Social Media as Collaborative Media in Workplace Learning

Background: Collaborative Media as Learning Tools in the Workplace

Pervasive in both our personal lives and in our workplaces, the use of technology is ubiquitous. With the latest developments in technology, both organizations and their members have started to increasingly use various technologies in the workplace. Some of these technologies facilitate communication and collaboration in various ways and forms. These technologies are formally defined as social media, which are “a set of technologies and channels targeted at forming and enabling a potentially massive community of participants to productively collaborate” (Bradley, 2010, n.p.). Social media—the world of blogs, wikis, Twitter, instant messaging (IM) and Facebook—are not strictly social in purpose; corporations and other large organizations have begun to utilize social media not only as tools for increased communications with customers and for broader branding efforts but also as a means to improve learning within their organizations (Huang, Yang, Huang, & Hsiao, 2010). A survey of 400 companies demonstrated that “a full 94 percent of organizations maintained or increased their investment in online communities for customers, employees, and partners versus 2008” (Palmer, 2009, p. 6). Institutions of higher education, for example, have embraced these tools for their marketing and public relations purposes. According to the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, “69 percent of executives [of companies that have implemented a social media strategy] report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits, including better access to knowledge and higher revenue” (Henneman, 2010, p. 4).

Though various social media tools are seen primarily as a means to communicate and exchange information, we have just begun to explore their potential as learning tools. Consequently, we have been unable to identify a significant amount of literature surrounding the use of social media as a means to foster informal learning and the acceptance of social media as a set of tools that contributes to and enhances workplace learning. The term collaborative media, thus, is proposed to illustrate how social media can be best implemented and accepted as a successful alternative for sustaining and increasing organizational knowledge through workplace learning. Jacobs and Park (2009) define workplace learning as “the process used by individuals when engaged in training programs, education and development courses, or some type of experiential learning activity for the purpose of acquiring the competence necessary to meet current and future work requirements” (p. 134). Training has traditionally been viewed as a series of planned events that provide learners with specific job skills and that “assumes that organizations can analyze a task, process or function to discover an optimal means of performing it, document that optimal method, and then prescribe the required skills or expertise that a learner must master to perform the task” (Marsick & Volpe, 1999, p. 2). Training, however, tends to be singularly focused on a specific skill set intended for a specific task or set of tasks.

Because collaborative media tools are asynchronous and mobile in nature, we argue that they best lend themselves to informal learning. Marsick and Volpe (1999) define informal learning “as learning that is predominantly unstructured, experiential, and noninstitutional that happens as employees carry out their daily work [and that] is a result of people’s choices, preferences, and intentions” (p. 1). That is, because learning that takes place anytime and anywhere requires tools and approaches that are available anytime and anywhere, informal learning and collaborative media tools complement and support each other quite effectively. Such a flexible and learner-centered approach can prove advantageous to both the learner and the organization. According to Marsick and Volpe (1999),

When organizations make available to employees the means to pull information and knowledge into the workplace at the exact time they need it, learners can potentially gain control of their own learning. Learning is then maximized throughout the organization and can be used to improve the capability of less experienced, less knowledgeable employees to enhance overall organizational effectiveness. (p. 3)

Additionally, because our focus is on purposeful learning in which the learner consciously participates and of which the learner is fully aware, informal learning is the most appropriate approach for utilizing collaborative media tools for workplace learning.

Collaborative media, then, can enable the organization’s members to interact with each other unconventionally and more rapidly, eliminating the traditional time and space restrictions. Collaborative media “is about participation . . . most often it takes the form of communicating, connecting, and collaborating with anyone anywhere, anytime” (Jue, Alcade-Marr, & Kassotakis, 2009, p. 4). Bingahm and Conner (2010) call this phenomenon new social learning, and note that “it reframes social media from a marketing strategy to a strategy that encourages knowledge transfer and connects people in a way consistent with how we naturally interact” (p. 6). By using collaborative media tools, members of an organization can communicate frequently and easily, sharing their knowledge and improving their individual and collective performance. For example, Sabre Holdings, the company that owns Travelocity and other travel reservation systems, has created an informal online learning community called SabreTown (Galagan, 2009, p. 27). With over 10,000 employees in 59 countries, management at Sabre felt that connecting them was critical to sharing the knowledge that each employee had developed regarding their global travel business. A system was created in which employees create a profile that details their expertise. Fellow employees can than ask questions that are directed by Sabre’s social networking software to all employees that have the expertise required for that respective question. An online dialogue follows until a satisfactory answer has been provided and the issue is resolved (Ward & Goodman, 2009). This simple question-and-answer protocol is prevalent in many organizations that utilize collaborative media.

Similarly, various government agencies have begun using collaboriative media to leverage its potential for informal learning opportunities. The U.S. government, for example, has created GovLoop, a collaborative media netowrk “that has 25,000 members, 4,000 blogs, and 1,500 discussions” (Smith, 2010, p. 24) ongoing at any one time. A recent survey from the Human Capital Institute shows that 66% of all government agencies currently use some form of collaborative media and that collaborative media “tools within governmental agencies are used most effectively for knowledge sharing and informal learning” (Smith, 2010, p. 24). Additional examples from other fields detail how collaborative media is being used to promote learning. The travel industry is using collaborative media to focus on training customer service representatives (Hyland, 2009); the restaurant industry is using it to share learning among employees (Palmer, 2009); health care is using collaborative media to create communities of learning and to socialize those nurses that are new to the field (Skiba, 2008); and accounting firms Delloite and KPMG “are using Facebook to create new networks for recent hires . . . and experimenting with social media so new hires can network with peers around the globe” to learn more about their respective organizations (Meister, 2008, n.p.). As evident, many organizations are already utilizing collaborative media for the purposes of learning and knowledge sharing to some extent. Once such knowledge is generated, the next challenge for the organization will be to determine how to collect, manage, and share that information for the purposes of knowledge management and, subsequently, for further workplace learning.

Knowledge Management and Workplace Learning

In recent years, the role of knowledge management in the organizational process has become more evident. “Organizations increasingly recognize the value of creative, right-brained thinking, even in traditionally analytical occupations and in work previously thought of as routine” (Githens, 2007, p. 253). To fully utilize any or all of the information generated through informal learning via collaborative media, that information must be captured, stored, and placed in some form by which it can be readily retrieved, accessed, and shared by other members of the organization. Ipe (2003) argues that utilizing “knowledge is only possible when people can share the knowledge they have and build upon the knowledge of others” (p. 341). A primary function of learning within an organization is the sharing of existing knowledge and the creation of new knowledge (Cho, Cho, & McLean, 2009). For the purposes of this article, knowledge management refers to “the capture, consolidation, dissemination and reuse of knowledge and the translation of new best practices to tangible programmable processes to be automated through IT where possible” (Kazi, Puttonen, Sulkusalmi, Valikangas, & Hannus, 2002, p. 159). The ability for an organization to leverage the aggregate knowledge of its individual members is not simply a preferred outcome of the learning process; it is necessary to the survival of the organization. Additionally, with the advance of the information age, knowledge has become perishable, thus forcing members of organizations to learn quickly and continuously (Henderson & Provo, 2006). According to Wellman (2009),

Today, more than ever, an organization’s competitiveness depends on what it knows, how well it uses what it knows, how fast it can adapt what it knows to the rapidly changing environment, and how quickly it can acquire new knowledge. Those organizations that learn and apply learning more efficiently have the opportunity to reap greater rewards in productivity, speed, and profitability. (p. 5)

Furthermore, Deeds (2003) agrees that “firms that are effective in acquiring knowledge will be able to create and sustain a competitive advantage in the knowledge-based economy . . . those that are not will have difficulty maintaining their competitive position” (p. 38). However, what is not presented here is the human component of knowledge in that the organization’s ability to achieve what Wellman (2009) is arguing will significantly depend on the organization’s members’ capacity and willingness to share and to learn from that new knowledge. Viewing knowledge management within the technology context, Akdere (2009) argues that “while such technologies unarguably will contribute to the enhancement of organizational ability and the increase of organizational capacity to generate and catalog information, they will not necessarily contribute to knowledge creation and formulation in the organization” (p. 351).

In the context of viewing collaborative media as learning tools, it then becomes critical that organizations create some form of system to manage the knowledge created by their members. To emphasize this point, Marsick and Watkins (2001) view “learning at the organizational level as that which is embedded in systems, policies, procedures, work processes and information systems, organizational mental models, schema, and knowledge embedded in products and services” (p. 32). Learning is much more effective if a system is put into place by which knowledge can be captured, shared, and understood. Cho et al. (2009) offer that the tools necessary to gain organizational commitment to ensure successful knowledge management efforts are directly related to HRD in the form of “challenging work, collaboration and teamwork, work culture, communication, concern from people and training and development” (p. 268). This way, HRD is uniquely positioned to play an important role in the implementation and continued success of an organization’s knowledge management efforts.

Collaborative media tools “are focused on communication, collaboration, interactivity, and creating value through the sharing of ideas and making use of the collective knowledge of web community” (Skiba, 2008, p. 370). Accordingly, collaborative media tools can be leveraged to produce, collect, retain, and disseminate the knowledge created through them. Already, “large storage capacities, database management tools, and search engines enable organization to store, search, and retrieve more information than ever imagined possible” (Wellman, 2009, p. 16). Organizations utilizing collaborative media tools for workplace learning will be best served by creating and implementing a knowledge management system to best utilize their organizational expertise.

Much has been written about why knowledge management is important to organizations, but more research is needed on how organizations in general and HRD professionals in particular can best go about setting up policies and procedures to ensure that the knowledge gained through learning is captured and shared (Ipe, 2003). As Bennett (2009) notes, knowledge management serves to leverage information related to performance improvement and learning; therefore, it is critical to the field of HRD. According to Handzic (2004), “the central task of those concerned with knowledge management is to determine ways to better cultivate, nurture, and exploit knowledge at different levels and in different contexts” (p. 4). He proposes four different ways by which organizations can use technology to support knowledge processes. First, organizations must build repositories for the knowledge created through social media. Tweets and instant message conversations can be tagged by topic and stored in a searchable database, blog posts can be archived, and a wiki site containing vast amounts of data and information can be created on an organization’s intranet. Second, the organization can promote collaboration and virtual socialization. By allowing for and supporting the use of social media in the workplace, a firm can encourage its members to share ideas, look to each other for information, and to work collaboratively on projects and to solve problems. Third, a firm can facilitate knowledge search and discovery. Once a knowledge management system is put into place, members of the organization will become accustomed to looking for answers in the knowledge databases created by various forms of collaborative media as well as to their peers. As it is put to use, that knowledge will continue to grow and be refined. Last, an organization must stimulate creativity, innovation, and complex problem solving to remain competitive. Within a culture of innovation and creative thinking, collaborative media tools can become critical methods to share and document ideas and information.

With the advance of technology, collaborative media tools are becoming more widely used and commonly available while newer, more efficient, and user-friendly ones flood the marketplace. For example, Kapp (2006) offers that the use of instant messaging (IM) to ask and answer questions and the subsequent cataloguing of the knowledge gained from such a process can be hugely helpful for the growing of expertise inside an organization. At the Mayo Clinic, radiologists use a Twitter-like microsharing tool to share an X-rays and solicit diagnosis opinions from other physicians (Bingham & Conner, 2010). This capture and sharing of collective organizational knowledge through IM or microsharing demonstrate how collaborative media can be leveraged to increase organizational expertise through informal learning. Considered by Kapp (2006) as learning that “occurs any time two or more people exchange ideas, test concepts or think through processes” (p. 4), informal learning in these cases happens in the context of a specific purpose and with a medium (i.e., collaborative media) chosen by the employees; this learning is both spontaneous and controlled by the learner(s). Organizations can benefit from such informal learning if they “develop a process to capture and disseminate the informal learning that occurs” (Kane, Robinson-Combre, & Berge, 2010, p. 67) through collaborative media. Kane and colleagues (2010) explain further that organizations that succeed in capturing informal learning can control that knowledge by ensuring that it is accurate and can also reinforce for employees the idea that their knowledge is valuable. In this context, collaborative media tools may be applied to various Training and Development efforts as well as Organization Development interventions. For example, Conley and Zheng (2009) offer that HRD professionals can leverage their expertise in training and development to identify the needs of employees surrounding the organization’s knowledge management efforts; to provide employees with the training and resources necessary to utilize technologies and systems related to knowledge management; and to ensure the employees stay continually engaged in the organization’s knowledge management efforts. Similarly, Piotrowski (2012) argues that collaborative media “provides an online medium to maintain and foster social capital with others and staying connected” (pp. 79-80), which is crucial in successful implementation and completion of OD interventions. Furthermore, they would present untraditional venues of collaboration for all organizations members. If properly implemented, knowledge management systems created through collaborative media tools can help ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of the organization.

Challenges to Using Collaborative Media as Learning Tools

Leveraging collaborative media for learning or for any reason is not as simple as obtaining the technology, integrating it to the organizational processes, and introducing it to the organizational members. Jue et al. (2009) astutely question “Once we invite participation, how do we guide the effort so that it is most productive? How do we combat organizational fears? How do we engage those leaders who may be skeptical about changing their behaviors?” (p. 3). Not all organizations embrace or foster an organizational environment and culture that supports collaboration, learning, or new technologies in general.

The use of collaborative media tools—particularly for workplace learning—is predicated largely on the assumption that all organizations want their members to freely share information so that the members can learn and grow. We can also generally assume that an organization encourages collaboration among its members. However, organizations may have what Wegner, McDermott, and Snyder (2002) refer to as an antilearning culture:

An organizational culture may discourage learning, reflection, and knowledge sharing—for instance, by putting value exclusively on individual tasks and performance. Often, policies and infrastructure also discourage participation. In such organizations, communities of practice are easily marginalized. (p. 156)

We can then assume that in such organizations, the use of collaborative media as learning tools or for any purpose would not be encouraged or supported. If such an organization is focused solely on individual production and achievement, collaborative media might be viewed as only serving to detract from one’s goals. The counter to this version of an antilearning culture is described by Bingham and Conner (2010), who offer several ways to address resistance to using newer technologies for knowledge sharing. Such technologies eliminate physical boundaries within organizations, serve to cultivate an organization’s culture and build its identity, and helps build trust while reinforcing the organization’s values.

Such a culture is achieved by the support and usage of open, collaborative, and trusting relationships from leaders and managers within the organizations and which “recognizes the efforts of employees and, in turn, motivates them to learn” (Beamish, 2008, p. 70). However, any anxiety that the leaders of an organization may have about the merits of collaboration and knowledge sharing may be compounded by their general lack of understanding of technology or of collaborative media tools.

Even though they are being used for knowledge sharing and knowledge management, collaborative media tools may still present a bit of a mystery to many leaders and managers within those organizations. A 2008 survey of 441 Information Technology (IT) leaders from the United States “found that 59 percent of the respondents considered a lack of understanding to be the primary impediment to implementing social media technologies” (Bingham, 2009, p. 61). Thus the largest obstacle faced by those organizations that wish to use collaborative media for learning is fear of the unknown concerning exactly how such tools will be used. Many IT managers do not fully understand collaborative media tools or their potential utility for workplace learning. Even if the culture of the organization is one that does welcome collaboration or that has already implemented a knowledge management system, any trepidation involving new or unproven technologies may prevent collaborative media tools from ever being implemented.

Though some employees will indeed need to be trained on new technologies and their applicability to their jobs, the reality is that most of them—particularly younger generations—are already using collaborative media tools on a regular basis. According to a survey conducted by Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, and Zickuhr (2010), “As of September 2009, 93% of American teens between the ages of 12 and 17 went online, a number that has remained stable since November 2006 [and] 74% of adults use the internet” (p. 5). Additionally, of teens aged 12 to 17, 73% used an online social networking site, compared to 47% of online adults (Lenhart et al., 2010). Thus the present and future U.S. workforce is already widely using collaborative media tools. Therefore, many more employees may be very well skilled in and knowledgeable of such tools than organizations tend to assume.

As Leslie and Landon (2007) argue when discussing the adoption of technology for learning, “if you can’t beat them, help them.” That is, if employees are already using social media tools at home and at work for their personal purposes, the organization can leverage this existing skill set to enable the employees to use collaborative media for knowledge management and workplace learning. However, it should be noted here that the organization must carefully develop, design, implement, and assess systems integrating collaborative media tools within the organization that will result in effective knowledge management and purposeful learning.

Collaborative Media for Workplace Learning: The Role of HRD

Organizational leaders and managers may emphasize the word social in social media and fear that the tools will be used purely for nonproductive, non-work- related activities. However, when using these tools, the importance of the contexts of work versus personal cannot be overlooked. Already, employees have drawn a distinction between social media tools by using Facebook for personal matters and LinkedIn for professional matters, for instance. Therefore, to prevent such misunderstanding or misconceptions, the term collaborative media has been proposed to describe any social media tool used for productive work-related endeavors and efforts, specifically within the context of workplace learning. By changing the term social media to one that more accurately describes the intended purpose of these tools, it is more likely that organizational leaders and managers will consider the implementation of these tools to foster informal learning among organizational members.

If the tools are accurately framed as those used for collaboration on projects, the quick retrieval of information to assist with a problem, or the broadcasting of pertinent organizational knowledge, such leaders will be more apt to view collaborative media as useful and necessary tools supporting organizational objectives and goals rather than a means for distraction and decreased productivity. In this regard, HRD professionals and scholars need to better understand how collaborative media tools can enhance and advance learning in the workplace to achieve user acceptance of collaborative media technologies. Conley and Zheng (2009) argue that it is the responsibility of HRD professionals to stay abreast of trends in technology so that organizations are in the best position to take advantage of the latest tools and processes involving the use of technology.

While some organizations have embraced collaborative media, others have difficulty trusting that their members will know how to use the related tools or that they will use them for productive purposes (Chatenier, Verstegen, Biemans, Mulder, & Omta, 2009; Sadler-Smith, Gardiner, Badger, Chaston, & Stubberfield, 2000). Still others argue that those organizations that do not embrace collaborative media are bound to lose any competitive advantage they might have. Jue et al. (2009) view collaborative media tools as a way to survive in a rapidly changing global market:

If leaders are committed to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage, they will need to rely upon engaged and committed employees and partners. In this volatile environment, the emerging phenomenon of social media can create an extraordinary opportunity for savvy leaders and organizations to achieve this advantage. (p. 2)

Similarly, Karie Willyerd, the Chief Learning Officer for Sun Microsystems, explains the importance of collaborative media and informal learning and considers the utilization of these tools as a way to not fall behind:

One of the things that has happened is that we have focused so much on the 10 percent [formal learning] that we abdicated the 70 percent [informal learning]. If the learning organization doesn’t get into that 70 percent and use social media, they’re going to get left behind. They’re going to become irrelevant because people are going to be able to post and share knowledge with one another without the learning function. It’s a call to action for learning to become really involved in social media in order to facilitate and enable informal learning. And that’s a really exciting place for the learning profession to be because what you are capturing, then, is the performance of an organization. (Bingham, 2009, p. 57)

Aside from maintaining an organization’s competitive advantage in the marketplace, the use of collaborative media has become critical in attracting and retaining global talent because of their involvement and experience with collaborative media in their personal lives. As jobs become less permanent and workers become more mobile, organizations that utilize technology to cultivate transferable skills will attract the best and the brightest employees (Szabó & Négyesi, 2005). Therefore, we argue that to draw such an employee base, organizations must use collaborative media and related technologies.

Additionally, those familiar and comfortable with collaborative media tools are aware that problems—particularly in larger organizations—have become too broad and complex for any one person or, in some cases, any one team to solve; collaborative media tools must be implemented to overcome these issues of size and scope (Bingham, 2009). Keeping strategies for managing organizational knowledge in mind, HRD professionals can ensure that organizations select tools that are appropriate for achieving a desired organizational objective (Bennett, 2009). Collaborative media tools serve, then, not only to create a culture that is attractive to talent, but also practical for problem solving.

As organizations become more global, workforces become even more dispersed, and supervisor–employee relationships become increasingly less local, collaborative media tools will become more valuable not just for their ease of use for accessibility purposes but also because they will allow employees to work more effectively and efficiently (Bente, Rüggenberg, Krämer, Eschenburg, 2008; Crouse, Doyle, & Young, 2011). As the emphasis on an organization’s technology infrastructure shifts from a focus on the collection and sharing of knowledge to the enabling of personal connections among employees, HRD professionals will be called on to facilitate the efficient flow of knowledge throughout their organizations (Conley & Zheng, 2009). Shepherd (2008) argues that collaborative media tools are not just highly effective tools for communication, but that they also have “relevance for informal learning because [they] encourage the sharing of expertise from a bottom-up perspective, without the need for managerial intervention” (p. 29). Senge (1990) notes that managers want more local control and more autonomous employees, as larger organizations have gotten unwieldy and difficult to control. Collaborative media tools, in this regard, would help managers to empower their employees to seek answers for themselves and to create relationships with other members of the organization for the purposes of problem solving and sharing knowledge.

To date, little research has been conducted concerning the viability of collaborative media for use as a learning tool within organizations. As a result, there is scant literature dealing with the combined topics of workplace learning and collaborative media. However, the use of collaborative media tools for learning continues to expand (Ardichvili, 2003; Bingham, 2010; Brown, Murphy, & Wade, 2006; Downey, Wentling, Wentling, & Wadsworth, 2005; Gill, 2010; Hernes, 2000; Kubo, Saka, & Pan, 2001; Lowe & Holton III, 2005; Weinstein & Shuck, 2011). As we continue to utilize collaborative media in the workplace, more data will become available from which findings about the effectiveness and impact of these tools on workplace learning in general, and HRD functions in particular, can be studied. Further research is needed to examine the perceptions and experiences of both employees and leaders and managers in organizations where collaborative media tools are used for workplace learning to validate the utility of those tools and to identify best practices.

As noted earlier, resistance to collaborative media manifests because leaders and managers are generally not aware that such tools will be put to constructive and effective use by their employees. If we accept the adage “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (Garvin, 1993, p. 70), then we must design studies that demonstrate the degree to which collaborative media are used for problem solving, collaboration on projects, and for the expedient dissemination of organizational knowledge and that could serve to allay such concerns as well as provide information around various uses for collaborative media tools. This research is particularly important for HRD’s functions involving knowledge management and workplace learning.

Conclusion

Collaborative media and its related technologies are becoming an ever-growing part of our lives, both at home and at work. As more people become more knowledgeable of collaborative media tools, it may be argued that these tools will be more easily implemented for workplace learning purposes. As discussed earlier, collaborative media are indeed currently being used as learning tools by many organizations and that their implementation in the workplace for multiple purposes will only continue to increase. By viewing collaborative media through the lens of informal learning, we argue the benefits of these tools to HRD functions: they are learner-focused, accessible to learners anytime and anyplace, and are utilized primarily when the learner has a tangible and immediate need for useful information. Because of this instantaneous applicability, learning that occurs through collaborative media tends to be retained more easily and shared more readily. However, HRD professionals and scholars have yet to explore and study this workplace phenomenon to the extent and depth needed to help eliminate leaders’ and managers’ concerns about collaborative media tools in the workplace.

From an HRD perspective, collaborative media training materials produced for collaborative media tools should be designed and developed with maximum utility and usability in mind. Furthermore, to obtain and sustain competitive advantage, organizations would be best served to employ a system of knowledge management to optimally collect, store, and disseminate the knowledge created through the use of collaborative media tools. Given that these tools can be effective for workplace learning, their consideration as such warrants further understanding and exploration. Considering HRD’s learning paradigm and HRD’s role within the organization to foster and promote an organizational environment that supports learning, the need to implement collaborative media tools to facilitate all workplace learning-related activities in the organization becomes vital.

This conceptual article aimed to explore how collaborative media can be integrated within the organization for the purpose of workplace learning. We propose the term collaborative media to help HRD professionals become champions of the integration of innovative technologies through collaborative media. As Bingham and Conner (2010) note, new technologies allow for an organization to be better connected while raising its cumulative IQ; organizations must be willing to evolve along with that technology. Since collaborative media are new to our practice and our research, HRD professionals need to identify the potential contribution of collaborative media tools and to understand their implications to HRD processes, functions, and practices. Future empirical research is needed to study both the variables and constructs associated with this phenomenon to inform HRD professionals who may already be facing challenges utilizing collaborative media in the workplace.