Six Things We Know About Organizations and Employees

By Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon

 

1.    Most organizations encourage their employees to see electronic networking as the most efficient tool for connecting and collaborating.  Employees think that being plugged in is the same as being connected.  They think that they can affect the bottom line, create new ideas, gather business intelligence, and stay engaged sitting at their computers.

     Yet, a study by Dr. Alex Pentland of MIT shows that “Employees with the most extensive digital networks were 7% more productive, while employees with the most cohesive face-to-face networks were 30% more productive." (Harvard Business Review)   

2.    Organizations are information networks.  To attract and develop the best people, forward-thinking organizations must consciously foster a positive networking culture of inclusiveness and inquiry, both within the organization and with outside contacts. 

     Yet, many organizations, both subtly and overtly, have a culture that discourages networking, or only think of it as merely a “job-finding tool.”  

3.    As many as 60% of your employees feel shy and uncomfortable in a variety of business and social situations. (see research by Dr. Lynne Henderson and Dr. Phillip Zimbardo of The Shyness Institute, Stanford University.)

      
          Yet, many organizations fail to provide the networking skills training that builds the competence and confidence of their employees and therefore miss out on the benefits that could be accrued.  

4.    Developing networks based on reciprocity, including displays of generosity, is the best way to affect the bottom line and the best way to get ahead. (see Robert Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.)

    
          Yet, many managers see networking as “not working.”  

5.    Networks determine which ideas become breakthroughs by delivering 3 unique advantages: access to private information, to diverse skill sets, and to power and influence. (see Harvard Business Review, December 2005 “How to Build Your Network” by Brian Uzzi and Shannon Dunlap)

          Yet, in most organizations the influencers/stakeholders (HR, Training, Business Development, Sales, Diversity, Corporate Communications, Leadership Initiatives, etc.) have not come together in a horizontal team to take joint actions that consciously foster a positive networking culture and teach the skills to employees.

6.    Most organizations spend thousands of dollars and many employee hours on so-called networking activities (such as memberships, professional dues and events, clubs, receptions, conferences, sponsorships, trade shows, sports events, luncheons, etc.)

          Yet, most organizations do not have one person or department that “owns” and tracks all of these expenditures.  Outcomes are not tied to performance reviews. No one is accountable. The ROI is not measured. Time and money are often wasted.