Social media has proven to be the new wave of connections, however many companies discourage their employees from checking their Twitter and LinkedIn on company time. Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh, authors of ‘The Alliance,” propose a new kind of networked intelligence that might just have managers and business owners embracing social media as a new path to increasing company knowledge.
By choosing to incorporate technology and online interaction, instead of fighting it, both managers and employees can expand their network, make important connections for the company and increase their awareness of new trends and people in the know.
Reid Hoffman’s presentation, “Network Intelligence: Your Company Can’t Thrive Without It,” hits the major points of the book.
“Information and insight from people you know that can give you a competitive advantage.”
In short, Hoffman describes the alliance as a situation where no one loses. The company gains knowledge and the employee gains experience in networking and expands their professional network. The company has access to double; sometimes triple, the amount of information, as it would if individuals only limited themselves to resources in their own company. The example Hoffman uses of a company that practices the alliance method is HubSpot. HubSpot celebrates the number of Twittter followers or LinkedIn connections an employee has. In using this method, “Hubspot attracts two times the number of candidates for job opportunities it posts on LinkedIn.” HubSpot owner and Founder, Dharmesh Shah, says, “My one regret is that we didn’t put the Learning Meals policy in place from the start at HubSpot.” The Learning Meals program provides the opportunity for employees to dine with individuals in their field on company time and money, providing that employees bring back information and share the new knowledge with the rest of the company. Some of the most valuable information is shared via person-to-person contact. Google is informative, but it doesn’t hold all of the knowledge on a subject that an individual does.
“When it comes to knowledge in a highly networked era, who you know is often more valuable than what you‘ve read.”
Just because the information you’re looking for doesn’t show up on the first five pages of Google, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Interacting with knowledgeable professionals in your field usually leads to more answers, because it can be tailored directly to your needs. Networking is something that is highly valued in general and Hoffman points out that networking goes far beyond just the individual. Encouraging your employees to work for you, and themselves, is becoming a new way of thinking. It helps upper level management problem solve quickly and efficiently, allows employees to help grow the company and more importantly, themselves. Gaining network intelligence through an alliance is a necessity for companies to stay competitive. Also, it serves as a means of growth for employees, which could lead to individuals staying longer in a company in the future.
How do you tap into your employees’ resources to grow your business? We’d love to hear about how you empower your employees, utilize their connections and think up new ways to solve your business challenges.
