Salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing company, has revealed the results of a new survey, which finds that 66 per cent of SME decision-makers say a graduate’s experience in social networks and tools is important to them.
This enthusiasm for social networking ‘cuts both ways’. A separate salesforce.com study finds that 76 per cent of graduates would be more attracted to an employer if it was an active user of social networks and tools.
Comments on the News:
- “The salesforce.com survey results show that to attract and retain tomorrow’s talent, SMEs need to understand social networks and tools and use them to engage with customers, prospects, employees and in the recruitment process. Likewise, the salesforce.com survey confirms that social networking skills are extremely important for students to help them boost their job prospects when they graduate,” says Tim Barker, vice president EMEA marketing, salesforce.com
- “Using social networking tools for business benefit is on the rise. Many companies, in particular SMEs, now recognise that there is much to be gained from evolving their business model into a social enterprise – where they connect with customers, partners and employees in an open, mobile and social business environment, thanks to the next generation of cloud computing technologies.” says Tim Barker.
SMEs Turning into Social Enterprises
The study sponsored by salesforce.com and conducted by One Poll, surveyed the opinions of senior decision makers in UK SME organisations, to find out how important social networks and tools are to their business and to discover if a graduate’s experience in social media is of benefit to an employer. In addition, salesforce.com conducted another separate survey to ask the opinions of graduates about the importance of working for a social media savvy company.
- The results revealed that the social enterprise is starting to become a reality within SME organisations with nearly half of SMEs (47 per cent) using social networks and tools to interact with customers and prospects.
- This figure is set to grow, with 66 per cent of respondents saying that social networks and tools are important to the future of their business; rising to 86 per cent among decision-makers aged 18 to 24 years old.
- This enthusiasm for the social enterprise is further reflected in more liberal attitudes towards the use of social networks in the office. Only 15 per cent of SMEs ban all use of external social networks and 37 per cent have no restrictions in place.
- Adopting this freer approach is key if SMEs want to attract the best talent in the future – two-fifths (40 per cent) of graduates surveyed said they would be deterred from working for a company that had banned Facebook and Twitter.
Driving Career Success
- A graduate’s experience with social networks and tools is becoming increasingly important both to their chances of winning a job with a SME and to their prospects of future success in that job.
- A growing number of experienced managers in SME companies (27 per cent) now look to new graduates to educate them about social networks and how best to utilise them to grow business.
