Effect of Social Media Pertication in the Workplace on Employee Productivity

Abstract

Organizational success largely depends on employees who are considered as one of the most important assets of any organization because they are capable of creating value and enable organizations have a sustainable competitive advantage. Success of any organizations depends on the productivity of employees. Social media, which has become very popular, has infiltrated the workplace and most employees are utilizing social media in the workplace. The main purpose of this study was to examine the extent of social media participation by employees and its effect on their productivity. A sample was randomly selected from a population that has internet connectivity in the workplace. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and Pearson’s correlation was undertaken to ascertain the degree of relationship between the variables. Primary data was collected by use of a questionnaire. The research found both negative and positive relationship between social media participation and employee productivity. The negative relationship was however found to be stronger as employees spend most of their time on social media enhancing personal networks. Positive relationship exists in employee use of social media for seeking and viewing general information. The study concluded that employees participate in social media in the workplace for both work and non-work related activity. Social media has the potential to allow employees to form collaborations and communities for knowledge creation and sharing, better channels of communication, which enhance employee productivity. However, it can draw employees in to an addiction that distracts performance as well as straining the organizational resource.
Keywords: Social media, Participation, Employee productivity, Workplace.