Learning in Society

The composition of the workplace has shifted greatly, for the majority of thousands. This shift has needed the increased application of technology to encourage learning and promote business outcomes, especially social media tools. Social media at a minimum allow employees to learn informally and make informed decisions through interaction with others. The use of social media in the workplace does not go away in a study by business professionals, the majority of whom believe that social media will be more important for social learning in future (Allen & Naughton, 2011). According to Allen and Naughton (2011), learning and development professionals need to know the importance of social media in training and development too enhance its uptake The authors attest that social media facilitates information exchange and communication, which if directed appropriately help enhance employee learning and development. The authors acknowledge the different social media tools available, and acknowledge the need for professionals to understand the different barriers and obstacles that may impede the use of social media in institutions, among them security and privacy concerns. However, the authors attest that there are different opportunities associated with the use of social media, which if well utilized, promotes learning and development (Allen & Naughton, 2011).

What will it mean?

 According to Allen and Naughton (2011), technology tools are changing at a rapid and unpredictable pace, thus a common media tool today may be irrelevant and obsolete tomorrow. Additionally, there is no single correct way to implement social learning. This means that learning and development professionals must educate themselves progressively on tools and methods, in order to keep abreast with the changing media tools to ensure that the organization gets the best from social learning (Society for human Resource Management, 2016).

What’s in use?

My current employer has really adopted the use of social media to promote employee training and development. Previously, the company was using twitter to enhance the exchange of information in real-time. The company has since switched to Chatter which is a more secure micro-blogging platform designed for internal communication. This tool is now used in information sharing and communication in real-time and has been a critical tool for employee training and development.

Competencies

HRM and HRD professionals need to be competent on the best appropriate tools for their organization, and the methods of implementing the changes. This knowledge and competencies can best be acquired through progressive self-education such as starting a blog, participating in a wiki, attending meetings in a virtual world among other strategies.

Techniques for overcoming organizational challenges

There are different barriers and obstacles that impede adoption of social media, chief among them, security and privacy. Organizations are apprehensive that social media may divulge sensitive and inappropriate information to the public thus affects returns on investments (ROI). This can be overcome by educating users about privacy measures such as avoiding hacking, as well as implementing tools to enhance privacy and security such as the use of firewalls (SHRM, 2016)

Self-assessment

Upon self-assessment and based on my current career, I feel that I need to be well versed with the use of micro blogs and micro-sharing tools such as twitter among others. My current employer uses micro blogging tools thus I need to be well versed on the tool to enhance my participation and contribution via the tool.

References

Society for human Resource Management (SHRM) (2016). Managing and Leveraging Workplace Use of Social Media. Accessed on 4 April 2017, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/managingsocialmedia.aspx

Allen, M. & Naughton, J., (2011). Social Learning: A Call to Action for Learning Professionals. Accessed on 4 April 2017, from http://learningfactor.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SocialLearningTDArticle_August2011-copy-2.pdf

Appendix

Actual Action Plan

Evidently, social media tools are changing at a fast and unprecedented pace. Additionally, there is no single correct way to implement social learning, thus employees are obligated to educate themselves progressively on tools and methods of existing and emerging social media tools. This helps to keep the employee abreast with the changing media tools, thus avoiding obsolesce. However, self-improvement is sometimes challenging especially when one is already working, thus the need of a well-laid out plan to achieve the set objectives. My company uses Chatter which is a more secure micro-blogging platform designed for internal communication. As an employee, I need to be conversant with the use of Chatter so that I can participate in information sharing and communication via the site. Additionally, I need to know and understand the use of the emerging social media tools to remain relevant in the industry.

The best way to understand the use of Chatter and other social media tools is to participate in the respective social media site. Consequently I will strive to understand the use of Chatter by observing my colleagues as they use the site, and seek clarification on any hazy issue. Understanding the usage of Chatter will allow me to participate in information sharing and communication, which will improve my output. Social media tools keep changing; what is relevant today may be obsolete tomorrow. Consequently, I need to keep improving myself especially on the new trends in social media tools. To achieve this, I will strive to be attending meetings in virtual world and use Facebook-type tool to crowd source some sales information pertinent to emerging social media tools. Hopefully, these actions will make me a better informed employee.