One of the most discussed and debated topics in the field of
workplace learning over the past two years has been the role of
social media as a legitimate - and effective - approach to
learning. A new study from ASTD goes a long way toward finally
establishing true parameters to understand the issues and apply
hard numbers. As you might suspect, the use, acceptance, and
comfort level with social media in learning environments has more
to do with the learner, and his age, than any other factors.
"In just five years, more than half of the workforce will comprise
members of the Millennial generation who have grown up immersed in
technology and social media," writes ASTD President and CEO Tony
Bingham in the introduction to "The Rise of Social Media: Enhancing
Collaboration and Productivity Across Generations." "To this
generation, computers and collaborative technologies are an
extension of who they are. For business leaders looking to maximize
learning and increase the performance of the entire workforce,
leveraging the power of social media tools is a strategic
imperative."
Can Facebook enhance productivity? Is there a role for Twitter in
your learning function? According to the report, "findings in this
new study make a compelling business case for supporting and using
social media technologies. There is a strong and significant
correlation between the degree to which survey respondents use
social media tools for various work-related activities and the
degree to which they say these tools help them get more and better
work done, learn more in less time, and learn truly useful things.
Regardless of their generation, workers across the board believe
their organizations should be using social media more. While most
organizations have yet to fully embrace the use of social media in
the workplace, there is a strong belief that adoption of Web 2.0
technologies will continue to grow in the coming years."
The study notes that despite relatively low self-reported usage,
many signs point to a rise in social media usage for on-the-job
learning. In fact, more than four-fifths of the study respondents
said use of social media for learning within their organizations
would increase over the next three years. According to the study,
respondents from the Millennial generation (born after 1981) are
more likely to use these technologies at home or at work than
Generation Xers, who in turn use them more than Baby Boomers. If
this trend holds, then a growing proportion of the future workforce
will rely on social media technologies in the workplace.
While Millennials seem to have a firmer grasp of the potential for
social media in the learning function, the study finds that
companies that encourage the use of these tools and put the proper
guidelines in place can expect to see more effective learning
taking place. Regardless of generation, workers across the board
believe their organizations should be using social media more.
Shared workspaces and social networks are common
Shared workspaces were by far the most commonly used tool, followed
by wikis and social networks. These tools are somewhat more
recognizable than many of the others and have been used as tools
for corporate learning for some time. Forty-two percent of the
study's respondents say they use shared workspaces often or all the
time. Microsoft's SharePoint is a good example of a shared
workspace, and it is probably the most common social media-type
tool found in the workplace. The well-known brand name may have a
lot to do with that, because it helps quell the uneasiness
employers feel about unknown technologies.
The tools in the middle of the pack, the study suggests, were the
ones that allow people to share content, whether written (blogs),
audio (podcasts), or visual (shared media). It's possible that when
companies use a tool such as SharePoint, there is less of a need
for a separate tool or tools to share content. The technologies
that are used more often tend to be more predictive of improvements
in learning and productivity.
In most cases, it was the younger generations using the
technologies more often than the Baby Boomers, except in the case
of podcasts, where the findings were reversed. Baby Boomers use
podcasts for work-related learning more than Generation X, who in
turn use them more than Millennials. This was similar to the
findings for personal use, where Millennials used podcasts the
least. The act of passively listening to a lecture or training
module via podcast is the tool that most mirrors traditional
learning, and this might be what makes the Baby Boomer generation
more accepting of the format.
It's the ability of learners to access and consume podcasts on
their own terms that makes them part of the social media family.
Forty-four percent of Boomer respondents say they use podcasts for
work-related learning at least sometimes, compared with 29 percent
of Millennials.
"This is a useful finding for learning experts," says Kevin Oakes,
CEO of i4cp. "It shows that providing learning via audio files is a
relatively good strategy to use with Boomers, who are often in
higher-level management positions that don't allow them a lot of
time for learning. Podcasts can potentially help them learn during
their commutes to and from the office or during other times, such
as while exercising or on the weekends. This can be a very
efficient and flexible method of learning, and it's something
learning professionals may be able to internally market to those
professionals."
High performers more likely to encourage social
media
The ASTD study found companies that were more encouraging for each of the technologies had employees with higher SMBI (Social Media Benefit Index) scores. It stands to reason that when a firm encourages its workers to use these tools, they are more likely to derive benefits from them. The study also found that organizations that perform better in the marketplace are somewhat more likely to encourage the use of social media than lower performing firms.
These results indicate that despite the tepid adoption of these
tools and the relative wariness about their use, companies can
benefit from properly implementing social media into their learning
programs.
According to Rafael Lopez, leadership development analyst at Citi,
proper execution goes a long way toward boosting adoption. "Many
firms make their shared sites too complicated," says Lopez. "Sites
that are focused, user-friendly, and purpose-driven are far more
effective. Learning assignments requiring their use can help boost
familiarity and raise comfort levels."
For more information on the ASTD study, "The Rise of Social Media:
Enhancing Collaboration and Productivity Across Generations," click
here.