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How social technologies
drive business success

EUROPEAN SURVEY RESULTS
15TH MAY 2012
Contents


Foreword ............................................................................... 1

Executive summary .............................................................. 2

How are social tools being used today? ............................ 4

How will social tools be used tomorrow? ......................... 6

Senior managers lead by example .................................... 8

Fast growth companies use social to fuel success ........ 10

High flyers use social tools to get ahead ........................ 12

Conclusions ......................................................................... 13

Appendix: Research methodology ................................... 14
Foreword


Sharing opinions and experiences online is            adoption of social tools, those in senior roles
second nature for many people, but until recently     actually use them far more regularly than their
this bore little resemblance to the way we work.      more junior colleagues. The second is that a
Traditionally, businesses operated in silos, with     huge proportion (81%) of high growth businesses
little done to encourage collaboration or the         are using social tools to facilitate expansion and
sharing of ideas and information, not just across     improve the ways in which teams collaborate
countries, but even within individual departments.    and share knowledge. And finally, we found that
                                                      successful workers are more than twice as likely
Today, however, the tools that make it easy to        to be active users of social tools in the workplace
connect and work together online are starting         than their less successful colleagues.
to disrupt traditional working practices in ways
that we are only just beginning to realise. There     With a trend towards more remote working
is a growing recognition that rather than being       and more companies spread across different
a distraction or a time drain, social tools could     territories, the need for cross-border collaboration
actually hold the key to a more productive way        and information sharing has never been greater.
of doing business.                                    Having the ability to bring together thoughts
                                                      and ideas from team members scattered across
To find out more about the potential of social        a country, or even across the globe, and being
tools in the world of business, we commissioned       able to find information, people and expertise
Millward Brown to gather opinions from 2,700          faster can only help businesses grow and remain
professionals across France, Germany, Italy, the      competitive.
Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We
wanted to see if social tools are already helping     Of course social tools are not a panacea for all
businesses to grow faster, whether and how they       business challenges, and in themselves cannot
can help your career, and which countries are at      transform business performance – but, when
the forefront of this social revolution.              used appropriately, their potential should not be
                                                      underestimated. With this in mind, it is perhaps
The results, as you will see in the rest of this      unsurprising that nearly a half of professionals
report, were fascinating and clearly show that        surveyed across Europe said that businesses that
not only are social tools being used widely within    do not embrace social media will not survive.
business today, but that those who are using          Eventually, organisations that adopt social tools to
them are already reaping the benefits.                break down barriers will benefit versus those that
                                                      stay stuck in silos.
While there is a wealth of data to pore over,
three findings really peaked my interest. The first
is that, contrary to what we’re often told about      Sebastien Marotte
the younger generation of workers driving the         VP of Google Enterprise, EMEA




                                                                       How social technologies drive business success   1
Executive summary


Timewasting, a distraction and a drain on resources        Almost a half (46%) of professionals want to
are all accusations that have been levelled at the         make greater use of social tools:
use of social tools in business – but as the digital
                                                           • A third (32%) are using external social media,
revolution gathers apace, are these still valid?
                                                             such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn,
                                                             for work related purposes every day
To find out, we commissioned this comprehensive
European study with Millward Brown, gathering              • A quarter (23%) are using in-house social tools (set
opinions from 2,700 professionals across France,             up for use by people within the business) daily,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden               over a half (57%) use them at least once a week
and the UK.
                                                           • Only a quarter never use in-house social tools
We wanted to understand how social tools are
being used in business; who is using them and
what for, their benefits and challenges and how
they are affecting people’s work and careers. We
spoke with people who need to collaborate with
colleagues to achieve their objectives and here’s
what we found out – these findings, and more, are
explored throughout the report.




Who is using social tools?                                                                   Sweden
Which countries are the most enthusiastic users
of social tools?


                                                                    UK
    Spain                                74%

    Italy                                74%                             Netherlands

    UK                             65%                                                   Germany

    Sweden                        62%

    France                        61%

    Netherlands             55%
                                                                   France
    Germany                 53%
                                                                              Italy
0      10    20   30   40    50     60    70   80      Spain

                       %
                                                                              How social technologies drive business success   2
Most professionals are enthusiastic about the         High growth companies are more likely
potential social tools have to improve the way        to be using social tools to fuel success:
they work, the most enthusiastic found in/
                                                      • 59% of professionals in high growth
among:
                                                        organisations are using social tools to improve
• Spain and Italy                                       business outcomes such as increasing sales and
                                                        attracting and retaining clients
• Senior managers
                                                      • 81% of these ‘dynamic’ businesses that are
• High growth companies
                                                        using social tools report a significant impact
• Retail, Consumer/FMCG and Creative industries         on growth/expansion
• SMEs with an international reach                    • 80% of high growth companies are using
                                                        social tools to improve ‘connectivity’ (such as
Today professionals are using social tools for:         collaboration and knowledge sharing)
• Finding people, information or expertise more
                                                      High flyers are twice as likely to be using social
  quickly (41%)
                                                      tools
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing (37%)
                                                      • 86% of frequent users have recently been
• Widening personal networks, building                  promoted, and 72% say they are likely to be
  professional relationships, raising profile and       promoted, compared to 61% and 39% of non-
  creating communities (34%)                            users
• Reducing the volume and length of emails (31%)      • Over a third (38%) are very satisfied with their
                                                        jobs – compared to 18% of non-users
Social Tools are expected to be a powerful
                                                      • 64% are very likely to recommend their
ingredient within successful businesses:
                                                        workplace – compared to 42% of non-users
• 70% of professionals believe social tools will
  change business strategy                            Frequent users of social tools are more
                                                      optimistic
• 69% think businesses that embrace them will
  grow faster than those that don’t                   • 59% expect the performance of their
                                                        organisation to improve over the next year,
• 68% believe businesses that embrace social
                                                        compared to just 38% of those that never use
  tools will find it easier to attract and keep the
                                                        them
  best people
• Professionals estimate that productivity could      Universal agreement that social tools can save
  be increased by nearly 20% through the use          time on common tasks
  of social tools
                                                      • Professionals think that two hours a week could
                                                        be saved on common tasks such as dealing with
Senior managers are enthusiastic about the
                                                        emails, travelling to meetings and searching for
potential social tools have to boost business
                                                        the most relevant person for a task
performance:
• Nearly three-quarters (71%) are using them
  at least once a week, compared to 49% of those
  in more junior roles
• Three quarters say:
 – They will change the way businesses operate
   in the future
 – They have, where used, enabled them to be
   more productive
 – Businesses that embrace them will grow faster
   than those that don’t

                                                                        How social technologies drive business success   3
How are social tools
being used today?

Improving how information flows                                             In fact, people are primarily using social tools
Professionals are using social tools to achieve                             to find information, people, or expertise more
numerous tasks and objectives. Far from being                               quickly (41%), followed by improving co-
a time-drain, those using them agree that                                   operation, collaboration and knowledge sharing
they enable better communication with their                                 (37%), widening personal networks, building
colleagues, leading to improved cooperation –                               professional relationships, raising profiles and
particularly for those that work with people in                             creating communities (34%) and bringing together
other locations.                                                            ideas and thoughts from a geographically
                                                                            dispersed team.
“They greatly improve the contribution and
 development of ideas. In my case, as an architect                          The majority of those using social tools think they
 and section manager, they help me and my group                             have had a big impact on different aspects of their
 to put ideas forward and brainstorm at any time                            work - nearly three-quarters (72%) say that they
 and in any place.”                                                         have significantly improved bringing together
                – Team Leader, Creative/Design, Spain                       ideas and thoughts from a geographically
                                                                            dispersed team and over two-thirds (68%) think
“I can communicate quickly with colleagues in other                         collaboration and knowledge sharing, and
 countries and get immediate answers.”                                      building professional relationships have been
         – Junior Executive, Content Management, UK                         substantially enhanced.




Chart 1: Use and impact of social tools to                                      Used for
connect people and share ideas (connections)                                    Significant impact

 Improving co-operation,    Widening personal network,        Bringing together ideas    Internal blogs, activity       Building teams with the
 collaboration, knowledge       building professional          and thoughts from a      streams, status updates,         best possible skill set
          sharing           relationships, raising profile,   geographically dispersed      messaging, polling
                                creating communities                   team




                                                                                                                            20%
                                  34%                           29%                        26%
     37%




     68%                          68%                            72%                       59%                              64%




                                                                                                 How social technologies drive business success   4
Driving business success                                      Among those using social tools it is professionals
Two-thirds (67%) of professionals using them                  in Spain and Italy who have the most positive
believe that social tools have had a significant              perceptions of their impact. In Spain, for example,
impact on the growth of their organisation. 63%               89% of professionals believe social tools have
say they have enabled their businesses to be                  significantly improved innovation (compared to
more competitive and 60% believe they have                    the European average of 64%). Those in Sweden
allowed them to increase sales and to attract and             and The Netherlands are more doubtful of the
retain the best talent (59%). The lowest figures for          impact. The respective figures for perceived
a perceived impact on attracting talent were seen             reduction in volume of emails is 26% and 22%,
in Germany (27%).                                             compared to the 57% European average.




Adoption in industry
Which industries are the most enthusiastic users of
social tools and business networking applications?



                                77%                                                             59%
                                Creative/Media
                                                                                                Manufacturing



                                                                         74%
                                                                         Consumer/FMCG
                                                     72%
                                                     Retail
                                                                                           57%
                      67%                                                                  Transport
                      Telecoms/IT

                                                 64%
                                                 Professional
                                                 services            66%
                                                                     Wholesale




Chart 2: Use and impact of social tools                         Used for
to achieve business goals (outcomes)                            Significant impact


                Being more              Increasing               Faster growth/          Attracting and keeping
                competitive                sales                   expansion                 the best talent




                                                                 18%                         16%
               26%                   24%




               68%                    68%                        72%                         59%




                                                                                  How social technologies drive business success   5
How will social tools
be used tomorrow?

Business growth                                                          Increased productivity
Three-quarters (76%) of senior managers believe                          Many professionals think that using social tools
businesses that embrace social tools will grow                           will increase productivity – by an average of 20%
faster than those who ‘ignore’ the technology.                           across Europe in fact – with the biggest potential
Meanwhile, 53% believe that businesses will not                          for time saving on everyday tasks. For example,
survive unless they embrace social. Nearly three-                        they think social tools could:
quarters (71%) say that businesses that embrace
                                                                         • Reduce the volume of emails by 25%
the use of social tools in the workplace will find it
easier to attract and keep the best talent.                              • Reduce the number of meetings and conference
                                                                           calls by 23%

                                                                         Frequent users estimate a total of three hours
                                                                         a week could be saved on each of these tasks.
                                                                         They also believe speed of service delivery will
                                                                         increase by 27% and financial performance
                                                                         improve by 24%.




Chart 3: Perceptions of social tools’ impact on                              Senior managers
business ‘success’ (% agree)                                                 Frequent users

  Social tools will change      The most successful          Businesses will not    Businesses that embrace        Businesses that embrace
the strategy businesses ad    businesses will be those       survive unless they      social tools will grow      the use of social tools will
  opt in order to operate    that fully embrace the use     embrace social tools     faster than those who        find it easier to attract and
        successfully         of social tools within their                                    ignore it               keep the best talent
                                    organisations




     75%                          72%                        53%                        76%                             71%




        82%                          82%                       62%                        83%                              79%




                                                                                            How social technologies drive business success   6
Professionals in Germany, Sweden and The                “Those who use information in faster and broader
Netherlands are less likely to recognise the             ways will grow stronger and will be more
tangible benefits social tools might bring.              competitive. Those who do not will (depending on
Estimates of improvements in productivity in             what they do) be marginalised and eventually will
these countries are at least 5% lower than the           become insignificant or extinct.”
European average. In contrast professionals                             – Junior Executive, IT/Systems, the UK
in Spain were by far the most positive, with an
estimated 31% increase in productivity and a 28%
increase in financial performance being attributed
to the power of social tools.

The greatest time saving is thought to be through
reduction in travel to meet clients and colleagues
in other offices (2.8 hours per week estimated
saving on client visits rising to 3.5 among frequent
users).




Chart 4: Estimated time saving (hours) from
using social tools – by grade                           Hours saved
                                                        0              1                     2                  3
   Total
   Frequent users                                                                                2.4
   Never used
                           Reading/sending emails                                                               3.2
                                                                           1.4

                                                                                                        2.8
                          Travelling to meet clients                                                                  3.5
                                                                                 1.6

                                                                                                         2.9
                     Travelling to see colleagues in                                                                 3.4
                             other offices/locations
                                                                                       1.8

                                                                                                  2.5
                               In internal meetings                                                             3.2
                                                                           1.4

                                                                                                  2.5
                      General discussion of ideas/
                                                                                                                3.2
                     proposals etc with colleagues
                                                                           1.4


                         Time spent finding inform-                                                    2.7
                        ation/person most relevant                                                                  3.3
                      to a particular task or subject                             1.7


                                Meeting your main                                                2.4
                          objectives e.d. reporting/                                                           3.1
                               delivering to clients                       1.4



                                                                           How social technologies drive business success   7
Senior managers
lead by example

Senior managers strongly endorse the use of                                   Three-quarters (75%) of those senior executives
social tools for business purposes, and are                                   surveyed using them said that social tools will
enthusiastic about their role in the workplace.                               change business strategy, stating that they had
Contrary to popular belief that the use of social                             already been able to improve the following
tools in business will be driven by the younger                               aspects of their business:
generation, senior executives use social tools
                                                                              • Bringing together ideas and thoughts from
more frequently – with nearly three-quarters
                                                                                a geographically dispersed team (79%)
(71%) of those surveyed using them at least once
a week compared to a half (49%) of those in more                              • Productivity (76%)
junior roles. Over a half (54%) expect social tools
                                                                              • Ability to find information, people and expertise
to help productivity, compared to just 39% of
                                                                                more quickly (72%)
those in a junior role.




Chart 5: Perceived impact of social tools                                       All
on business activity over next two years –                                      Senior managers
by grade (% saying significant impact)                                          Junior role


60%
              59                      58
                                                               54                      55                     54
50%
        50                      50
                   48                      47             48                                                                             47
                                                                    45            44                     43
40%                                                                                         41
                                                                                                                    39
                                                                                                                                    37
                                                                                                                                              33
30%



20%



10%



 0%
          Ability to find      Widening personal          Bringing together        Creativity and         Efficient use of          Attracting and
      information, people,     networks, building       ideas and thoughts         innovation –        time/productivity          keeping the best
         expertise more      professional relation-      from a geographi-       generating new                                        talent
             quickly         ships, raising profiles,   cally dispersed team       ideas/angles/
                             creating communities                                approaches etc


                                                                                                   How social technologies drive business success   8
When asked to take a two-year view, senior                        “The current generation is growing up with social
managers’ demonstrated the strength of their                       media; if you do not use it at all you are virtually
conviction. They, more than others, expect social                  untraceable as a company.”
tools to facilitate creativity and innovation as                     – Senior Management, HR/Personnel, Netherlands
well as attract the best talent. Again, we see the
strongest passion in Italy, with professionals in
The Netherlands and Sweden less convinced.

Senior managers believe that the use of social
tools within their organisation could, on average,
reduce the time spent on common tasks such as
emailing and attending meetings by more than
25%. However, they think the biggest saving (29%)
could come from reducing the time spent finding
the most relevant information or people for a
particular task. Speed of decision making is also
seen as an area that can be improved by the use
of social tools – by 26%.




Employee use of social tools
Who is the biggest user of social tools in the
workplace?




                                                                              compared to


                                   71%
                                   senior managers
                                                                              49%
                                                                              of those in a more
                                   are using social tools                     junior role
                                   at work at least
                                   once a week




Chart 6: Predicted percentage improvement                            Senior managers
associated with use of Social Tools – by grade                       Junior role


30%

                            26
                                                                                                24
20%      22                      22               22                     21                           21                   22
              20                                       19                     19                                                18

10%



 0%
          Level of      Speed of decision     Standards/Quality      Speed of product        Speed of service              Overall
        Productivity        making                 of work             development              delivery               growth/Financial
                                                                                                                         Performance




                                                                                        How social technologies drive business success   9
Fast growth companies use
social tools to fuel success

Professionals in the fastest growing companies                      High growth companies in the UK seem to be
we talked to (those claiming over 10% growth in                     most proactive in employing social tools to
2011) are making the greatest use of social tools                   drive success, with 88% using them to improve
to achieve success.                                                 ‘connectivity’ with others at work (such as
                                                                    improved levels of co-operation or creation of the
Fuelling faster growth and expansion                                best-skilled teams), 72% to improve productivity
Among the ‘dynamic’ businesses using social tools to                and 70% for improved business outcomes. This
achieve specific outcomes, 81% report a significant                 is in contrast to Germany where the lowest
impact on growth/expansion; 80% on team’s                           number of professionals say they use social tools
collaboration and knowledge sharing. Meanwhile                      to support business success; here 41% of high
66% have employed social tools to help them to                      growth companies using social tools say they are
drive elements of efficiency and productivity and                   using them to achieve business outcomes.
59% to improve business outcomes such as sales
and to attract and retain talent.                                   Frequent users of in-house social tools are more
                                                                    than twice as likely to be working in high growth
                                                                    companies and only in Sweden and Germany is
                                                                    the pattern less distinct.




Chart 7: Extent to which social tools have                             Negative
improved aspects of work – by business                                 Over 10%
growth (% seeing significant improvement)


80%
                 81
                                    75 77                           76
                                                                                                72
                                                                                                                               77
                                                                                           68                            69
60%                                                            63
            58
40%

20%

 0%
         Faster growth /    Bringing together ideas     Improving co-operation,       Widening personal             Finding information,
           expansion       and thoughts from a geo-     collaboration, knowledge       network, building             people, expertise
                           graphically dispersed team            sharing           professional relationships          more quickly




                                                                                        How social technologies drive business success   10
Improving quality
High growth companies are also significantly
more likely than others to be using social tools
to improve quality of work and enhance creativity
and innovation, highlighting the role social
tools can play in helping employees to generate
new ideas and to take a fresh approach to
the way they collaborate with colleagues. This
is particularly true in Italy, where 70% of the
fastest growing companies are using social tools
to improve quality and support innovation, in
contrast to Germany where just 28% are using
social tools to improve quality of work.




Social tools and business growth
Use of social tools to achieve business growth:


       59%                        76%                      53%



of professionals in high      of senior managers      think that businesses
 growth organisations       believe businesses that   will not survive
are using social tools to    embrace social tools
                                                      unless they embrace
improve business              will grow faster            social tools
   outcomes




                                                                     How social technologies drive business success   11
High-flyers use social
tools to get ahead

Successful workers are twice as likely to be active      Those most likely to recommend their workplace
users of social tools. 86% of frequent users say         are also frequent users of in-house social tools,
they have recently been promoted and 72% say             with 64% of the most regular users stating
they are likely to be promoted, compared to 62%          they are ‘extremely’ likely to recommend their
and 39% of non-users.                                    organisation to someone thinking of working
                                                         there, compared to just 42% of those who never
Moreover, they are happier in their jobs – over          use them.
a third (38%) of frequent users of social tools are
very satisfied with their jobs, compared to 18%          These findings demonstrate the significant impact
of non-users.                                            that social tools can have on an organisation’s
                                                         ability to attract, retain and develop talent.
They also consider their work to be more
interesting (60% compared to 42%) and expect            “It says something about the organisation; often
to have many more opportunities within the next          a sign of confidence in the employee that they may
two years (36% compared to 19%).                         make free use of internet and social media, people
                                                         thrive better in their environment and they will
                                                         therefore work faster and more efficiently.”
                                                                                    – Frequent user, Junior Exec,
                                                                                     HR/Personnel, Netherlands



Social tools and career performance                            Frequent users
Comparison between staff using social tools and                Non-users
those not using them:

                         Have recently
                         been promoted                         Are very likely to
                100                                            recommend their
                                       Expect to be            workplace
                                       promoted
                80                                Are very              Expect their company’s
                                                  satisfied              performance to improve
                                                  with their
                                                  jobs
                60

            %
                40



                20



                 0

                                                                              How social technologies drive business success   12
Conclusions


This report shows that the use of social tools
in business is here to stay. They improve internal
efficiencies while deepening relationships
among employees and providing customers
and stakeholders with the improved goods and
services that tend to result from more joined up
thinking.

Most organisations now appreciate the need to
embrace social media to communicate, market
and sell; perhaps now is the time for a similar
revolution to take place as regards the use of
social tools within the workplace; to grab the
opportunity to improve and enhance internal
processes and attract and retain the best talent.
Some organisations have already seen the
potential and acted upon it. Given that many
of these are thriving within challenging economic
circumstances their example is one worth
following.




                                                     How social technologies drive business success   13
Appendix:
Research methodology

Google commissioned this pan-Europe research                                         Quotas were set on the following demographics in
study to assess the use and impact of social tools                                   order to achieve a robust sample for comparative
within large and multi-site organisations; where                                     analysis within the most relevant target audience:
collaboration is an important element of success.
                                                                                     • Private vs. public sector/not for profit
The objective was to review current relevance
                                                                                       organisations
and perceived importance of social tools in
businesses.                                                                          • Working in senior roles (Board level, reporting
                                                                                       into board, or Practice Head) vs. junior roles
An online survey, designed by Millward Brown
                                                                                     • Use vs. never use social media for work-related
Corporate (London), was completed by 2,700
                                                                                       purposes
executives between 24th February and 14th
March 2012. The number of interviews per
                                                                                     The figures in this report quoted for the European
country is as follows:
                                                                                     ‘average’ are based on weighted data (see profile
                                                                                     in tables below). Each country’s contribution to
France ..................................................................      502
                                                                                     the total is in proportion to its GDP; as published
Germany .............................................................          520
                                                                                     by Eurostat. As a result the data from Germany,
Italy ......................................................................   305
                                                                                     for example, have a greater influence on the
The Netherlands ................................................               303
                                                                                     overall results than those from smaller economies
Spain ....................................................................     300
                                                                                     such as The Netherlands or Sweden.
Sweden ...............................................................         250
UK ........................................................................    520
                                                                                     In addition, the data are weighted to ensure
                                                                                     that each country can be compared on a ‘like for
All 2,700 respondents were currently working
                                                                                     like basis’ as regards to the use of Social Tools,
full-time in non-manual, office-based roles. They
                                                                                     seniority of respondents and sector (commercial
were drawn from organisations having at least 50
                                                                                     vs. not for profit):
(if operating from a single site) or 25 employees
(if the organisation had multiple sites). All
                                                                                     The weighting factor for sector reflects the project
respondents work in a role that, to some extent,
                                                                                     design whereby we wanted to focus on the
requires collaboration with colleagues – they often
                                                                                     experiences of commercial enterprises;
collaborate on projects with colleagues within
their own team/division or with those in other
                                                                                     For seniority we wanted to ensure that the
functions, divisions, offices or in other countries.
                                                                                     study contained a good representation of people
The survey was only completed by employees
                                                                                     working outside the higher levels of organisations
who were able to access and use social media for
                                                                                     and could provide an ‘operational’ viewpoint.
work-related purposes in their workplace (either
                                                                                     Among those who do use social tools, actual
via personal accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn,
                                                                                     frequency was allowed to fall out naturally and
Google+ etc. or internal social media applications
                                                                                     weighting factors (reflecting average frequency
run by their employer). A ‘control group’ of those
                                                                                     across all countries) were applied to enable ‘like
never using social tools was included for the
                                                                                     for like’ comparisons.
purposes of comparison.




                                                                                                      How social technologies drive business success   14
The weighted profile of the data is as follows:                                    This report discusses the findings from the survey
                                                                                   as a whole while paying particular attention to
European Total:                                                                    ‘Frequent Users’; ‘High Growth Companies’; and
                                                                                   ‘Senior Managers’. These groups of people are
Size of economy (GDP)                                                              defined as follows:
Germany ............................................................. 26%
France .................................................................. 20%      Frequent users: 23% of total sample
UK ........................................................................ 18%    Every day or almost every day they use social
Italy ...................................................................... 16%   media/communities that have been specifically
Spain .................................................................... 11%     set up by their organisation for exclusive use by
Netherlands ......................................................... 6%           its people.
Sweden ................................................................. 4%
                                                                                   Note: frequent users of in-house social tools are
                                                                                   most often found in:
Sector
Private/Commercial .......................................... 85%                  • Italy (33%), France (26%)
Public/Not for profit .......................................... 15%
                                                                                   • Aged 16-24 (26%) or 25-34 (27%)
Seniority                                                                          • Consumer/FMCG (31%), Wholesale (28%), creative/
Senior/Mid-level Executives ............................. 40%                        media (27%) and professional services (27%)
Junior Executives ............................................... 60%
                                                                                   High growth companies: 15% of total sample
Frequency of use of Social Tools                                                   Those reporting domestic year on year growth
Frequent (daily/almost) .................................... 36%                   (2011 vs. 2010) greater than 10%.
Often (most days/weekly) ................................ 36%
Occasionally (monthly) ..................................... 16%                   Senior managers: 17% of total sample
Never ................................................................... 12%      Those describing themselves as part of their
                                                                                   organisation’s “Top level management/Board” or
                                                                                   part of the “Senior Management” group such as
                                                                                   the Head of an Office or Division who reports into
                                                                                   the board.
                                                                                   Note: This is not a representative survey of ALL
                                                                                   workplaces; it reflects the view of executives in
                                                                                   ‘collaborative’ non-manual roles within medium
                                                                                   and large organisations, mainly within the private
                                                                                   sector.




                                                                                                    How social technologies drive business success   15

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Google Emea Social Report 2012

  • 1. How social technologies drive business success EUROPEAN SURVEY RESULTS 15TH MAY 2012
  • 2. Contents Foreword ............................................................................... 1 Executive summary .............................................................. 2 How are social tools being used today? ............................ 4 How will social tools be used tomorrow? ......................... 6 Senior managers lead by example .................................... 8 Fast growth companies use social to fuel success ........ 10 High flyers use social tools to get ahead ........................ 12 Conclusions ......................................................................... 13 Appendix: Research methodology ................................... 14
  • 3. Foreword Sharing opinions and experiences online is adoption of social tools, those in senior roles second nature for many people, but until recently actually use them far more regularly than their this bore little resemblance to the way we work. more junior colleagues. The second is that a Traditionally, businesses operated in silos, with huge proportion (81%) of high growth businesses little done to encourage collaboration or the are using social tools to facilitate expansion and sharing of ideas and information, not just across improve the ways in which teams collaborate countries, but even within individual departments. and share knowledge. And finally, we found that successful workers are more than twice as likely Today, however, the tools that make it easy to to be active users of social tools in the workplace connect and work together online are starting than their less successful colleagues. to disrupt traditional working practices in ways that we are only just beginning to realise. There With a trend towards more remote working is a growing recognition that rather than being and more companies spread across different a distraction or a time drain, social tools could territories, the need for cross-border collaboration actually hold the key to a more productive way and information sharing has never been greater. of doing business. Having the ability to bring together thoughts and ideas from team members scattered across To find out more about the potential of social a country, or even across the globe, and being tools in the world of business, we commissioned able to find information, people and expertise Millward Brown to gather opinions from 2,700 faster can only help businesses grow and remain professionals across France, Germany, Italy, the competitive. Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We wanted to see if social tools are already helping Of course social tools are not a panacea for all businesses to grow faster, whether and how they business challenges, and in themselves cannot can help your career, and which countries are at transform business performance – but, when the forefront of this social revolution. used appropriately, their potential should not be underestimated. With this in mind, it is perhaps The results, as you will see in the rest of this unsurprising that nearly a half of professionals report, were fascinating and clearly show that surveyed across Europe said that businesses that not only are social tools being used widely within do not embrace social media will not survive. business today, but that those who are using Eventually, organisations that adopt social tools to them are already reaping the benefits. break down barriers will benefit versus those that stay stuck in silos. While there is a wealth of data to pore over, three findings really peaked my interest. The first is that, contrary to what we’re often told about Sebastien Marotte the younger generation of workers driving the VP of Google Enterprise, EMEA How social technologies drive business success 1
  • 4. Executive summary Timewasting, a distraction and a drain on resources Almost a half (46%) of professionals want to are all accusations that have been levelled at the make greater use of social tools: use of social tools in business – but as the digital • A third (32%) are using external social media, revolution gathers apace, are these still valid? such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, for work related purposes every day To find out, we commissioned this comprehensive European study with Millward Brown, gathering • A quarter (23%) are using in-house social tools (set opinions from 2,700 professionals across France, up for use by people within the business) daily, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden over a half (57%) use them at least once a week and the UK. • Only a quarter never use in-house social tools We wanted to understand how social tools are being used in business; who is using them and what for, their benefits and challenges and how they are affecting people’s work and careers. We spoke with people who need to collaborate with colleagues to achieve their objectives and here’s what we found out – these findings, and more, are explored throughout the report. Who is using social tools? Sweden Which countries are the most enthusiastic users of social tools? UK Spain 74% Italy 74% Netherlands UK 65% Germany Sweden 62% France 61% Netherlands 55% France Germany 53% Italy 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Spain % How social technologies drive business success 2
  • 5. Most professionals are enthusiastic about the High growth companies are more likely potential social tools have to improve the way to be using social tools to fuel success: they work, the most enthusiastic found in/ • 59% of professionals in high growth among: organisations are using social tools to improve • Spain and Italy business outcomes such as increasing sales and attracting and retaining clients • Senior managers • 81% of these ‘dynamic’ businesses that are • High growth companies using social tools report a significant impact • Retail, Consumer/FMCG and Creative industries on growth/expansion • SMEs with an international reach • 80% of high growth companies are using social tools to improve ‘connectivity’ (such as Today professionals are using social tools for: collaboration and knowledge sharing) • Finding people, information or expertise more High flyers are twice as likely to be using social quickly (41%) tools • Collaboration and knowledge sharing (37%) • 86% of frequent users have recently been • Widening personal networks, building promoted, and 72% say they are likely to be professional relationships, raising profile and promoted, compared to 61% and 39% of non- creating communities (34%) users • Reducing the volume and length of emails (31%) • Over a third (38%) are very satisfied with their jobs – compared to 18% of non-users Social Tools are expected to be a powerful • 64% are very likely to recommend their ingredient within successful businesses: workplace – compared to 42% of non-users • 70% of professionals believe social tools will change business strategy Frequent users of social tools are more optimistic • 69% think businesses that embrace them will grow faster than those that don’t • 59% expect the performance of their organisation to improve over the next year, • 68% believe businesses that embrace social compared to just 38% of those that never use tools will find it easier to attract and keep the them best people • Professionals estimate that productivity could Universal agreement that social tools can save be increased by nearly 20% through the use time on common tasks of social tools • Professionals think that two hours a week could be saved on common tasks such as dealing with Senior managers are enthusiastic about the emails, travelling to meetings and searching for potential social tools have to boost business the most relevant person for a task performance: • Nearly three-quarters (71%) are using them at least once a week, compared to 49% of those in more junior roles • Three quarters say: – They will change the way businesses operate in the future – They have, where used, enabled them to be more productive – Businesses that embrace them will grow faster than those that don’t How social technologies drive business success 3
  • 6. How are social tools being used today? Improving how information flows In fact, people are primarily using social tools Professionals are using social tools to achieve to find information, people, or expertise more numerous tasks and objectives. Far from being quickly (41%), followed by improving co- a time-drain, those using them agree that operation, collaboration and knowledge sharing they enable better communication with their (37%), widening personal networks, building colleagues, leading to improved cooperation – professional relationships, raising profiles and particularly for those that work with people in creating communities (34%) and bringing together other locations. ideas and thoughts from a geographically dispersed team. “They greatly improve the contribution and development of ideas. In my case, as an architect The majority of those using social tools think they and section manager, they help me and my group have had a big impact on different aspects of their to put ideas forward and brainstorm at any time work - nearly three-quarters (72%) say that they and in any place.” have significantly improved bringing together – Team Leader, Creative/Design, Spain ideas and thoughts from a geographically dispersed team and over two-thirds (68%) think “I can communicate quickly with colleagues in other collaboration and knowledge sharing, and countries and get immediate answers.” building professional relationships have been – Junior Executive, Content Management, UK substantially enhanced. Chart 1: Use and impact of social tools to Used for connect people and share ideas (connections) Significant impact Improving co-operation, Widening personal network, Bringing together ideas Internal blogs, activity Building teams with the collaboration, knowledge building professional and thoughts from a streams, status updates, best possible skill set sharing relationships, raising profile, geographically dispersed messaging, polling creating communities team 20% 34% 29% 26% 37% 68% 68% 72% 59% 64% How social technologies drive business success 4
  • 7. Driving business success Among those using social tools it is professionals Two-thirds (67%) of professionals using them in Spain and Italy who have the most positive believe that social tools have had a significant perceptions of their impact. In Spain, for example, impact on the growth of their organisation. 63% 89% of professionals believe social tools have say they have enabled their businesses to be significantly improved innovation (compared to more competitive and 60% believe they have the European average of 64%). Those in Sweden allowed them to increase sales and to attract and and The Netherlands are more doubtful of the retain the best talent (59%). The lowest figures for impact. The respective figures for perceived a perceived impact on attracting talent were seen reduction in volume of emails is 26% and 22%, in Germany (27%). compared to the 57% European average. Adoption in industry Which industries are the most enthusiastic users of social tools and business networking applications? 77% 59% Creative/Media Manufacturing 74% Consumer/FMCG 72% Retail 57% 67% Transport Telecoms/IT 64% Professional services 66% Wholesale Chart 2: Use and impact of social tools Used for to achieve business goals (outcomes) Significant impact Being more Increasing Faster growth/ Attracting and keeping competitive sales expansion the best talent 18% 16% 26% 24% 68% 68% 72% 59% How social technologies drive business success 5
  • 8. How will social tools be used tomorrow? Business growth Increased productivity Three-quarters (76%) of senior managers believe Many professionals think that using social tools businesses that embrace social tools will grow will increase productivity – by an average of 20% faster than those who ‘ignore’ the technology. across Europe in fact – with the biggest potential Meanwhile, 53% believe that businesses will not for time saving on everyday tasks. For example, survive unless they embrace social. Nearly three- they think social tools could: quarters (71%) say that businesses that embrace • Reduce the volume of emails by 25% the use of social tools in the workplace will find it easier to attract and keep the best talent. • Reduce the number of meetings and conference calls by 23% Frequent users estimate a total of three hours a week could be saved on each of these tasks. They also believe speed of service delivery will increase by 27% and financial performance improve by 24%. Chart 3: Perceptions of social tools’ impact on Senior managers business ‘success’ (% agree) Frequent users Social tools will change The most successful Businesses will not Businesses that embrace Businesses that embrace the strategy businesses ad businesses will be those survive unless they social tools will grow the use of social tools will opt in order to operate that fully embrace the use embrace social tools faster than those who find it easier to attract and successfully of social tools within their ignore it keep the best talent organisations 75% 72% 53% 76% 71% 82% 82% 62% 83% 79% How social technologies drive business success 6
  • 9. Professionals in Germany, Sweden and The “Those who use information in faster and broader Netherlands are less likely to recognise the ways will grow stronger and will be more tangible benefits social tools might bring. competitive. Those who do not will (depending on Estimates of improvements in productivity in what they do) be marginalised and eventually will these countries are at least 5% lower than the become insignificant or extinct.” European average. In contrast professionals – Junior Executive, IT/Systems, the UK in Spain were by far the most positive, with an estimated 31% increase in productivity and a 28% increase in financial performance being attributed to the power of social tools. The greatest time saving is thought to be through reduction in travel to meet clients and colleagues in other offices (2.8 hours per week estimated saving on client visits rising to 3.5 among frequent users). Chart 4: Estimated time saving (hours) from using social tools – by grade Hours saved 0 1 2 3 Total Frequent users 2.4 Never used Reading/sending emails 3.2 1.4 2.8 Travelling to meet clients 3.5 1.6 2.9 Travelling to see colleagues in 3.4 other offices/locations 1.8 2.5 In internal meetings 3.2 1.4 2.5 General discussion of ideas/ 3.2 proposals etc with colleagues 1.4 Time spent finding inform- 2.7 ation/person most relevant 3.3 to a particular task or subject 1.7 Meeting your main 2.4 objectives e.d. reporting/ 3.1 delivering to clients 1.4 How social technologies drive business success 7
  • 10. Senior managers lead by example Senior managers strongly endorse the use of Three-quarters (75%) of those senior executives social tools for business purposes, and are surveyed using them said that social tools will enthusiastic about their role in the workplace. change business strategy, stating that they had Contrary to popular belief that the use of social already been able to improve the following tools in business will be driven by the younger aspects of their business: generation, senior executives use social tools • Bringing together ideas and thoughts from more frequently – with nearly three-quarters a geographically dispersed team (79%) (71%) of those surveyed using them at least once a week compared to a half (49%) of those in more • Productivity (76%) junior roles. Over a half (54%) expect social tools • Ability to find information, people and expertise to help productivity, compared to just 39% of more quickly (72%) those in a junior role. Chart 5: Perceived impact of social tools All on business activity over next two years – Senior managers by grade (% saying significant impact) Junior role 60% 59 58 54 55 54 50% 50 50 48 47 48 47 45 44 43 40% 41 39 37 33 30% 20% 10% 0% Ability to find Widening personal Bringing together Creativity and Efficient use of Attracting and information, people, networks, building ideas and thoughts innovation – time/productivity keeping the best expertise more professional relation- from a geographi- generating new talent quickly ships, raising profiles, cally dispersed team ideas/angles/ creating communities approaches etc How social technologies drive business success 8
  • 11. When asked to take a two-year view, senior “The current generation is growing up with social managers’ demonstrated the strength of their media; if you do not use it at all you are virtually conviction. They, more than others, expect social untraceable as a company.” tools to facilitate creativity and innovation as – Senior Management, HR/Personnel, Netherlands well as attract the best talent. Again, we see the strongest passion in Italy, with professionals in The Netherlands and Sweden less convinced. Senior managers believe that the use of social tools within their organisation could, on average, reduce the time spent on common tasks such as emailing and attending meetings by more than 25%. However, they think the biggest saving (29%) could come from reducing the time spent finding the most relevant information or people for a particular task. Speed of decision making is also seen as an area that can be improved by the use of social tools – by 26%. Employee use of social tools Who is the biggest user of social tools in the workplace? compared to 71% senior managers 49% of those in a more are using social tools junior role at work at least once a week Chart 6: Predicted percentage improvement Senior managers associated with use of Social Tools – by grade Junior role 30% 26 24 20% 22 22 22 21 21 22 20 19 19 18 10% 0% Level of Speed of decision Standards/Quality Speed of product Speed of service Overall Productivity making of work development delivery growth/Financial Performance How social technologies drive business success 9
  • 12. Fast growth companies use social tools to fuel success Professionals in the fastest growing companies High growth companies in the UK seem to be we talked to (those claiming over 10% growth in most proactive in employing social tools to 2011) are making the greatest use of social tools drive success, with 88% using them to improve to achieve success. ‘connectivity’ with others at work (such as improved levels of co-operation or creation of the Fuelling faster growth and expansion best-skilled teams), 72% to improve productivity Among the ‘dynamic’ businesses using social tools to and 70% for improved business outcomes. This achieve specific outcomes, 81% report a significant is in contrast to Germany where the lowest impact on growth/expansion; 80% on team’s number of professionals say they use social tools collaboration and knowledge sharing. Meanwhile to support business success; here 41% of high 66% have employed social tools to help them to growth companies using social tools say they are drive elements of efficiency and productivity and using them to achieve business outcomes. 59% to improve business outcomes such as sales and to attract and retain talent. Frequent users of in-house social tools are more than twice as likely to be working in high growth companies and only in Sweden and Germany is the pattern less distinct. Chart 7: Extent to which social tools have Negative improved aspects of work – by business Over 10% growth (% seeing significant improvement) 80% 81 75 77 76 72 77 68 69 60% 63 58 40% 20% 0% Faster growth / Bringing together ideas Improving co-operation, Widening personal Finding information, expansion and thoughts from a geo- collaboration, knowledge network, building people, expertise graphically dispersed team sharing professional relationships more quickly How social technologies drive business success 10
  • 13. Improving quality High growth companies are also significantly more likely than others to be using social tools to improve quality of work and enhance creativity and innovation, highlighting the role social tools can play in helping employees to generate new ideas and to take a fresh approach to the way they collaborate with colleagues. This is particularly true in Italy, where 70% of the fastest growing companies are using social tools to improve quality and support innovation, in contrast to Germany where just 28% are using social tools to improve quality of work. Social tools and business growth Use of social tools to achieve business growth: 59% 76% 53% of professionals in high of senior managers think that businesses growth organisations believe businesses that will not survive are using social tools to embrace social tools unless they embrace improve business will grow faster social tools outcomes How social technologies drive business success 11
  • 14. High-flyers use social tools to get ahead Successful workers are twice as likely to be active Those most likely to recommend their workplace users of social tools. 86% of frequent users say are also frequent users of in-house social tools, they have recently been promoted and 72% say with 64% of the most regular users stating they are likely to be promoted, compared to 62% they are ‘extremely’ likely to recommend their and 39% of non-users. organisation to someone thinking of working there, compared to just 42% of those who never Moreover, they are happier in their jobs – over use them. a third (38%) of frequent users of social tools are very satisfied with their jobs, compared to 18% These findings demonstrate the significant impact of non-users. that social tools can have on an organisation’s ability to attract, retain and develop talent. They also consider their work to be more interesting (60% compared to 42%) and expect “It says something about the organisation; often to have many more opportunities within the next a sign of confidence in the employee that they may two years (36% compared to 19%). make free use of internet and social media, people thrive better in their environment and they will therefore work faster and more efficiently.” – Frequent user, Junior Exec, HR/Personnel, Netherlands Social tools and career performance Frequent users Comparison between staff using social tools and Non-users those not using them: Have recently been promoted Are very likely to 100 recommend their Expect to be workplace promoted 80 Are very Expect their company’s satisfied performance to improve with their jobs 60 % 40 20 0 How social technologies drive business success 12
  • 15. Conclusions This report shows that the use of social tools in business is here to stay. They improve internal efficiencies while deepening relationships among employees and providing customers and stakeholders with the improved goods and services that tend to result from more joined up thinking. Most organisations now appreciate the need to embrace social media to communicate, market and sell; perhaps now is the time for a similar revolution to take place as regards the use of social tools within the workplace; to grab the opportunity to improve and enhance internal processes and attract and retain the best talent. Some organisations have already seen the potential and acted upon it. Given that many of these are thriving within challenging economic circumstances their example is one worth following. How social technologies drive business success 13
  • 16. Appendix: Research methodology Google commissioned this pan-Europe research Quotas were set on the following demographics in study to assess the use and impact of social tools order to achieve a robust sample for comparative within large and multi-site organisations; where analysis within the most relevant target audience: collaboration is an important element of success. • Private vs. public sector/not for profit The objective was to review current relevance organisations and perceived importance of social tools in businesses. • Working in senior roles (Board level, reporting into board, or Practice Head) vs. junior roles An online survey, designed by Millward Brown • Use vs. never use social media for work-related Corporate (London), was completed by 2,700 purposes executives between 24th February and 14th March 2012. The number of interviews per The figures in this report quoted for the European country is as follows: ‘average’ are based on weighted data (see profile in tables below). Each country’s contribution to France .................................................................. 502 the total is in proportion to its GDP; as published Germany ............................................................. 520 by Eurostat. As a result the data from Germany, Italy ...................................................................... 305 for example, have a greater influence on the The Netherlands ................................................ 303 overall results than those from smaller economies Spain .................................................................... 300 such as The Netherlands or Sweden. Sweden ............................................................... 250 UK ........................................................................ 520 In addition, the data are weighted to ensure that each country can be compared on a ‘like for All 2,700 respondents were currently working like basis’ as regards to the use of Social Tools, full-time in non-manual, office-based roles. They seniority of respondents and sector (commercial were drawn from organisations having at least 50 vs. not for profit): (if operating from a single site) or 25 employees (if the organisation had multiple sites). All The weighting factor for sector reflects the project respondents work in a role that, to some extent, design whereby we wanted to focus on the requires collaboration with colleagues – they often experiences of commercial enterprises; collaborate on projects with colleagues within their own team/division or with those in other For seniority we wanted to ensure that the functions, divisions, offices or in other countries. study contained a good representation of people The survey was only completed by employees working outside the higher levels of organisations who were able to access and use social media for and could provide an ‘operational’ viewpoint. work-related purposes in their workplace (either Among those who do use social tools, actual via personal accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, frequency was allowed to fall out naturally and Google+ etc. or internal social media applications weighting factors (reflecting average frequency run by their employer). A ‘control group’ of those across all countries) were applied to enable ‘like never using social tools was included for the for like’ comparisons. purposes of comparison. How social technologies drive business success 14
  • 17. The weighted profile of the data is as follows: This report discusses the findings from the survey as a whole while paying particular attention to European Total: ‘Frequent Users’; ‘High Growth Companies’; and ‘Senior Managers’. These groups of people are Size of economy (GDP) defined as follows: Germany ............................................................. 26% France .................................................................. 20% Frequent users: 23% of total sample UK ........................................................................ 18% Every day or almost every day they use social Italy ...................................................................... 16% media/communities that have been specifically Spain .................................................................... 11% set up by their organisation for exclusive use by Netherlands ......................................................... 6% its people. Sweden ................................................................. 4% Note: frequent users of in-house social tools are most often found in: Sector Private/Commercial .......................................... 85% • Italy (33%), France (26%) Public/Not for profit .......................................... 15% • Aged 16-24 (26%) or 25-34 (27%) Seniority • Consumer/FMCG (31%), Wholesale (28%), creative/ Senior/Mid-level Executives ............................. 40% media (27%) and professional services (27%) Junior Executives ............................................... 60% High growth companies: 15% of total sample Frequency of use of Social Tools Those reporting domestic year on year growth Frequent (daily/almost) .................................... 36% (2011 vs. 2010) greater than 10%. Often (most days/weekly) ................................ 36% Occasionally (monthly) ..................................... 16% Senior managers: 17% of total sample Never ................................................................... 12% Those describing themselves as part of their organisation’s “Top level management/Board” or part of the “Senior Management” group such as the Head of an Office or Division who reports into the board. Note: This is not a representative survey of ALL workplaces; it reflects the view of executives in ‘collaborative’ non-manual roles within medium and large organisations, mainly within the private sector. How social technologies drive business success 15