When Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook, little would he have thought that it would one day be used by a banking organisation in Singapore to foster bonds among team members – such as the case of OCBC’s Emerging Business (EmB) unit.
Wong Chung Yee, vice president for enterprise banking at OCBC Bank, says that before the unit started its official EmB Facebook account, many of the unit’s 200 members had already taken the initiative to set up Facebook accounts for their respective teams.
It helped that many colleagues were already Facebook-savvy and equipped with smart phones which made it easy to network on the go. So when the official EmB Facebook account finally launched in December, Wong says it created some buzz and excitement among colleagues who see it as a platform to better connect and socialise with one another. Now, 70% of the 200-member team are members of the unit’s Facebook page.
“Such social interaction helped to build stronger bonds between our colleagues and generated greater synergy amongst the respective teams,” says Wong.
The idea of having an official Facebook account was even supported by the head of the EmB unit, who Wong says is now an active user of it. “Today, all our colleagues have come to treat him as a friend they can turn to for advice and help in both the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ EmB community.”
Having a culture that promotes social bonds between colleagues also helps ensure that the community does not languish. Wong says the EmB unit’s culture of viewing colleagues as friends first rather than colleagues has helped popularise the platform as a communication channel among them.
And contrary to popular belief that only younger-generation members are more suited to social networking, Wong says the opposite is true. While baby boomers only comprise 5% of the EmB unit, they now make up 15% of the Facebook account’s population. Although the number of baby boomers trails behind the Gen Y users by 60%, Wong says these numbers show that the platform is a useful tool for colleagues of different age groups to connect and socialise.
While companies may use Facebook to discuss company business and other work-related issues, OCBC chooses to keep things purely social. Through the EmB account, members upload photos and information about themselves, which Wong says helps to create a more personal dimension for employees to break between the ranks and get to know each other better.
“For example, our managers will post encouraging comments to the group when they read postings that relate to a staff’s bumpy day at work. This shows that the manager cares about their team members’ well-being, and makes the members feel appreciated and happy to be associated with the team.”
As a result of the Facebook account, Wong says the EmB unit has become more closely knit, adding that there are instances whereby people find it hard to leave the organisation due to the close bonds forged.
“We also have baby boomers and Gen-X managers who participate even more actively in the Facebook group than our Gen-Y colleagues,” Wong says, adding that this helps create synergy within a diverse team. “When a diverse team works well together, the company benefits.”
