The Value of Connections Within an Organization

Typically, 'connections' is understood on a personal level.  The value of professional connections is recognized as advantageous to ones career.  Want to move up the company hierarchy?  It's more than having the right credentials, experience and proven results.  Leveraging relationships within the organization, especially with senior level management is the key to promotions. 

However, 'connections' in this sense refers only to the individual but not the organization.  How do 'connections' help an organization achieve its goals?  The key is to understand connections in terms of Social Capital.

Social Capital is a little known, but critically important component to the success of an organization. 

Social capital is the value of relationships within an organization that leverages the available resources.  To put it simply, employees that work together, share knowledge and experience and work towards common objectives, benefit not only themselves, both personally and professionally, but also help the organization meet and exceed targets.

Morale is a good indicator of a company's health.  When morale is high, employees are more likely to have a sense of loyalty and community.  The desire to learn, to share information and to tailor personal goals to meet company objectives is strong.  The result tends to be a healthy, viable organization.  The converse is also true.  The sad truth is a company with low morale will see a steady downward spiral towards bankruptcy.

In today's economy, keeping morale high is more than simply creating a nice work environment.  It involves assessing the value of the organization's Social Capital, setting goals and making concrete steps towards achieving these goals.

First thing (after learning about Social Capital) is to measure your organization's Social Capital.  This is not an easy thing to do, but it can be done with the right tools and the right expertise.