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Many studies recently published come to the conclusion that the use of social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace should not be forbidden during working time. Of course, abuses must be prevented but banning access to these websites could be counterproductive, researchers say.



The issue is very serious if you consider that some young people who responded to a survey even declared they’d quit their jobs if denied to use Facebook at work. Another online survey from Nielsen found that 65% of respondents watch You Tube videos during office hours. This is to say that people already consider it as a right to spend some time entertaining themselves on the web while at work.



Companies, on their side use social networking sites to recruit people. One in five hiring managers interviewed, including organizations such as the IT job board or the UK’s Secret Service, admit they use these sites to hire workers. By doing so, firms implicitly recognize that social networking sites could be a working tool, so why prevent employees to use them?



On the other hand, people should be very careful when they post personal information on these sites since 34% of managers screening candidates on the net found content that made them drop the candidate from the list, while only 24% found content that help them solidify their decision to engage a candidate. As for job seekers, they use them but online job boards and in-person networking are still way ahead.



In any case, two studies from Gartner and Hundle.net confirm what UNI said on the subject: banning the use of social networking sites in the workplace could be doing more harm than good and thus “organizations should anticipate web participation as part of the social experience and formulate a multilevel approach to policies for effective governance”. The “trust model” is warmly recommended.



In fact, networking sites can “enhance employee productivity and accommodate younger employees who grew up with them” as long as a few minutes for non-work diversions don’t turn into a few hours a day. On top of that, the divulgation of sensitive information and the infection of corporate networks with viruses through these sites are taken very seriously by companies.



That is why HR vendors are offering business-oriented networking tools that “apply social networking concepts to the business context of managing and engaging employees at work” and are put under the control of HR departments. These products eliminate the problem of uncomfortable “friending” requests and employees can share their story and don’t feel like just another number in the payroll database since they can post their career goals, key accomplishments, leadership potential and so on.



And these tools help firms saving money. Indeed, companies using them report an average gain of 8.8% in employee retention, 10.3% in overall productivity and 11.7% in new business revenue. Clearly recruiting costs are reduced as these instruments help bringing back to work formers employees and those on leave. Employers won’t return to offering lifetime employment but they recognize the need of having a lifelong relationship with their employees, especially in skills’ shortage industries.



Today, there are already more than 40’000 MySpace groups and 8’000 Facebook ones related to companies or co-workers on the Internet. Companies have little choice but to adapt to this situation. And they seem to understand the usefulness of these networks since some of them even pay to search for candidates with specific skills on LinkedIn.



On top of that, networking technologies will be an increasingly important issue for enterprises since as much as 50% of those belonging to the so-called Generation Y (defined as those born between the late 70’s and 2000) rate the availability of support/networking programs for employees with common interests as an important factor in their decision to join a firm compared to 36% of their older peers. As for the use of these technologies during working hours, the debate should no longer focus on whether companies will allow them or not, but how they will monitor their use. In any case, the use of social networks at work and monitoring should be made subject of social dialogue and an agreement with the employee representatives.



*Social networking technologies refer to software programs and Internet sites that allow people to create profiles of themselves and link up with others in a virtual community.