An Examination of Enterprise Social Media and its Impact on Employees in a Global Corporate Organization

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore perceptions on the impact enterprise social media has on employees in a global corporate organization with a geographically diverse workforce. The 15 study participants were part of three select groups of a global corporate organization, each with differing levels of geographic distribution. There were three instruments used in this study to maximize the acquisition of information from the study participants: a written survey, one-on-one interviews with each study participant, and a focus group where multiple study participants were permitted to share their perceptions on the use and effectiveness of enterprise social media in the workplace. The findings from the research show that as the workplace becomes more geographically distributed and the number of employees working from home increases, enterprise social media is a tool that can help support the challenges of employee communication, collaboration, and connection. A geographically diverse workplace can leave employees with a sense of disconnectedness impacting their overall performance. When employees feel engaged by the organization they work for, they are more motivated to connect with others, share new ideas and innovations, collaborate with other employees, and participate more actively in the employee socialization process. The findings from this study could provide direction for corporate leadership to take advantage of enterprise social media’s impacts on collaboration, communication, and connectedness