To date, social networking has applied mainly to life outside the workplace. However, given its collaborative nature, social networking is becoming increasingly attractive for organizations looking to improve communications and interactions with, between and among employees. As organizations look to translate social networking's benefits into business value and competitive advantage, however, they are struggling to govern this communication and behavior in the workplace.
Governance Models in Learning 2.0
Because social networking is defined as open, informal communication, the technology seems to contradict the very idea of a governance model. From a learning or talent management perspective, social networking appears to be unstructured, immeasurable and often unmanaged. Since the purpose of implementing a learning governance model is to identify people and develop a plan to execute a corporate learning and development strategy, the question becomes: How do these new technologies impact a learning governance model? Do they play a role in internal learning and development at all?
In its most basic form, a governance model is a way to bring structure to the learning and development process within a company. Often this includes distributing information as well as being a source or library for information. Depending on the industry, this process can be as simple as bringing representatives from different departments together to share information on a regular basis, or as complex as assigning a formal board within a company to discuss and plan the specific talent structure of the business. Governance could include developing the learning strategy, defining technical and learning-specific standards, designing appropriate learning programs, overseeing the development and delivery of learning content, managing the technology infrastructure that supports the learning initiatives, and aligning employees with the learning strategy to ensure a high rate of user adoption and adherence to learning goals.
Typically, one level up from the learning governance group is the overall talent management strategy. Once again, depending on the industry and company, the talent management process can either be "stove-piped" within a department or follow the latest industry trends and be managed more globally. Although it may not be immediately obvious, the link between the learning governance group and the overall talent management process is crucial for the enterprise.
One simple example of this can be found in succession planning. Deciding whether a company should increase the number of succession candidates through recruitment or internal talent development can influence the need for specific training, which the learning governance body would ultimately be responsible for developing. The learning department also can influence the talent management process by identifying the types of training an outstanding employee received during his or her employment to better define future candidates for a specific job position.
Regardless of the talent management and organizational structure, the goal is the same within the learning governance group: to define a measurable set of learning and development goals that align with the company's overall corporate direction. This is crucial to maximize the effectiveness of learning and talent development within a company. In general, the more participation talent managers from across the company have in the governance process, the more aligned efforts will be with corporate goals. Further, the stronger the alignment, the more effective and efficient learning and development efforts will be.
Social networking applications, such as wikis, blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are all different forms of communication that allow one individual or group to share information with another. Unlike traditional learning and development technologies, however, social platform responsibilities are not usually assigned to individuals, nor are the benefits or results they generate measurable in any traditional way. To date, the learning and talent management industry doesn't really have a best practice for implementing these technologies. When it comes to any type of governance, companies often take one or a combination of the following three approaches: they implement company-specific tools such as SharePoint, which presents a different set of governance issues; they take a wait-and-see approach, managing and governing social networking on a case-by-case basis, which is subjective, time consuming and doesn't scale; or they disallow the use of social networking tools altogether, which limits an organization's ability to keep pace with its competition, workforce and new technology.
Blending Social Networking and Learning
Aside from social networking, few if any recent technologies have been as hyped or have benefitted from as many unsubstantiated claims around how they would change learning and development. Perhaps the main reason for this misunderstanding is that people think of social networking in the wrong context. Social networking is an activity that revolves around open communication, and nothing more.
In fact, the role of social networking in employee learning is analogous to playground time for children. When kids engage in unstructured play, they learn and exchange ideas with other kids in an informal way. Similarly, when adults participate in social networking activities, they experience many of the same benefits as kids playing on the playground - the main difference being that they are not engaging face to face. In almost every case, the pros and cons that apply to children on the playground also apply to adults and social networking.
For example:
1. The information is only as good as the source. In both cases, the recipient must know the source of information so he or she can make a judgment about the accuracy and validity of the information being presented.
2. If a teacher monitors the conversation, the participants will have a different discussion than if the conversation is open. The same is true for social networking within a corporation.
3. If everyone is forced to participate, the results will be diluted. When a child who doesn't like softball is forced to play, he or she won't put forth the same effort as a child who does. The same holds true for an adult commenting on a co-worker's question online.
4. No matter how much a child learns on the playground, it is not a substitute for classroom instruction. The same is true for social networking applications. While social networking can and should be used to enhance the learning experience - by facilitating collaboration and employee interaction or by fostering knowledge sharing and extending informal learning initiatives - it is not designed as a replacement for formal, classroom-based learning programs.
While similar there are two important aspects of social networking that distinguish it from playground time for adults at work. First, social networking is somewhat corporate culture-sensitive. Second, social networking can be an incredibly effective communication tool within an organization if used properly. In both cases, the way a company applies, manages and enforces learning governance models can make all the difference.
Making social networking part of the corporate culture and effectively governing its use can present significant challenges for many organizations. For those with a Lotus Notes culture, incorporating social networking software is probably easy and fairly seamless. Lotus Notes, arguably one of the first social networking tools on the market, allowed employees primarily in large organizations to create peer discussion threads that could be saved, commented on and searched by other employees. Lotus Notes also was used to help individuals identify other employees who might have the answer to or knowledge about a specific question or topic. On the other hand, for organizations with a "stovepipe" culture, where holding the most information is seen as a competitive advantage and as providing job security, a distinctly different approach toward implementing any type of social networking would be required.
The learning governance body, meaning the people within the organization who develop the model, needs to look closely at all forms of communication that occur and exist within the business. Unfortunately, communication types are rarely consistent across the entire business, so it's important to understand which groups of people communicate what type of information and what media they use. Then, the learning governance body must determine if social networking will help move those discussions in a positive direction. For example, members of a sales team might be reluctant to share information about how to close a deal simply because they are competing with each other. A maintenance crew, on the other hand, might be willing to share information with other crews if it minimizes the amount of future work, but crew members might not be as comfortable using social networking technology to do so.
In both cases, the governance body needs to look at the types of individuals involved and their motivation for sharing any information. Individuals have to believe that by sharing information, they are benefiting from the process.
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