Employee Communication Benefiting from Web 2.0 During Economic Slump

Fervent followers of the talent management technology marketplace find it challenging not to embrace Web 2.0 technologies on a daily basis. Among others in business, the sentiment has taken some time to catch up; new research finds, however, that the adoption and integration of Web 2.0 technologies within corporate communication structures is increasing, apparently in tandem with the economic slump.

Since the economic downturn began, employers have been also using newer technological tools for communication, according to the 2009 HR Technology Trends Survey of 181 large employers by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt. Nearly one-third (32 percent), for instance, have increased their use of webcasts; 13 percent have increased their use of social networking tools; and 12 percent have increased their use of blogs for communication.

"Web 2.0 technologies work well, in most instances, for targeting specific employee and manager groups, and companies are using them in appropriate situations," says Jon Osborne, senior technology consultant at Watson Wyatt. "Using tools such as role-based portals, internal blogs and webcasts ensures that both managers and employees can send and receive tailored messages in an engaging format. This is useful for improving productivity and maintaining employee morale and engagement, particularly in this difficult economic time."

Role-based employee portals are enjoying particularly rapid deployment. More than two-fifths (41 percent) have already deployed or are piloting role-based employee portals, and nearly a quarter (24 percent) are planning to adopt them in the next 24 months.

With the use of new technologies has come a precipitous decline in interest related to Web 1.0 models. The implementation of older approaches to internal communication with the workforce is seeing a decline, for instance, with initiatives to install generic intranets having slowed almost to a halt: While 86 percent of companies currently have them, almost none (a mere 2 percent) plan to implement them in the next 24 months. Rather, companies are planning to deploy blogs (13 percent), wikis (13 percent) and podcasts (10 percent) in the same timeframe, according to Watson Wyatt's findings.