Our report, Putting social media to work: lessons from employers, presents the main themes from seven in-depth case studies which trace the journeys that the organisations have taken in developing their use of social media with employees, and go into more detail on their operating contexts, their uses of social technology and the benefits they have observed.

Includes case studies from: Bromford, Cape UK, Devon and Cornwall Police, Marks & Spencer, Santa Fe Group and Southeastern.

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Putting social media to work: lessons from employers - Report

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Bromford

Bromford is a social enterprise that provides housing and other community services. It has about 1,250 employees based at about 150 different sites. Bromford has focused on being a ‘great place to work’ for over a decade. It is in this context that extensive use of Yammer and other social media has been encouraged, as afacilitator to create a more engaging and empowering workplace. www.bromford.co.uk

Discussion forums, employee engagement, networking and organisational culture

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Cape UK

Cape UK supplies services to the energy sector, including scaffolding, thermal insulation and rope access.Recruitment is a particularly significant factor in Cape’s operations: it more than doubles the size of itsworkforce over the summer months and often needs to recruit at very short notice. Using Facebook hastransformed Cape’s hiring process and has been used to help employee relations. www.capeplc.com

Recruitment and employee relations

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PDF document 2.6 MB

Devon and Cornwall Police

Devon and Cornwall Police has approximately 6,000 staff and 500 volunteers and covers a population of about 1.5 million residents. It is using social media platforms variously to encourage more independent learning, create forums for workplace discussions, make improvements to services and the quality of working life and enable officers to engage with the public. 
www.devon-cornwall.police.uk

Discussion forums, engagement with the public and L&D

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PDF document 2.6 MB

Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer employs about 70,000 people in the UK, where it has over 700 shops. Over recent years, the organisation’s culture has become more open and collaborative, and its leadership more devolved. Yammer, used alongside a more interactive intranet, is a key tool in this ongoing journey to create a more positive working environment and get the best out of employees. www.marksandspencer.com

Employee engagement, L&D and service improvement

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PDF document 3.3 MB

Santa Fe Group

Santa Fe Group is a global relocation service provider which formed from a merger of Santa Fe (Asia based), Interdean (Europe) and Wridgways (Australia). It has developed an enterprise social learning network, The Academy Online, to transform learning and development in the organisation and start to build a common corporate culture across the group. www.thesantafegroup.com

Learning and development

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Southeastern

Southeastern runs train services in London, Kent and East Sussex, employing about 3,800 staff across 179 stations. A central focus of its people strategy has been employee voice and communication. Alongside initiatives such as company councils, focus groups and Q&A phone-ins, a major strand to this has been an enterprise social network, WorkMate. www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

Employee engagement, discussion forums, networking and service improvement

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PDF document 3.4 MB

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