills of employees and to seek out high-potential employees.
• Employee performance information enables you to identify future leadership potential that will help you fill the leadership pipeline.
• Identification of critical skill sets that are at risk or the gaps where new skill sets are not yet available to the organization enable you to plan for future hiring.
• Information about business performance goals that have been established enables you to ensure that all employee goals are aligned to help execute the business strategy.

Happy Employee Appreciation Day!

In order to help you quickly identify generational differences as well as motivators and themes for recognizing employees of every generation appropriately, Michael C. Fina, a leading provider of global employee recognition and incentive programs, launched a new infographic: “Appreciating A Multigenerational Workforce”. The infographic allows managers and leaders to quickly identify generational differences as well as motivators and themes for appreciating employees of every generation appropriately.

“While it is important to recognize employees every day, Employee Appreciation Day reminds us to refocus our workforce appreciation efforts,” said Ashley Fina, president of Michael C. Fina. “With four generations working together, each has distinct characteristics that organizations need to take into account when appreciating their employees.”

According to Michael C. Fina, generational differences include:

• Traditionalists (1922-1945) – Want their actions to connect with the good of the company. Recognition should hone in on service and loyalty with awards, trophies and plaques.
• Baby Boomers (1946-1964) – Need to see how their actions make a difference so recognition should promote and reward performance.
• Generation X (1965-1978) – Needs flexibility to get the job done based on their schedule and recognition should embrace these personal needs and goals.
• Generation Y (1979-1988) – Connects their responsibilities to their personal goals with tangible evidence of credibility. For example, post about the employee’s career milestones on a Recognition Wall, an internal social platform.

Guest post by Ann Barrett, Director eRecruitment & Social Media Strategy at Sun Life Digital. You can find Ann via her Social Recruiting blog where she writes about social media and Human Resources. She can also be found on LinkedIn.

Facebook. Twitter. Google+. Pintrest, Instagram, LinkedIn. They all have become mainstream words we use in our everyday conversation. They have penetrated all forms of media including print, TV, radio, video and digital. It would almost seem strange not to hear or see those familiar icons.

For a long time, there seemed to be a perception that only younger people (under 25) were “on” social media. So why then are companies putting so much time, effort and money into using social media platforms for marketing, branding and engagement to a small segment of the population?

Think about it:

• Almost every company, globally, is using a social media channel for branding and engagement
• News channels use Twitter to solicit questions and comments
• Commercials almost always have a “check us out on” Facebook or Twitter as part of their closing
• For reality TV shows… Twitter is a staple
• For mobile, social channels are readily available
• Many web sites enable you use your Facebook, Google+, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts to sign into other accounts such as Pinterest, TripAdvisor, etc.
• Some companies provide the ability use your social accounts such as LinkedIn to apply for jobs.

So it’s not just young people who are using social media channels.

As social media becomes more intertwined with consumer marketing, recreational activities and personal transactions (such as banking), it encourages more people across a wider demographic to use these channels. Mobile technology also offers social media as a core part of their smart phones (including tablets) which make social media channels readily accessible and easy to use on the go.

In the last two years we can see a steady increase across all demographics of people using social media.

No surprise that the highest usage is the under 25 age group. But what we are seeing is the year over year increase of people over 45 using social media. In just one year the 45-54 age group increased 10% shifting to more than half of that demographic now using social media channels. Another interesting observation is an 8% increase of those 65 and over using social media between 2011 and 2012.

The marketing of social media on traditional channels has increased conversion to use these channels and apps to engage and perform transactions. The upsurge in usage for those 55 and over may also be attributed to the way they have determined how the use social media. Research shows that as people get older they tend to take a more thoughtful approach to social media; separating their professional and personal social channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Friends and network connections tend to be people they know, instead of casual acquaintances.  Increased ability to control privacy settings also make people feel more secure about social networking and sharing information.

As more people start to use social media we also see them expanding and using a variety of different channels. If we think about personal usage on channels such as Facebook we can see in the chart below, there is a broad distribution of users across all demographics. If we look at LinkedIn, we can see more usage for those over 25, the highest among those in the over 55 age bracket. Twitter on the other hand has broader usage for those under 25 and the least amount of usage for those over 55. What they all have in common, are all demographics are using these channels, but at a different capacity, based on what they deem the channels are useful for. What we will start to see is a rise in channels like LinkedIn for those under 25 looking to build their professional profile.

The results show us that social media is being used by all demographics. With technology making it easier to connect we can expect to see a continued rise in the number of “older” people using social media. This is key if you are thinking about possible avenues to market your products, services and jobs.

Consider where you could source your next new hire or business opportunity from using a social media platform.

by Ann Barrett, Director eRecruitment & Social Media Strategy

In a post on ReadWriteEnterprise, guest author Vijay Dheap, Mobile Security Strategist at IBM, outlines how organizations can effectively implement a mobile risk management strategy. Below is an excerpt of the post, but for the full version please read: The Mobile Enterprise: 4 Steps To Keeping It Secure [Infographic]

Security is a balancing act, especially when it comes to emerging technologies that promise to unlock massive business potential. Each new wave of change requires an enterprise to adapt its security posture, or risk being left behind – or exposed to unmanaged risk.

Mobile is no different.

Given the dynamic nature of the mobile market (see mobile stats in the infographic below), it can be difficult for an enterprise to define a mobile risk management strategy. Organizational inertia alone can lead to increased risk. One approach is to concentrate on four focus areas of mobile security:

1.BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device. BYOD policies should reflect the organization’s risk appetite based on its industry, regulations and culture. Policies can modulate the degree of device choice and which employees participate. Of course, before it can enforce its BYOD policies, an organization needs to gain visibility and control over these new devices.

2. Protected Access: Mobile devices empower employees to access relevant information whenever they need it. No matter how much enterprise data is stored on the device, users will frequently need to access additional enterprise data and resources. The enterprise must not only establish secure connectivity channels but also manage risk associated with user authentication and authorization. Given that mobile access typically takes place predominantly outside enterprise boundaries, special care is needed to prevent unauthorized access and reduce risky behaviors.

3. Secure Mobile Solutions. Apps have emerged as the primary interface for delivering mobile solutions to consumers, partners and employees. External mobile app developers – who are generally not particularly security aware – need tools and processes that help them bake in the enterprise’s security standards and best practices. And the enterprise must also enforce a baseline of security standards across the entire range of mobile solutions it develops.

4. Mobile security through risk management. As mobile adoption accelerates, it becomes a richer target for attackers towards individuals or organizations. To identify risks and take appropriate mitigation steps, enterprises need to gather intelligence across all the touchpoints of mobile engagements. Intelligence gathering should include aggregating security events from the device, users, apps and the network for analysis – including tracking compliance with existing risk management policies.

Engagement comes in all shapes and sizes depending on the needs and motivations of the specific individual. I love this #infographic by Bloomfire that breaks down employee engagement by demographic and gives insight on how to identify engaged employees.

This article has been co-authored with Wedge from Kilobox Communiqué; his original article forms the foundation of the thoughts presented.

The intranet often gets defined as an amorphous mass, or just as bad, as the home page and news archive. This seems obvious and clear if the internal communications team is charged with just “sending out information.”

‘Channel management’ seems to be an important yet glamour-lacking tactical responsibility for any internal communications team. A ‘channel audit’ is a regular requirement when a senior person joins the team; defining the capabilities, benefits, and reach of a channel and who is responsible for its use and maintenance is crucial to getting the best out of it.

Defining the intranet as a single channel is as brutal as discussing the split between digital and print, as if digital is a thing of and in itself. Digital encompasses so much that it’s an unhelpful simplification to use the word.

The Intranet is Living and Breathing

Just like any living person, what you see initially is just the surface to what can be find underneath. Employees do not go to just your intranet’s main home page — and in fact, you shouldn’t want them to. Rather, the home page is an entry point — but not the ONLY entry point — to a breadth of news, tasks, information and reference material aimed to help employees to learn, plan and do their work and personal lives.

So, instead of considering the intranet a single digital channel, consider it a multi-channel platform. And being multi-channel is not easily as easily achieved by simply making “tabs” or categorizing your left-hand navigation into content buckets. It’s recognizing that employees enter the intranet from a variety of sources (e.g., e-mail, e-cards, mobile devices, other internal sites) and that information should be organized and targeted in acknowledgement of this.

Diversify and Target Your Communications

As with any good communications strategy, the message is matched to the audience, and the channel to the audience. The changing trend in internal communication has moved beyond one-way communication in that it is no longer a passive ‘send and receive’ event. Instead,  it has now become an active, tw0-way conversation. To engage an audience, go where they are already, or to where they are shifting.

It’s easy to publish a single reference article that can be updated over the months by a designated content owner, and then have shorter, more pointed news articles that then link back to it. Tailoring intranet content to the audience or channel means editing and re-writing communications, rather than just posting redundant versions of the same article. The challenge is in balancing “single source of truth” against uniqueness and variety — customizing the information so that it is relevant to your diverse employee audience.

Considering content strategy and even content marketing, we might:

• Publish a full-length article for the long-term, which can be easily found through search or navigation, and has a longer shelf life in the news archives;
• Highlight employee transactions or tasks relevant to the article, so employees know an action is expected of them;
• Spotlight a unique “teaser” or banner on the intranet home page that instantly draws attention to  purpose of the news article  in a compelling and interesting manner, and links back to the original article;
• Re-purpose the news article for the HR home page (not landing page*) to communicate specific instructions or process changes to  the individuals responsible for enforcing this change (HR business partners, etc.);
• Customize the message for all areas of the business so all employees have a full understanding of changes to the business and how it impacts their individual organizations;
• Shorten the message down to 200 words for the mobile intranet for traveling or employees in the field;
• Shorten the message even further to 25 words and send as a text message to employe mobile devices;
• Socialize the 25 words along with a link to the relevant news article on internal collaboration platforms such as Yammer (or equivalent) or as profile status updates, and cross-post among target communities / groups;
• Re-shape the message into 30 words for digital signage around your buildings, and remember to explain how to find the main article;
• Be prepared to address questions and be involved with social communications and feedback channels to not only respond to concerns but to also solicit feedback and comments.

Communication professionals know when to go heavy and when to go light, when to release news all at once and when to drip-feed. This isn’t a process to follow slavishly, it’s a shift in concept from a single, flat  intranet to multiple sub-channels strung on the intranet.

And remember, the depth and breadth of a multi-channel platform should not be confused with complexity, multiple click-throughs and overly hierarchical information. It’s about building self-service, enabling simplicity, and being relevant. Effective internal communications isn’t something you just do when you get a chance. It’s real work.  And it requires planning, and it demonstrates commitment to values and employees.

*Home pages vs landing pages

A home page is the page that appears when an employee first opens the intranet. When content is personalized to an employees role or organization, an intranet can have multiple home pages, so that an HR person’s experience of the intranet is different to that of an IT person’s.

A landing page is the main page of a department that everyone can visit. So when you’re told to go to the Legal team on the intranet, the Legal landing page is their ‘welcome to the Legal department’ page, followed by the obligatory ‘mission’ page and team photos.

Following is an excerpt from The Ten Commandments of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) by MaaS360.  For the full list of “commandments” please visit the Maas360 site to download the entire guide.

Like any other IT project, policy must precede technology—yes, even in the cloud. To effectively leverage mobile device management (MDM) technology for employee owned devices, you still need to decide on policies. These policies affect more than just IT; they have implications for HR, legal, and security—any part of the business that uses mobile devices in the name of productivity.

Since all lines of business are affected by BYOD policy, it can’t be created in an IT vacuum. With the diverse needs of users, IT must ensure they are all part of policy creation.

There’s no one right BYOD policy, but here are some questions to consider:

• Devices: What mobile devices will be supported? Only certain devices or whatever the employee wants?

According to Forrester, 70% of smartphones belong to users, 12% are chosen from an approved list, and 16% are corporate-issued. Some 65% of tablets belong to users, 15% are chosen from a list, and 16% are corporate issued. In other words, users in most cases bring their own devices.

• Data Plans: Will the organization pay for the data plan at all? Will you issue a stipend, or will the employee submit expense reports?

Who pays for these devices? For smartphones, 70% paid the full price, 12% got a discount, 3% paid a partial amount, and in 15% of cases, the company covered the full price. With tablets, 58% bought their own, 17% got a corporate discount, 7% shared the cost, and 18% were issued and paid for by their companies. (Source: Forrester, 2011)

• Compliance: What regulations govern the data your organization needs to protect? For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires native encryption on any device that holds data subject to the act.
• Security: What security measures are needed (passcode protection, jailbroken/rooted devices, anti-malware apps, encryption, device restrictions, iCloud backup)?
• Applications: What apps are forbidden? IP scanning, data sharing, Dropbox?
• Agreements: Is there an Acceptable Usage Agreement (AUA) for employee devices with corporate data?
• Services: What kinds of resources can employees access—email? Certain wireless networks or VPNs? CRM?
• Privacy: What data is collected from employees’ devices? What personal data is never collected?

No questions are off limits when it comes to BYOD. There must be frank and honest dialog about how devices will be used and how IT can realistically meet those needs.