The Pros and Cons of Social Media using in Workplace

Many technology and telecommunication system have changed the way of linking others. Many IT industrial leaders are well educated in the advantages and disadvantages of social media in the workplace, but outside the tech industries, companies may be reluctant to allow social media interaction within employees such as hospitality and service industry.

In this article, the pros and cons of social media in workplace will be discussed, and a recommended solution will be given at the end of this article.

PROS of Social Media at Work

Empower Employees. Employees often feel as though their voice is not being heard. The corporate hierarchy could be decreased if a well-designed internal social media platform were built. This is because speaking directly to senior level suddenly is possible and employees can feel a sense of belongings. Especially that the system support anonymity.

Analysing Data. Social Media has the ability to enhance the internal decision-making process. It allows the free flow of the information. Analysing internal company trends, consolidating employee skill sets, finding potential leaders and identifying problems can be located with an effective social media channel.

Social Selling. Using social networks to prospect and develop existing business can be a powerful and cheap tool. It is a perfect example about how technology changed the way of communication. For example, employees are able to quickly gain valuable insight into their business that may have otherwise taken them weeks or months to discover.

CONS of Social Media at Work

Productivity. Employers might have concern for the potential loss of productivity if social media were allowed in workplace. It is true to some extent. The inappropriate interaction during the workday is definitely a productivity killer. Employers will find that by embracing social media usage, some proportions employees will start to loss their productivity.

Increased cybersecurity. Hackers can commit fraud, launch spam or even viruses through the social media platform. It’s important to protect your network with the same level of security that can offer advanced protection to your confidential information.

Having considered both pros and cons. I would highly recommend that Navitas should carefully regulate social media use in the workplace rather than ban it.

Reference:

Engage Group. 2017. The Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Workplace. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.egroupengage.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-the-workplace. [Accessed 16 August 2017].

Workplace Diversity in Australia

Australia is a vibrant, multicultural and diverse country. It is home to the world’s oldest continuous cultures, as well as Australians who identify with more than 270 ancestries. Almost seven million people migrated to Australia since 1945 and cultural diversity is one of the greatest strengths of this country.

This article will specifically focus on the diversity in work place of Australia. Censuses have revealed a quick picture of what Australian society looks like. 28% of Australian was born overseas; another 20% have a parent who was born overseas; about 20% of the population speaks a language other than English at home. Australia is proud to be recognised as a well-diverse country. However, Australia doesn’t seem to see the replicated trend at the levels of leadership. For example, only 4 members out of 226 representatives in Federal Parliament are non-European background. A similar pattern can be seen in private sectors. Last year, the Diversity Council of Australia studied the cultural origins of Australian business leaders. Unsurprisingly, only 1.9% of executive managers and 4% of directors have other cultural origins. It is undeniable that Australia is a paradise for migrants and outstanding on the topic of multi-culture compared to other countries. That’s why Australia should put equal weight on race, gender, and human rights.

Why diversity is so important amongst a team in contemporary society? The tremendous benefits of diversity in the workplace cannot be ignored. Here are a few of the top benefits of it.

Let’s talking about the benefits of national level.

Ø  Many investors in Australia love to investment to their homeland, and these investments become a long term investment for Australia. For example, on a larger scale, it is known that two-thirds of all investment in mainland China are made by overseas Chinese including the Australian-Chinese cultural state, and part of their investment flows back into Australia through the taxation system.

Ø  Cultural diversity confers social and economic dividends; it creates jobs and generates profits and, equally importantly, it promotes artistic exchange and connects us with the rest of the world.

The benefits of individual level are also important especially from employer’s perspective.

Ø  Employees are more likely to feel comfortable and happy in an environment where inclusivity is a priority. Equality in the workplace is important for encouraging workers from all backgrounds to feel confident in their ability and achieve their best. The higher the team morale, the more productive employees are.

Ø  By working alongside people of different backgrounds, experiences and working styles, creative concepts can be born from bouncing ideas off of each other and offering feedback and suggestions. Whereas one person may be great at generating exciting, out of the square, another individual may have the necessary experience to execute it; so it is essential to play on each individual’s strengths and collaborate with others in the team.

Ø  Language barriers and cultural differences can often act as a bit of an obstacle for a company who want to expand their business over shores; however, by hiring employees who speak different languages it can make it possible for a company to work on a global basis and interact with a broader client-base. Representing a number of nationalities within your company can also help to make it more relatable

Clearly, diversity can be beneficial for not only the employers, but also important for employees. Australia certainly is on the right track. However, the benefits of diversity are disrupted by racism and discrimination, which challenges social cohesion in Australian society. It is glad to see Australia is taking action to eliminate them. 83% of Australian voted to appeal to tackle the discrimination.

References:

Department of Human Rights 2017. |.Cultural diversity in the workplace|. Dr Tim Soutphommasane [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/cultural-diversity-workplace-0. [Accessed 16 August 2017].

Diversity in the Workplace | Department of Social Services, Australian Government. 2017. Diversity in the Workplace | Department of Social Services, Australian Government. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/settlement-and-multicultural-affairs/programs-policy/a-multicultural-australia/programs-and-publications/1995-global-cultural-diversity-conference-proceedings-sydney/economic-aspects-of-diversity/diversity-in-the-workplace. [Accessed 16 August 2017].

Undercover Recruiter. 2017. What Are the Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/benefits-diversity-workplace/. [Accessed 16 August 2017].

Harmony Day in Australia

Harmony day is celebrated on every 21^st of March began in 1999. The day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the elimination of racial discrimination. Harmony day is especially important for a diverse country such like Australia. In Australia, Harmony day is also a celebration of its proudly cultural diversity, a day of celebration for everyone who lives in Australia.

The ‘message’ of Harmony day is ‘everyone belongs’, it has significant meaning in Australia. Australia is home to the world’s oldest continuing cultures, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, Australia is also home to people who identify with more than 250 ancestries, an additional 20 per cent of Australian were born overseas. Mass immigration after Second World War also generated the modern culture diversity. Harmony day aims to encourage people to participate in different culture, respect cultural and religion diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone.

The official colour for the day is orange. It was chosen because orange represents social communication and meaningful conversations in human tradition. It also plays important roles in other culture, it is the colour most associated with warmth, energy, and activity. In Asia, it is a significant symbolic colour for Buddhism and Hinduism. It also related to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Australian celebrate and support Harmony Day by wearing something orange, to demonstrate their support for cultural diversity.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 of March which shares the same day with Harmony day. On the same day in 1960, police killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in South Africa. Six years after, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. Different themes are proposed each year by the United Nation, there are numerous themes such as how to combat racial discrimination, learning from tragedies to combat racial discrimination, and disqualify racism. The common feature of both days are aiming to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination, fight for democracy, and equal human rights.

What is Cost-benefit analysis (CBA)?

  CBA is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of business decisions. CBA method has two types of advantage compare to other methods. The first point is that prudent managers conduct a CBA as a measures of evaluating all the potential costs and revenues that may be generated if the project is completed. In other words, it includes all direct and indirect revenues and intangible benefits, such as increased production from improved employee safety and morale, or increased sales from customer goodwill. The second point is that the outcome of the analysis will determine whether the project is financially feasible or if another project should be pursued.   

  Nevertheless, CBA fails in some circumstances. For very large projects with a long-time horizon, it losses efficiency due to unexpected financial concerns such as inflation, interest rate variation, and financial crisis. In this case, a more appropriate method is reliable such as NPV (net present value) or IRR (internal rate of return).

How it is related to Work, Health and Safety?

  For such long time, business owners are zealless about conducting a safety norms or following safety rules. It is a common assumption that by implementing WHS is expensive and has negative impact on the organisation’s financial report. However, it is not true. The research has shown that by following safety norms can bring profit to any organisation, although it’s not in term of cash.

By conducting a CBA, managers can now see what the mechanism is behind. If an organisation invest fund into WHS program at the beginning, it actually benefit from lower incident rate, increased employee productivity, low cost regards compensations, clean-up fees and other temporary costs. By contrast, a company might gain some economic benefits at the set up stage by not funding WHS program, they would suffer from damage to buildings, equipment or vehicles; damage to product; cost of investigation legal costs; death; permanent disability; and much more.

  Having considered both implicit and explicit benefits from conduct a WHS program. It is recommended to implement a safety program as soon as business has been set up, it brings tremendous benefits such as saving costs, saving time, reducing material damage, improving production, lowering accident rates, improving job satisfaction and much more.

  Apart from this, research has shown that for every $1 invested in an effective workplace safety program, $4 to $6 may be saved as illness, injuries and fatalities decline. 

   So what are you waiting for, invest in WHS program now to be a safe and beneficial organisation.

Reference:
Cost benefit analysis of safety aspects – a case study. 2017. Cost benefit analysis of safety aspects – a case study. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/dineshsivarammurugan/cost-benefit-analysis-of-safety-aspects-a-case-study. [Accessed 29 March 2017].

Investopedia. 2017. UK Home | Investopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/. [Accessed 29 March 2017].