"Facebook Is A Powerful Business-Networking Tool For Serena"

Serena Software recently made an interesting move of adopting Facebook as its corporate Intranet, allowing its 800 employees around the globe to participate each week in a company-wide programme called “Facebook Fridays”. Each Friday, employees are granted one hour of personal time to spend on their Facebook profiles and connect with co-workers, customers, family and friends. The initiative was rolled out in 18 countries where the company has offices.

Jeremy Burton, president and CEO of Serena, speaks to Biztech2.0 about his idea of using Facebook at workplace. Burton himself is an avid user of Facebook, using it to keep in touch with employees, friends, and business partners around the globe.

What made you feel that Facebook would make a better corporate Intranet?

Most corporate Intranets are passive information portals where companies post information. Web 2.0 technologies allow for a much more interactive experience. As our business continues to grow, the workplace becomes more and more distributed, which can make us feel disconnected from one another. Social networking tools like Facebook can help us get to know each other better, understand our business and products, and better serve our customers on demand. Facebook gives us a platform to communicate not only with employees, but also with our customers, partners, suppliers, and friends. Companies that do not embrace social networking are making a huge mistake.

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How have the employees reacted to the concept of Facebook Fridays?

Initially, there was a mixed reaction. However, most employees now realise what we are trying to do. In effect, we are telling them that people matter, communications matter and we believe in a healthy balance between work and personal life. The idea is to bring the benefits of using Facebook into the workplace, and allow employees to have more fun combining their personal and professional lives. The purpose of Facebook Fridays is to create an atmosphere where employees can work and have fun and also get all the information right from a list of company holidays to their CEO’s favourite movie.

How is Facebook expected to become a powerful business-networking tool in an organisation?

We have a distributed workforce in more than 18 countries. Many of our front line staff and consultants work from home offices. It is important that they be given an opportunity to connect on a personal level with other employees. We believe Facebook can help us achieve this. Given its growing worldwide popularity, we see Facebook as a powerful business-networking tool for Serena Software all over the world, including APAC, where we are taking a different approach towards the social networking phenomenon. Recent studies show that approximately 15% of the Asia Pacific region’s social networks users are top managers and business owners. Nearly all of our employees in the APAC region are using Facebook and we will look to deliver exclusive Facebook applications in the future.

What are the checks an IT head needs to keep while using Facebook as the intranet?

The checks are no different than what you would have for any other communication vehicle. The same code of conduct your company already has applies.

How can recruiting through Facebook help?

The next generation of workers (Gen Y from 1980 on), are inherently more technically savvy than any of us. Recent studies indicate there are roughly 70 million Gen Y’ers and we believe it’s critical to understand and embrace “their world,” including on-demand Internet applications and an “innovation without permission” mentality.

When they join the workforce in business positions they are going to expect a certain level of autonomy to get the job done. So it’s incumbent on companies such as Serena Software to provide the tools they need. They are accustomed to adding and subtracting applications at a whim on platforms like Facebook. This type of thinking is seeping into the enterprise.

And on a personal level, prospective employees, customers and partners can all get a better view into who we are as people. I know that I always feel more comfortable dealing with people I feel I know and can trust. This is one solid step in that direction.