There are a lot of factors that play into employee engagement, but communication is the foundation of it.  Open and clear dialogue is the first step toward engaging employees.  Employees want to hear and be heard; they want to know what's going on within the company and have the opportunity to contribute. 

Of course, it’s much easier to talk about open communication and collaboration than to actually promote it in an organization.  Several social media platforms are emerging that can do a great deal to foster this type of dialogue and with it, employee engagement.    

Social media?  That’s for marketing to worry about!

Social networking sites were created as tools for personal communication, and broke into the business world as tools for PR and marketing departments.  However, social media is continuing to evolve beyond this, thanks to forward-thinking companies who have recognized the power of this technology for collaboration. 

Adopting business-oriented social platforms like Yammer and OpenAtrium can go a long way toward improving the quality of internal dialogue and engagement.

Getting Gen Y On Board

Additionally, social collaboration tools also represent a powerful opportunity to engage Gen Yers, or as they’ve been called by some, the digital natives.  The 20-somethings we’re hiring in our organizations have literally grown up alongside digital technology.  They speak the language of the web and function most efficiently when plugged into it, ingesting and processing information in real time.  These employees will feel more loyal to co-workers, the company and the brand when connecting with social collaboration.

We're in the midst of a social transformation.  Don't let your company get left behind!