19 November 2007
Nissan launches "N-Square" internal social networking site
Ease of communication and collaboration cited as benefits.
Global car manufacturer, Nissan, is to launch a new social networking site for its employees. The site, dubbed “N-Square”, will connect up to 50,000 of the company's 180,000 employees globally. Users will be able to create online profiles, blogs, communities and discussion groups and share data files.
Innovating and formal channels
In an interview with website BusinessWeek, Simon Sproule, the Nissan USA executive overseeing N-Square, says the site will provide employees with a way to avoid bureaucratic channels and create new partnerships, citing the inefficiency of traditional tools and channels as a main reason for launching the site.
"If you want to talk to your boss or your boss's boss or your boss's boss's boss, you set up meetings, you 'cc' everyone, you lay out an agenda and maybe even have a pre-meeting to discuss the topic. There's an enormous amount of time spent just to get to talk to somebody," says Sproule.
The site will provide employees with a way to avoid bureaucratic channels and create new partnerships.
The basis for N-Square developed from a visit to IBM's headquarters in New York, where Sproule saw IBM's web-based software that allowed employees to share ideas. He believes the social networking site will be worth it because it will connect employees with others who can provide expertise so they can do a better job. “IBM was the biggest inspiration," says Sproule. "That, and the 100 million people using MySpace."
Improved job engagement
N-Square could also offer further indirect benefits, such as making employees feel more connected to their jobs. "What we know from research is that one of the primary reasons people stay at the same company is that they're well tied into the social fabric of the place," McKinsey & Company consultant Leigh Weiss told Web Pro News. "Companies will often lose top performers because they aren't sufficiently mentored or connected."
While not the first global corporation to launch such a site, Nissan’s deployment of N-Square is notable due to the company’s core focus on manufacture and sales to businesses and consumers, with large percentages of employees working in factory and retail environments.
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