The Culture of a Social Business

When I first joined GlobalOne, I found a business thriving on internal, community based sharing and information openness that I had not seen before. Personal preferences within the minds of each staffer took them to collaborative sites to find answers, share solutions and communicate. I was impressed to see such an expanded use of social media tools to conduct business. Most people are under the impression that a social business is simply made up of Intranet sites, a corporate Facebook page and some LinkedIn activity. But what makes a business social is its’ people and its’ culture. At GlobalOne, that culture is made up of the behaviors and views of our people and our willingness to be self-sufficient solutionists. We collaborate in open forums and produce valid information to enable ourselves, our co-workers and our clients (internal and external) be more productive.

IBM’s GM for Collaboration Solutions, Alistair Rennie, said it very well in his Halloween post, More Than Facebook: The Time Is Right For Social Business: “Here’s the trick with social business: Focus on people and culture”. He went on to add that, “People by nature are social beings. We naturally form networks based on trust and similar interests. With social technology, executives are providing the necessary tools for their employees to easily tap into the creativity, intelligence and community that they crave. They’re now able to reach networks of people inside and outside the company to get work done more efficiently, more creatively, more collaboratively.”

Being a social business, or even asking for help on how to be a social business, can be unnerving and even make you feel silly. I recommend this kind of silliness to everyone as it is changing the ways companies behave, build culture, retain employees and lure new clients.

Richard Stack (2 Posts)

As Global Head of Recruiting & Staffing Richard is responsible for the design and execution of Cloud Sherpas' global recruiting strategy in North America, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.