Consulting companies are a good source of information about a variety of subjects. They provide an opportunity to stay up-to-date on the latest information: reports, whitepapers, infographics, micro sites, videos, etc.
When perusing the EY (formerly Ernest & Young or E&Y) site, I came across “Fully Connected: working & networking in 20201,” a video, whitepaper, and infographic offering some interesting information on networking.
As mentioned in two previous posts, Key Learnings from The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age and Employee Engagement and Social Media, employee networking intelligence can benefit the company and therefore companies should support social media as a networking tool in the workplace and beyond.
Most people think of networking as growing your contacts and increasing your network. The focus is on “new.” While “new” is good, don’t forget that you also need to devote time toward strengthening and maintaining relationships with your current contacts/network.
EY commissioned “Professor Julia Hobsbawm, founder of the knowledge networking business Editorial Intelligence and a visiting Professor in Networking at the London Cass Business School, to provide her views on what working and networking will look like in our near future.” She offers “5 points for future success:
- Being a Better Networker. Dunbar’s Number = 150. We can only hold stable relationships with 150 people, so work out who yours are
- Knowledge Dashboard. Create a list of your sources of information to stay on top of. The more you can demonstrate your intelligence, the stronger your social capital
- Face-to-Face 5 Times a Week. Try to meet five people for coffee or lunch each week
- Curiosity and Generosity. Share what you know, help others and be interested in ideas and other people
- Lifestyle not diet. There are no quick fixes. Try to spend a fifth of your working time on all your different networking activities.”
Networking is important to individuals and companies. While individuals should be responsible for growing and maintaining their networks, companies should work to provide opportunities to incorporate networking into normal work activities. A better-connected workforce will benefit employees and the company.
What are your thoughts on the EY information? How does your company promote networking? Let’s talk about it in the comments below!
1 “How Connected Are We? And How Can We Network Better?” Building a Better Network. EY, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Aug. 2014.
P.S. First time here? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement site. Thanks for taking the time to stop by! I hope you’ll explore the rest of the site.Let me know what employee engagement topics interest you.
Other recent Agent in Engagement articles by Gregory F Simpson:
- Employee Engagement Briefing for Week of August 18 – 22, 2014
- Give Employees Their “DOSE” of Chemical Injections to Influence Engagement!
- Employee Engagement and Social Media
- Key Learnings from The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age
- A Reference Guide for Employee Engagement Thought Leaders
- A Reference Guide for Employee Engagement Websites
- Key Learnings from Gamify
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