Workscape Institute

E-mail, cell phones and the omnipresent Blackberry: productivity-enhancing tools or resources making it easier than ever for employees to never truly be “off the clock?” It’s an interesting question and one which has been debated heavily online, in the news and – most likely – within the four walls of your company. Regardless of where you come down on the issue, however, there is one irrefutable fact: the line which separates “work life” from “personal life” is blurring.

Follow up:

To date, the blur has almost exclusively gone in the favor of the employer. Of course the major broadcast networks will run the occasional “e-mail abuse” or “online shopping at work” stories during a slow news week, but the amount of time your average white-collar worker spends in front of his laptop or tapping away at her Blackberry during non-business hours can be staggering. The work week is getting longer, workloads are increasing and striking that elusive work/life balance can be challenging.

As these technologies migrated from the world of high-tech/high-powered executives into the mainstream, they have become an integral part of everyday life. There is an entirely new breed of technology, however, which is just as pervasive, just as widespread and potentially even more beneficial in a work environment… yet it is in many ways completely ignored or wholly misunderstood by the vast majority of employers. I’m talking about social networking – those applications and services which enable groups of individuals with common goals and interests to find each other and exchange ideas.

When most people hear the terms “social networking” or “web 2.0,” the first thing which typically springs to mind are services such as Facebook or MySpace, followed quickly by the knee-jerk reaction that such services are reserved for trendy teens. The truth, however, is quite different.

The average age of a MySpace user is 35 while the average age on Facebook is 23, but there’s another social networking service – named LinkedIn – which is growing by leaps-and-bounds. LinkedIn, which has been somewhat facetiously labeled “Facebook for grown-ups,” has roughly 20 million users and is growing rapidly, with an estimated 1.3 million new users joining each month. More impressive than its growth statistics, however, are the demographics: the average age of a LinkedIn user is 41 and the average salary is $110,000 per year. Proof-positive that social networking is anything but kid’s stuff.

So why are these sites gaining in popularity? What is making their use so pervasive? One of the main reasons, I believe, is that with all of the tools mentioned above, it’s now incredibly easy to ask for advice, share information and stay connected. Furthermore, social networking sites enable individuals to create a personal or professional network that literally spans the globe. Information sharing with colleagues from around the corner or around the planet can be done instantaneously and, best of all, each piece of communication you share will increase the likelihood that you’ll attract even more people to your network.

Companies across the board have been struggling to weigh the risks of such a broad communication channel against its potential, however, and Part II of this series will shed some light on this concern.  See you there!