How to encourage innovation, collaboration and communication within an organisation using an Enterprise Social Network

It is not yet time to not throw away your CV and cover letters if you’re looking for a new job in 2016. However, whether you are a candidate or recruiter, a new tool is needed: Social networks.

Job boards and recruitment sites now stand alongside social networks such as Linkedin as powerful tools in the search to find the right person for all kinds of positions within all sectors and sizes of company. Recruiters have now identified the power of what was once a simple networking tool.

Once the right person is recruited a new challenges arise. How does a company keep these valuable people they’ve fought hard to win over to join the team, and to allow let them to flourish and stay motivated. It’s a big task for HR and management teams alike.

But what does talent need to flourish within a company?

  • It is now understood that people have a perpetual need for recognition, to see a display of confidence in their abilities and to be encouraged to keep learning.
  • Your people need to understand the company strategy, objectives, priority areas of work. At the same time, they also need to be able to exchange ideas, to ask questions and to discuss ideas.
  • They need a space where individual initiative can be expressed, where innovative projects and disruptive ideas can be shared.
  • The ‘digital native’ employees needs to work in a well-connected environment.
  • And let’s not forget the all-important moments of letting go and having fun. The valuable times where we share joy and synergy in teams by sharing fun and cultural activities.

Outstanding performance does not merely happen by chance - it is engineered into a company’s process.

You must give your people a larger playground, a bigger audience and a way to express themselves freely. Let them discover alternative talents, differing opinions and new challenges. Widen their possibilities with an enterprise social network (ESN) which can satisfy their curiosity and feed their natural thirst for knowledge while simultaneously allowing them to progress and shine.

Merely providing your employees an enterprise social network is not sufficient. Providing an environment, training and encouragement so that ESN tools become the natural choice is vital. Your people need to be provided with professional advices, encouragement and training to enable them to really develop their understanding of these new ways of working with their colleagues.

Proper training of your Community Managers is crucial because the network must be alive so that it enriches, develops and enables everyone to engage properly within an organization.

The advantages of such a network are important to all organizations, regardless of size or sector.

ESN gives HR professional a chance to break the rules to better capitalize on the human potential within their organization.

Learn more :

Orange Business has developed the Business Together Sharespace to help organizations in their digital transformation. Please visit  Business Together Sharespace to learn more about this important development in the empowerment of the people in your organization.

Karine Delonnel
Karine Delonnel

I work within OCWs (Orange Connectivity Workspace Services) as Business Developer Unified Communications, particularly in the areas of collaboration and enterprise social networks.