Do you have an Enterprise Social Network or an Employee Social Network?
Digging in to the meaning and intent behind the ESN…
When I hear or use the acronym ESN, the meaning has always been Enterprise Social Network. The intent that those words convey is that it is for everyone in the organization, it has social features, and it allows for connections to be made between users. But, the other day I was listening to a debate between Dion Hinchcliffe and Tony Byrne about the value of user adoption metrics and Tony introduced the concept that adoption metrics may tend to capture the enterprise perspective instead of the employee perspective.
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Here is the recorded conversation:
This got me thinking about the intent behind the term. Who is the ESN for? Is it for the corporation as a whole? Is it a means to increase overall productivity and increase the bottomline? Or, is it for the individuals who make up the whole? Is it a means to simplify their work activities to make them more efficient and effective?
I think both perspectives are right, and strive to reach the same end point. However, how you decide to frame your perspective may influence the user experience and resulting engagement or lack thereof.
At the end of the day, if you are in charge of your company’s internal social portal, you very likely have to serve two masters: the corporation’s goals as well as the needs of your users.
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