Communication Technology

A new report from ACAS comments on Web 2.0 and how such technology could have an effect on the future of workplace/employment relations.

For employees the following is discussed in the new report:

The use of social media by unions to reach both a younger generation and a more dispersed workforce is already well underway.

Commentators believe that the unions are moving from the services model of the 90s through the organising model of the noughties to the more sophisticated social movement model with its greater appeal to a younger audience.

Web 3.0 technology with its seamless integration between data bases will enable
much greater interactivity between users and the web.

This will enable trade unions to refine their recruitment practices where individuals can be attracted to a social movement website first and then directed to trade union sites.

For employers:

As the virtual workplace becomes more prevalent, employers will need to give careful thought to the management of a dispersed workforce where employees may have infrequent face-to-face contact with their colleagues...

For more details and concluding comments see The Future of Workplace Relations - An ACAS View.

An article in Personnel Today at the end of last week looks at the introduction of Internet access for staff who work on science bases in Antarctica.

The main feature of the article is how modern communication technology, only recently available to workers stationed for months at a time in an isolated working environment, is having an affect on the quality of relations between workers.

For example, staff spending spare time blogging, using IM, surfing, shopping online, etc.

Modern communication technology is likened to a 'poisoned chalice'.

An interesting way of looking at things, but I couldn't help feeling that new forms of communication technology are just as likely to have an affect on working relations in far more mundane workplaces, much closer to home.

See Internet access for staff in Antarctica creates problems for HR by Greg Pitcher for more details.