The McKinsey Global Institute released a report stating that many companies are adopting social technologies within their enterprises and that these companies are experiencing measurable benefits from these tools. Some of the benefits of deploying this type of technology include increased levels of employee productivity, reduced travel costs, increased speed to access internal expertise and increased employee satisfaction. These are some pretty powerful benefits.

Just think about it – all of these benefits can be correlated to increased revenues and profitability. All it takes is giving your employees the tools that they need to stay involved and be empowered. Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits to see what additional intrinsic value they may hold.

Increased Levels of Employee Productivity
Given the opportunity, employees with an investment in their organization typically develop strong work ethics. These employees become more efficient and more productive over a period of time. Furthermore, these employees become creative and innovative. Productive employees become great critical thinkers and problem solvers. Let’s face it – productivity is the fundamental driver for organizational success.

Reduced Travel Costs
Virtual environments can dramatically reduce travel costs. This is a tangible and easy to measure benefit. What are some additional benefits? Employees can spend more time in the office and less time on the road – again this impacts employee productivity levels. How about work life balance and employee satisfaction? Less time travelling during off peak hours also means that employees are able to spend more time at home with their families – this can make for a happier employee.

Increased Access to Expertise
How much time and effort does it usually take to find the answers that you need when you’re not even sure where to look for them? Emails, telephone calls, directed, redirected…not only does this take away from an employee’s productivity, it costs money. Imagine being able to post a question in an open forum and to immediately get your answer in return. Better yet, imagine being able to search for the employee who has expertise in the area you seek – answers can be provided in minutes rather than hours or days. Less time, less costly, great value!

Increased Employee Satisfaction
Satisfied employees generally have improved morale; they are more productive, loyal and have a vested interest in making their organization successful on many different levels. Most often satisfied employees experience increased longevity with their organization, this mean less expense on employee turnover costs. Additionally, the longer an employee stays with a company, the more experienced they become – they can be mentors to new employees and an indispensable part of the team.

So what are you waiting for? Maybe it’s time to start looking into an Enterprise Social Networking solution?