Internal communication is not a corporate social network

As early as 2012 there was a McKinsey study, in which we have seen that 72% of the companies have been already using some form of social technology, such as intranets. And since Covid, this number has certainly increased. After all, the technology has evolved, the workforce has rejuvenated and of course the pandemic meant that for a long time staff had to stay in touch from their home office. So it’s no coincidence that there are now an increasing number of options to choose from in order to make employee collaboration and communication more effective. However, it makes a difference whether you want to build a corporate social network or whether you want to support effective internal corporate communication. Because although the two are often confused with each other, they are not the same.

What is a corporate social network?

Corporate social networks are mostly modelled on social networks that are already familiar from private life, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. Part of the reason is that employees adapt more quickly to this communication solution. They are familiar with the interface and the way it works. On the other hand, many managers believe that supporting the development of personal contact within the company makes the work more effective. There is some truth in this, but let’s face it, the majority of people do not want to build and maintain personal relationships in the social network at work. The corporate social network can be monitored (openly or not) by management at any time and they can even misuse the information they find. This fear lurks in employees, even if it is an unfounded concern taking in cosideration the corporate culture. That is why the truly personal relationships continue to be built outside the company.

The dangers of the corporate social network

Of course, corporate social networks are also being introduced to facilitate the flow of information between employees. Support knowledge sharing, build community and shape company culture. Every employee in the company has the opportunity to initiate communication with any other employee. Anyone can create chat rooms and share files with colleagues.

Some see only benefits in it, but there are also dangers.

1. Loss of communication control

Social networks mean an expansion of the influence of trolls and saboteurs. In fact, the corporate social network brings the opinions of these employees to more employees. The problem is that this is where these workers vent all their frustrations, whether personal or work-related. In addition research has also revealed that trolls are prone to sadism and machiavellianism. However, they also exhibit narcissistic traits as well as traits typical of psychopaths. Thus, while without a social network they “poison” only their immediate co-workers with their manifestations, on an uncontrolled corporate communication network they “poison” the whole work community. This in turn puts a psychological and emotional strain on employees. Even one cruel troll can destroy the workplace.

And I haven’t even mentioned the huge damage that angry workers can do. The ones who share even the most bogus information on the company social network before they quit, only to destroy morale.

2. Chaos among documents

If everyone can upload a file to the corporate social network and share documents, it can become difficult to keep track of the latest version of each document. Not to mention that it becomes difficult to search among files. Especially if the company uses other channels as well to manage projects. After a while, employees won’t know where to look for the information they need to get the job done: in the project manager app or on the corporate social network? So while we wanted to make work more efficient, it becomes even more complicated.

3. Attention deficit

If everyone is free to share information on the corporate social network, it can lead to distraction and slow down work. Think about it, if you only get a message every 20 minutes on the corporate social network, how many times does that interrupts you from doing your job?

Focused internal corporate communication

Even within the framework of a targetted internal company communication is possible for each employee to initiate a discussion. However, in this case, a much more focused internal corporate communication is taking place within the institution. This helps to maintain transparency of information. Moreover, because there is control over who can send out messages to everyone, the dangers mentioned above can be avoided. Not to mention that, thanks to this restriction on information communication, all employees are aware that if they have received a message, it is important and (also) their business.

How to combine the two communication solutions effectively

If you want to have more focused internal communication within your company, but also provide a framework for more informal interaction between employees, you have the option to do so. CHEQ internal communication app is available on Microsoft Teams and Viber, not just as a standalone app. This opens the way for employees to have private conversations within the company’s loose framework. At the same time, the company can still take control of internal corporate communications.

How is this possible?

The CHEQ application is the place for formal, managed internal corporate communication. This is where company announcements and news affecting employees get shared. This is where quality training, fire and safety training and all other knowledge sharing activities including test taking take place. Hence, within CHEQ, you can also access documents that concern everyone. And thanks to the encrypted closed system, documents containing sensitive data can be shared securely and only with the people concerned, such as pay slips, medical documents or ID cards. In addition, employees can of course initiate a conversation with the company. Through CHEQ, they can request leave, ask for an employer’s certificate, request new workwear, report illness or errors, suggest ideas and much more.

In addition, if the company uses the CHEQ app on Viber, it is also easy to create thematic groups for employees. Here, they can also cultivate a more personal relationship. Employees interested in baking can exchange recipes. They can share parenting tips or even organise sports events with colleagues. But all this does not come at the expense of effective internal corporate communication, which is somewhat separate from it. Of course, even in this case, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that a project might come up during the discussion of the next sporting event. But at least we can be sure that only the company’s employees read these messages. This is because the administrator of the corporate app creates the chat rooms, which are also moderated by him. Thus, only active employees can be members of the corporate chat rooms. This is because the moderator removes the former employee from the chat room when they leave.

To learn more about our CHEQ solutions to support corporate internal communications, please request a FREE demo by clicking here.