Do social media networks increase your efficiency?

Hyphen researched people's attitudes towards business-orientated social media usage in the workplace and found that almost 50% of those aged between 16 and 24 would not work for a firm that prohibited social media. 58.7% of people in that age group think that using a site such as LinkedIn increases their efficiency.

However, as people get older their attitude towards social media usage changes. Only 28.3% of those in the 35 - 44 age bracket would turn down a job if the employer banned the use of social media, and the percentage decreases further to just 19.8% amongst 45 - 54 year olds.

Employers can take some solace from the fact that 55.5% of the total workforce says they spend no more than 10 minutes of their working day on personal activities, and 31.3% claim they do not use social media at all for their own personal use during working hours.

Zain Wadee, the MD of hyphen, said some organisations can benefit from allowing their employees to use social media sensibly. Social media channels can present potential business development opportunities and managers could benefit from listening to the views of 'Generation Facebook'. Their insights into B2B communication could prove extremely valuable for the company. Companies are increasingly becoming more flexible with their social media policies, he added.

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