stress caused by social networking in organisations
TRANSCRIPT
Organisational
Behaviour Project
Stress Caused by Social
Networking in Organisations
Aakriti Agarwal (13004)
Aarushi Verma(13006)
Aman Budhiraja(13029)
Angad Singh(13037)
BMS 1A
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
Acknowledgement
We are very thankful to everyone who all supported us, for we have completed our project
effectively and moreover in time.
We are equally grateful to our teacher, Prof. Tarannum Arora. She has been very kind and
patient while suggesting the outlines for this project to us and addressing our doubts. We
thank her for her overall support.
We would like to thank all the respondents who filled out our questionnaires online as well
as offline.
Last but not the least, we would like to thank our parents, siblings and friends who helped
us a lot in gathering different information, collecting data and guiding us from time to time
in making this project. Despite their busy schedules, they gave us different ideas in making
this project unique.
Thank You
Names of group members:-
Aakriti Agarwal
Aarushi Verma
Aman Budhiraja
Angad Singh
Contents
1. Acknowledgement
2. Contents
3. Introduction
a. stress
b. social networking
4. objective
5. Research methodology
6.Organisations and Social Networking
7. secondary Data
8. Primary Data
a. Case Study
b. Survey
9. Conclusion
10. Bibliography
Introduction
Stress
● Stress is a person’s response to a stressor. The situations and pressures that cause
stress are known as stressors, such as an environmental condition or a stimulus.
● We generally use the word "stress" when we feel that everything seems to have
become too much - we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with
the pressures placed upon us.
● Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's
way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus,
strength, stamina, and heightened alertness.
● Stress is the body's reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or
emotional adjustment or response. Stress can come from any situation or thought
that makes you feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or anxious. Stress need not just be
negative, eg. eustress
Social Networking
● Social networking is the practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or
social contacts by making connections through individuals.
● The use of internet-based social media programs to make connections with friends,
family, classmates, customers and clients. Social networking can be done for social
purposes, business purposes or both. The programs show the associations between
individuals and facilitate the acquisition of new contacts. Examples of social
networking have included Facebook, LinkedIn, Classmates.com and Yelp.
● Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural
communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Although social networking
is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is
most popular online.
Organisations and Social Networking
Social media is online applications and platforms that facilitate interaction,
collaboration and sharing of content. To make the best use of social media your
organisation needs to maintain an active presence, making sure you are “listening to”
and engaging with your online ‘friends and followers’ –your clients, your social service
network, your community.
Importantly, social media is not just another place to distribute your information or a
one way channel. It can be a useful tool to help build relationships - to not only let
others know what your organisation can offer but to have a conversation, exchange
ideas, to help you improve what you do.
Market analyst firm On Device Research, 1 in 10 young job seekers have lost a job
opportunity because of their social media profiles.
Types of Social Media
Social networking sites allow you to connect with other people and organisations and
share information and ideas.
Blogs – are an easy to publish website that allows large amounts of information to be
shared. Blogs generally have the ability for readers to leave more detailed comments
(e.g. Wordpress, Blogspot).
Microblogs – Allow for short bytes of conversation or comment – of up to 140
characters. The most common of these is Twitter.
Web forums – common interest groups where users post questions and comments and
other users respond.
Photo and Video sharing – sites that allow users to post, view and search photos and
videos, (e.g. Youtube 11 million users, Flickr 900,000 users).
Managing your organisation’s use of social media
Organisations need to have a policy framework in place that clearly outlines the
controls in place around access to and use of social media. In particular how the
organisation manages:
employee access to their own personal social media sites during work time
management of organisational social media sites including moderation of content
organisational posts on external social media sites
Pros and Cons of Social Media
Social networking is the hottest online trend of the last few years. Not only do social
media sites provide a way to keep in contact with friends, but they can also offer
opportunities for professional online networking. Social networking could be
advantageous for your career, but there are also disadvantages to consider. Could the
time you spend interacting online be put to better use? Let’s take a look at the
advantages and disadvantages of social networking to work out whether you should be
devoting more of your attention to this online activity.
Social networking offers many benefits. It is now easier than ever to keep in contact
with old friends and colleagues. The professional networking site LinkedIn even
allows users to request introductions to business people who are known to their
contacts. The potential of this enhanced connectivity is huge; whereas once you
would be left sifting through business cards after a networking event, trying to
remember details about each person, you can now easily look up a connection’s
credentials and business interests on their social media profile.
LinkedIn is a particularly valuable business tool; over 200 million people are members,
including hiring managers from many top companies. Your profile is designed to
function as an online resume, detailing your education, career history (with
recommendations from your colleagues), and creative portfolio. The platform
encourages users to connect with people working in their organizations, and to
endorse their colleagues for the skills they display in their daily work.
Social networking is particularly vital for entrepreneurs. Freelancers can find contacts
via professional groups on LinkedIn and Twitter, while business owners can make
use of the large user bases of Facebook and Twitter to market their products and
services. Facebook has a range of services designed to help businesses market
themselves more effectively, including the ability to target advertising at the precise
demographic groups that are likely to respond favourably.
Objective
● To study the stress caused by social networking in organisations using survey
● To identify the cause of such stress
● To identify the age group which is experiencing the maximum disturbances due to
stress caused by social networking sites
● To suggest stress management measures which can be implemented on individual
level
● To identify measures that HR Managers are taking to help their employees reduce
such stress and suggesting additional methods on the same
Research Methodology
Internet along with social networking has brought about a huge revolution in today’s
world. The Social networking is visible in all field may it be marketing, communication,
business, entertainment not to forget philosophy, religion everyone is seen in some or the
other of these social networking sites. What in the earlier days took a lot of time and effort
to achieve today it is at the finger tips. Initially when a person wanted a job the word was
spread around by word of mouth but in today world it is all on the internet and your PR
also has its roots in these social networking sites like twitter, facebook, linkdin etc.
Everything comes in a package with its pros and cons so is it with this revolution of the
social networking sites for professionals. In today world it seems to be a status issue to be
on social networking sites. Everyone seems to be on it it, is just not limited to
professionals only. In order to understand the benefits and ill effects of these Social
networking this project was undertaken.
For the above mentioned project both qualitative and quantitative process was used to
recognize the importance of social networking within a social and particular age group.
Data Collection:
Data collection will consist of questionnaire shared with professionals, interviews and
observations. We divided them under two groups –
Group A - This was within the age group 25 to 45
Group B – This was within the age group 45 to 60 or till retirement.
Primary Data: Analyses was made on the answers given by the survey conducted.
Secondary Data: was collected from various articles & expert blogs
Upon collecting the qualitative data derived from said interviews, careful analysis was done
to analyse how to best understand the effects of social networking sites on professionals. A
bibliography containing such research sources has been submitted separately.
Process:
Professionals were chosen from various organizations – private, public, educational,
developmental, cooperate sectors. Questionnaire distributed to them basis their age group.
And they were asked to response sincerely and not to have double minds as no name
mentioning was done on the questionnaire.
The questionnaire was prepared keeping in mind group A could be fresher’s who need to
be on these social networking site to get a job and Group B who have been in jobs for jobs
over a decade and needed to be introduced to this entire new revolution of social
networking. There was a set of general question which were common in both the groups to
understand the biological and philosophical pressure on the individuals with respect to the
pressures of these social networking sites on individuals.
Analysis:
When we chose this topic and started talking and surfing, we realized that the pressures
with social networking sites on professionals was not as popular and we had to do all of
research speak to HR professionals from various sectors to get an idea. Analysis was made
after scrutinizing both the primary data & the secondary data. The primary data was
collected after giving questionnaire to the various professionals and basis their responses
the primary data was accumulated. The secondary data was collected by surfing various
popular sites, blogs etc.
Primary Data
Case Study
Ondrej, 29, an MBA specialised in sales and marketing, joined this leading company
Brainer which deals in machines and electronics used in manufacturing computers, in
October, 2005. He was known for his hard work and extreme dedication towards work
which led him to the position of junior sales manager in such a successful company. He was
very disciplined and well organised. At the same time he had a very cheerful personality.
He had his time table set for the working days as well as weekends.
Now, since he left his old organisation and old colleagues he was missing them in the
beginning before a friend at the new organisation recommended him to join facebook and
get connected to his old circle. He perceived it as a good idea and immediately created his
account on facebook. Interestingly he found not only his old colleagues but all the old
college friends as well. He thought he needs to spend time over facebook and connect to his
old buddies. So he took an hour out in his time table exclusively for going online on
facebook once in a day.
All his chores were set. It was going pretty well. He used to take out time everyday
to talk to long lost friends. Gradually, it gave him more and more satisfaction as he was able
to balance work with network.
In his new work place he had made a good rapport with the same commitment and
dedication that he was known for. But his boss, the senior sales manager, namely Carl, did
not seem pleased with Ondrej’s work. It was a month since Ondrej started working under
Carl. Carl was a very stubborn but dedicated boss. He would never compromise with work
for anything. He needed time to adjust with new people or new subordinates. He had made
it clear to Ondrej that only if he is smoothly able to complete the target sales for the quarter
can make him comfortable working with Ondrej. But something inside him told him that
Ondrej was the right person for the job of junior sales manager.
Everything was going on smoothly and at the right speed. Ondrej now started to
work overtime to complete his job. He never complained about being have to work for
extra hours. In fact he enjoyed it. He would get satisfaction if he would complete the
decided work for the day.
He would receive calls from his brother and parents to come back home on
weekends and spend time with them. But this seemed tough for him. He decided to cut
down some time that he spent on facebook. He cut it down to half an hour a day. But it was
difficult for him to practically cut down the time to half an hour a day. He would ignore the
time line and spend an hour without regret chatting with friends and following activities.
He even joined a game on facebook namely Holdem Texas poker. Also he would get restless
to check the newsfeed and the number of likes and comments on his pictures that he
uploaded and statuses.
The extra time that Ondrej used in the day to complete his job gradually
disappeared. Every day he had a reason to go home early. Though the rest of the day he
would work sincerely, but lunch time and time after 7pm he would never be seen in his
work place. Carl was in his friend list too. And all that Ondrej posted on facebook and his
reduced dedication towards work was enough to make Carl understand the distraction of
Ondrej.
Ondrej had reportedly made a new online female friend, namely Janka, whom
Ondrej contacted the most. Carl felt that the priorities for Ondrej had suddenly changed
and shifted towards something that is bothering Ondrej more than the sales target. Ondrej
was doing the work and was trying to remain regular in his job. But his repeated trials
were of no use.
Once during October Ondrej took a sick leave for a day. But his status had said,
“Enjoyed the movie with Janka” disturbed Carl. Also, in December beginning, one of his
subordinates could not show up for work for a week and could not contact any person of
the organisation to tell why he was on leave. When he came back and tried to explain the
problem to Ondrej, Ondrej could not control his anger and shouted at him. When all this
was reported to Carl, Carl decided to talk to Ondrej about the problem. Ondrej had no
answer for it. Ondrej suddenly received a message on facebook which he could not control
reading. Carl observed his impatience and the tension on Ondrej’s face. Ondrej was
sweating.
December end was approaching and so was the day of closing. Ondrej was under a
great stress of completing the job. His parents and his brother have now stopped
contacting him. As December 30th was coming near his subordinates could feel the rising
pressure.
It was now December 30th, the presentation day. Ondrej could not complete the
given target but his deviation was minute. It was now in Carl’s hands whether to let Ondrej
do the job or fire him.
Possible questions
1. What can be the possible reason for Ondrej’s stress?
2. Why do you think Ondrej’s parents and brother stopped contacting him?
3. What according to you should Carl do?
4. Is Ondrej’s behaviour with his subordinate justified?
5. What should Ondrej do to control his stress?
Possible solutions
1. According to the case study there can be many possible reasons for Ondrej’s stress.
First could be that he is not able to spend requisite time on his job and complete the sales
target due to some reasons which he could not observe.
Second could be that her online female friend Janka was asking to spend some more time
with her and Ondrej was unable to refuse her, that is why he took a sick leave from his job
just to watch a movie with her.
Third could be because Ondrej’s parents and his brother was continuously pressurising
him to meet them.
Fourth could be the spoiled relations with his co-workers and subordinates due to his
awful attitude towards them.
His addiction to facebook in general could have been the cause of his irritability and
anxiety.
Another could be the stubborn behaviour and the uneasiness of his boss, Carl.
Any of these reasons are enough to cause a stress to Ondrej.
2. Ondrej’s parents and his brother stopped contacting him because maybe he was not able
to take out time from his busy schedule to spend with his family.
Or maybe because they came to know about Ondrej’s approach towards his work and his
online female friend Janka because they too could have read his status update about going
out to movies with her.
3. Carl should suggest Ondrej a psychiatrist so that he can stabilise, reduce his addiction
to social networking and come out of stress since Carl probably had a clue about Ondrej’s
distraction.
Or else, Carl can also go to Ondrej and politely talk to him personally about his concerns
and suggest him accordingly how to go about it.
On the other hand, if he suspends or fires Ondrej, it might help him realise where he was
going wrong or it might increase his stress of losing the job.
4. According to the situation it might be justified that Ondrej screaming on his subordinate
due to his irregularity and the pressure of sales target. But then again, his personality has
been described as charming and friendly, typical of Type B, according to which he should
have been empathetic and tried to understand why his subordinate acted in such a way.
Also if he would not have screamed at his subordinate, the condition would have been
much better and Ondrej’s stress would have been lesser than what it actually was.
5. Ondrej should go to a psychiatrist and take his advices in order to have a control over his
emotions and current condition. He must talk to his boss and discuss with him his mistakes
and cause of distraction and try to explain him that he’ll come out of all that and try to give
his best shot next time. He should take a small 2 day break and spend time with his family
and console them that he still is concerned for them. And most importantly, he must cut
down his time that he spends on social networking sites from an hour a day to an hour a
week. He must make his priorities clear to himself and his female friend, Janka.
Survey
Social Networking and You
www.bit.ly/social_you
Survey Analysis
Age Group No of people
Below 30 28
30-45 4
Above 45 10
Which social network are you on? (above 45)
Facebook 4
Neither 4
Both 2
Linkedin 4
Why did you join Facebook/Twitter? (Above 45)
Reason Frequency
To connect with old friends and acquaintances 6
To not feel out-dated 5
Because everyone else in my organization is 2
Do you being on social networking sites is is affecting your professional life (above
45)
Answers Frequency
No, there's no effect 3
Yes, in a bad way 1
Yes, in a good way 3
Why did you make a LinkedIn ID?
Below 45
Reasons Frequency
To improve my networking 8
To enhance my professional image 5
To look for a new/better job? 3
To follow influential people 2
Frequent Updates. 1
Just to check whats it all about 1
Above 45
Reasons Frequency
To improve my networking 4
To enhance my professional image 3
Because all my colleagues are on it 3
To follow influential executives 2
To look for a new/better job? 2
Question yes no
Do you feel being on social networking sites affects your working hours? 17 14
Does having co-workers in your friendlist make you think twice before posting
anything?
20 11
Are you able to spend adequate time with your friends and relatives? 11 17
Did it help you in your recruitment process in any way? 4 11
(below 45) Do you feel maintaining your LinkedIn profile is more of a burden
you have to undertake just because everyone else in your business circle does
it?
4 11
(above 45 )Do you feel maintaining your LinkedIn profile is more of a burden
you have to undertake just because everyone else in your business circle does
it?
3 1
Did you have to tweak your profile on FB/Twitter during recruitment? 6 2
Do you feel at a disadvantage, compared to freshly recruited Gen Y who are
very active on social networking sites and has a vast network?
8 3
Do you have a LinkedIn profile? 16 15
Secondary Data
Avoiding Stress in the Workplace
● The golden rule of social networking is to avoid putting anything online that could
reflect badly on you or your business or your organisation where you work.
● Pictures of you acting unprofessionally could harm your chances of getting a job, or
make a poor impression on the new client.
● Keep in mind that when you make a mistake offline, a few will know but when you
make a mistake in front of hundreds or thousands of you online audience, most of
them will know!
● If you want to use a social media site for personal as well as professional
networking, consider creating a separate account under a nickname, so you can
keep your professional account clean.
● Avoid opening and downloading personal data to your work computer as it might be
monitored
● Keep in mind that your boss and co-workers can view everything you post if they
are on your friend list and if you do not have privacy settings, before posting
● Potential employers and clients will go through your profile before hiring you and
therefore keep your profile clean and professional
● Do not post anything derogatory or insulting about your boses or coworkers
● Do not post political views, religious beliefs or opinions about your company’s
products.
● If possible maintain different personal and professional social networking profiles.
● Lastly, After checking out your LinkedIn profile, every hiring manager does a Google
search. Are you happy with your Google search results? If not, make some changes!
Cyber-bullying in the workplace
Cyber-bullying not just restricted to teenagers and schools now. It has spread to workplace
as well in the form of
· Sending hostile e-mail and chats to colleagues
· Posting embarrassing photos on social networking sites
· Sending inappropriate content to them through chats
· Spreading negative gossip online
Cyberbullies are often passive aggressive, and can't handle dealing with people in person
or online. It is done mostly by an outlaw manager or a jealous peer.
According to a US government survey, more than 1 in 10 respondents were victims of
cyberbullying at work.
The victim can respond in various ways. Some of them could be:
· If assertive, they may retaliate using similar aggressive content.
· If more timid, they may sabotage a project or operation intentionally or by
underperforming.
· Take stress leave.
· In extreme cases, people may leave their jobs for good.
No matter what the response, it will negatively impact the company. Possible negative
impacts would include:
· High turnover, which is expensive for companies as they invest in hiring and
training new employees only to lose them shortly thereafter, possibly to a
competitor.
· Low productivity since employees are not motivated to do their best and are
more often out sick due to stress-related illnesses.
· Lost innovations since the bully is more interested in attacking his or her
victim than advancing the company, and the victims become less likely to generate
or share new ideas.
· Difficulty in hiring quality employees as word spreads that the company has a
hostile work environment.
To avoid the above consequences HR should be alert about cyberbullying and take the
following measures to prevent and control it:
· Clearly define cyberbullying, so that it can be more easily recognized and
separated from constructive criticism, discipline, and motivation, all of which are
bordering areas
· Spread awareness among employees about how they should deal with it, and
the consequences of cyberbullying.
· Set up a separate cyberbullying redressal cell where employees can talk about
this problem without the fear of disclosure.
· Encourage the employees to save all emails, blog posts, social media posts,
tweets, text messages etc that the alleged bully has sent, so it can be used as
conclusive evidence.
· Take stringent action against the bully to set an example which will act as a
deterrent against further bullying.
Social Networking-Stressful
Incidents
Case 1 A teacher in Barrow County, Georgia, was asked to resign from her job at Apalachee High
School in August 2009 because of photographs that showed her drinking alcohol and one
update used an expletive. She was on vacation in Europe and some of her photographs
included her visits to the Guinness Brewery and a local pub in Dublin.
Her Facebook page was private, however she had friended some other teachers in her
school. When the principal found out about the photos, she was told to render her
resignation or face suspension.
Case 2 In March 2009, 22-year old Connor Riley was offered a job at Cisco. Her first instinct -- to
tweet about her new opportunity -- is pretty common for most people of her generation.
Unfortunately, Riley's tweet mentioned that taking a "fatty paycheck" would come at the
expense of "hating the work." A Cisco employee responded to her tweet, offering to pass
her sentiments along to the hiring manager. Riley lost the job before it was even started.
The event, dubbed the "Cisco Fatty" incident, went viral and was a good cautionary tale for
individuals of all ages.
Case 3 In the fall of 2009, former Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson sent a series of
inflammatory tweets that got him into some hot water with his employer, the Kansas City
Chiefs. After being suspended for a game for his remarks -- which included derogatory
remarks about his coach and a gay slur directed at a fan -- 32,000 Chiefs fans petitioned the
team to remove Johnson from his contract. The Chiefs obliged.
Case 4 Veteran war correspondent and NYU fellow at the Center on Law and Security Nir Rosen
sparked outrage when he made offensive and insensitive tweets in the wake of the news
that CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan had suffered a brutal and sustained sexual
assault.
Comments like "I'm rolling my eyes at all the attention she'll get" and "it would have been
funny if it happened to Anderson too," didn't earn Rosen any online friends.
After backtracking and apologizing for his statements -- after first claiming that he didn't
know the severity of the attack when he made his comments -- Rosen resigned from NYU.
Case 5
A few Dominos Pizza workers filmed themselves doing gross things to food - food that was
probably served to customers. They then posted this video to YouTube. After tracking them
down Domino's fired the employees.
Role of HR in Stress Management
Human Resources is often in the front line dealing with work related stress and can
prevent it as well as manage it. HR staffs are also responsible for the generation and
maintenance of many of the relevant policies and procedures that apply to this issue.
Way in which HR can deal with stress in relation to social networking sites
Ø Allow employees to talk freely with one another. Create opportunities for the same like
making a common place for staff to have lunch daily where communication is free flow. In
an organization in which employees can talk freely with each other, productivity and
problem-solving usually are enhanced
Ø Management needs to talk openly with employees. Management should keep employees
informed about bad as well as good about these social networking sites. Giving employees
opportunities to air their concerns to management also is important.
Ø Much of the data collected by HR systems can be used to inform the Management
Standards process. Providing relevant data and feedback to the Board and often existing
policies and procedures can be used or adapted to do something equivalent to it
Ø Organize outdoor workshop/ seminars. Let it not be a classroom type set up but more of
employee participation getting to know the employees better.
Ø Maintain a company blogspot or an online group where the HR regularly post articles
regarding the recent trends and updates in social media and networking, relevant for the
organization and the employees.
Conclusion
From the case study following points were realized.
● Employees should not spend much time on social networking sites
● They should be sincere and dedicated towards completing their work effectively
and efficiently.
● The relation between the boss and his subordinate should be such that both of them
work together with harmony to achieve the goals of the company
From the survey we found out :-
● Both the Groups-A and B felt stressed because of the added responsibility of social
networking.
● The age group majorly affected by social networking is the one between 35-45 as
they are less likely to handle social relationships and networking along with their
professional life smoothly as compared to ones falling under 35 years of age.
● A shocking discovery was that LinkedIn which is hailed for its job search ability,
actually helped just 4 out of 15 under 45 respondents.
● Almost all of the 45+ employees feel disadvantaged and burdened because of social
networking.
It is basically because the trend of social networking is so overwhelming that unwilling
participants get into a lot of stress.
Social networking has revolutionised everything-networking, marketing, B2B business
operations, customer services, et all, hence those stuck in time find progressing very
difficult.
Based on the analysis and interview with HR professionals it was understood that social
networking sites does have its advantages and disadvantages.
Inspite of them having security settings it is not as restricted as people would have
preferred it to be, it can be a cause of stress & hypertension.
The line between your professional life & personal life is very thin and with social
networking this thin line can easily vanish if the successful control in managing the time
and priorities of social networking site and the practical life is not clear.
Workplaces need to organize seminars, workshops and enhance the knowledge of these
social networking sites.
Organizing such workshops will make learning universal amongst all age groups.
The company should have their own blogs updating the employees about various
technological changes and they can share their view on the same.
Social media if used well can enhance your organisations profile and provide another
useful tool for engagement and relationship building, but it requires planning, resources,
and monitoring.
Bibliography
The following sites and articles have greatly helped us in the course of this project
Wikipedia
HubSpot
SocialMediaExaminer
Mashable
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, "Workplace Bullying: What
Everyone Needs to Know" [online]
Workplace Bullying Institute [online]
http://www.stress.org/
Google Drive
https://www.udemy.com/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-networking/
http://www.community.net.nz/how-
toguides/socialnetworking/PublicationsResources/why.htm
https://www.ngoservicesonline.com.au/e-blast-landing-pages/2012-july-enews/social-
media-in-your-organisation/
http://www.monsterthinking.com/2011/03/02/social-media-and-employment-law/
http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/tc/managing-job-stress-topic-
overview
http://mashable.com/2011/06/16/weinergate-social-media-job-loss/