2. Social change: How organizations can innovate,
collaborate & increase engagement
Organizations embracing enterprise social tools are finding their employees are happier and
more productive. They’re also contributing great ideas and transforming their businesses from the
ground up. Aberdeen Research studied the effects of internal social tools on a company’s ability to
respond to customer feedback. The results were impressive: organizations that adopt social tools
respond 36% faster to customers, which in general means customers are happier too.
Improved morale, productivity, and customer service are just some of the ways that social tools
enhance performance and drive business growth. In this paper, we’ll examine how organizations
are leveraging enterprise social to innovate, collaborate and engage employees globally.
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Organizations that adopt social
networking tools respond 36%
faster to customer feedback.
—Aberdeen Research, 2010
3. Collaborate:
Make it easier for employees to be productive
Gathering real-time information and bridging the divide between globally dispersed teams can be
critical to productivity. With faster access to knowledge, organizations can solve problems sooner,
cut costs and gain an advantage over competitors. A good example of this is Apache Corporation.
Apache cuts trouble costs with cross regional collaboration
Apache is an 8,000-person energy company that drills for crude oil and natural gas in
North America, Australia and Africa. In recent years, the organization has seen tremendous
growth through acquisition, but this was putting a strain on company efforts to collaborate.
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The problem: Globally distributed teams
Teams across Apache’s global sites were
fiercely independent and had little incentive
to share knowledge across boundaries.
But something had to be done, because
“trouble costs” such as equipment failures
were totaling nearly 25% of the company’s
budget.
The solution: Internal social network
integrated with SharePoint
Apache deployed an internal social network,
integrated with Microsoft SharePoint, which
makes it possible for employees to send and
receive valuable content without leaving the
social networking platform.
The company’s workforce find the solution
easy to use, and because native mobile apps
are integrated, employees on remote drilling
sites can collaborate just as easily as some-
one at headquarters, allowing Apache to cut
their trouble costs significantly.
4. Fashion retailer uses focused collaboration to get ahead of the competition
One of the largest clothing and accessories retailers in North America, with 810 department
stores and 166,000 employees, decided that it was time to bring their collaboration tools
into the 21st century.
Emergency response volunteers use real-time collaboration to help save lives
A 5,500-person government and volunteer organization p roviding emergency response to
the community of Victoria wanted to better coordinate the disaster relief efforts of their
thousands of well-trained volunteers.
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The problem:
The need for a collaborative network
In responding to storms, floods, or other
large-scale crisis situations, saving time can
literally save lives—so the volunteer
organization was always looking for tools to
improve the efficiency of their collaboration.
The solution: Internal social network
with native mobile apps
The organization implemented an internal
social network with native mobile apps.
Response teams can now follow updates in
their particular areas of expertise—from any
location, at any time. Furthermore, integration
with Spotfire Business Intelligence software
enables them to post critical data during
emergencies, so the 5,500 people on the
social network can do their jobs better and
stay safe themselves.
The problem: Collaboration hindered
by ineffective technologies
As far as the natural desire to collaborate,
the company was at the other end of the
spectrum. Employees genuinely wanted to
work together to get products from ideation to
market faster, but felt somewhat limited by
traditional systems like email and phone calls.
The solution: A subject-based
social networking platform
The merchandising group turned to a
subject-based social networking tool that
enables them to move at the speed of fashion.
Marketing executives, designers, product
managers and others now join forces around
key topic areas in real time, so the right
people can react and respond much faster to
data, feedback, questions and suggestions
5. Innovate:
Facilitate unconventional thinking
From answering questions to sharing thoughts, social networking ignites innovation. The open
forum environment flattens hierarchies and encourages employees to share their ideas.
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Sales reps share ideas across teams to close deals like never before
An industrial maintenance corporation with 8,500 employees and sales reps in over 50
countries provides product and repair services including industrial cleaning, water treatment,
plumbing and maintenance of specialty industrial supplies.
San Francisco Bay Area Wingstop restaurants cost-effectively
share information across brand partners
Regional restaurant franchise Wingstop uses social networking so their partners and restaurant
owners can generate fresh perspectives on product positioning and corporate messaging.
The secure platform enables brand partners across 35 restaurants to make suggestions,
agree on menu pricing, collaborate on marketing campaigns and gauge response to menu
items, such as the 100 Wing Family Pack. Plus, it gives them the ability to cost-effectively
share information without meeting in person.
The problem: Misalignment between
geographically dispersed teams
Before deploying a social networking
platform, sales reps had little connection to
their company other than a regular paycheck.
The corporation realized that the business
was missing opportunities by preventing
sales reps in 50 countries from interacting
with maintenance service providers.
The solution: Community based
enterprise social network
Prior to the implementation, there was no
easy way to share information or advice on
how to close new deals. Now, 8,500 users
across business units are forming multiple
communities and working together to
respond to customers faster, building sales
in exciting and innovative ways.
6. Engagement:
Keeping your talent inspired
Good employees want to make a long-term impact, but doing so requires the right level of
engagement and inspiration. Modern collaboration tools can play an important role. Private social
networks level the playing field so every employee has a shot at coming up with the next big thing.
These networks also give employees a forum for expressing their views and receiving feedback,
further increasing engagement and overall interest in the company.
A flatter, less hierarchical organizational structure is enabling
KPMG to retain more of its valuable 21st century workforce.
KPMG retains talent & boosts morale through social networking
KPMG is a global professional services firm providing audit, tax and advisory services worldwide.
KPMG has 140,000 professionals, including more than 8,000 partners, in 144 countries.
The problem: Not retaining employees
KPMG found that it was losing 20 percent of its workforce each year. The skill and knowledge
loss from this significant turnover was getting expensive. KPMG needed a better way to foster
engagement between the company and its people.
The solution: IT-Approved, secure enterprise social network
The company wanted to give users a social networking tool, while meeting IT and legal require-
ments for enterprise-grade security. Shortly after deployment, the new collaboration platform start-
ed to have an impact. Today, in a flatter, less hierarchical organization, KPMG employees are able
to engage more freely and the company is keeping more of its valuable 21st century workforce.
International Policy Organization Implements Social
Increased engagement with the promise of tight security is also important for an international an
event-driven, international policy organization. The organization brings together political, business
and academic leaders to solve global issues, such as sustaining economic growth. They needed
a way to keep members talking candidly, even after they returned home to their respective
countries and organizations. Today, a private social networking platform gives members the peace
of mind they need to speak openly and honestly with each other, as they work hard to fulfill their
mission of improving the state of the world.
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7. Conclusion
Organizations are seeing real value from social networking tools. They hold great promise for
improved collaboration, innovation and employee engagement—important benefits that are not
mutually exclusive. In fact, most companies can reap all three benefits with the right platform.
Professional services and consulting firm Cordelta, for example, needed a way for employees
spread across multiple locations to stay connected and make decisions faster. Since implementing
internal social networking, they have seen an estimated 30% improvement in internal communication.
The private social network provides for more transparency, and vital updates are no longer lost in
email. Employees are more engaged and spend less time searching for information.
“With the company spread across multiple locations, it can be difficult to maintain communication
across the organization and keep employees invested,” said Cordelta CIO Matthew Ryan. After
implementing the enterprise social network tibbr, Ryan said, “We’ve been able to engage our
employees at a new level, helping them communicate more efficiently and also to be more involved
in the company overall.”
With each successive case study it becomes easier to see how collaboration platforms heighten
company morale, streamline communications, give employees a voice and transform business.
About tibbr
tibbr is the social network for work. It brings people, apps, files and actions together in one
place—on a desktop, smartphone or tablet—so work gets done faster.
tibbr streamlines communication and encourages the sharing of ideas and inspiration so
organizations can take advantage of their collective intelligence.
Launched in January 2011, tibbr is already used by over a million humans in more than
100 countries, revolutionizing how we communicate, collaborate, share and learn.
Discover more at www.tibbr.com.
Try tibbr at try.tibbr.com/tibbr/web/signup
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