Weber Shandwick has become the first major public relations firm to adopt Facebook at Work for all of its employees after testing the collaboration platform in a pilot project that began late last year.
The system, which is still not widely available, aims to improve business communications, increase productivity and reduce the flow of emails. It functions almost identically to the consumer-facing version of Facebook, but offers companies a closed network that only employees can join.
Facebook at Work is now available to Weber Shandwick’s 100 employees in Canada and more than 3,500 employees worldwide on the heels of the pilot program that included 25% of its employees. The public relations firm joins Canadian Tire Corporation as one of the Canadian companies adopting the service.
“Being an early adopter of the platform is an advantage in terms of being able to enhance conversations we’re having with clients who are looking for new ways to engage employees,” says Adam Wall, executive vice-president, digital operations and client services at Weber Shandwick’s Toronto office.
Wall says the Facebook platform has elevated the agency’s ability to collaborate and share best practices. A poll Weber Shandwick conducted of employees involved in the pilot found 40% felt closer to their global colleagues.
Facebook at Work is not replacing other systems used by the agency, such as Slack and its company-wide intranet. “We’re looking at this as something that can enhance and complement what we have in place.”
One of the biggest advantages of the system is its familiarity and its similarity with Facebook. As a result, little or no training is needed as most employees are already on the social networking site.
But, improvements could still be made in document sharing and real-time editing functions, Wall says.
Heineken, Coldwell Banker and Royal Bank of Scotland are among the companies using Facebook at Work.
Facebook has not announced when Facebook at Work will become more widely available.
