Jon Mell: Solving Business Problems Through Social

Last October, at an IBM Connect event, Björn spoke to IBM’s Jon Mell. Jon is European Sales Integration Leader for IBM Smarter Workforce and he will be one of the keynote speakers for Enterprise 2.0 SUMMIT (#e20s).

The conversation pivoted around moving from liking to leading.

A major point is the elimination of boundaries within an organisation regarding social. One of this years main topics at the Enterprise 2.0 Summit.

Jon says; “Businesses fundamentally are social.” and separating the two, business and social, is less and less an ideal situation. Social is being used to solve (complex) business problem. Rather than just adding a layer of social on top, or beside, regular business, social becomes an integral part of the business. Providing new and innovative ways to solve problems.

It makes sense really, when certain problems spring up because of new technology and modern social behaviour, it’s only logical to use similar technology and a similar mindset to solve those issues.

Implications for HR

HR is growing up too, changing its stripes to be more social. Attracting new employees is more about engagement and providing them with next gen social tools, rather than going through stacks of CV’s provided by agencies. The recruitment process becomes more personal and more selective. Finding the right person becomes easier.

Implications for the social adoption

By changing the point of view, business is social rather than business vs. social, has another great benefit. It eliminates the need for adoption.

By solving key business problems, with for instance IBM’s social tools, you focus on the problem. You do not focus on driving usage of a technology product.

But, watch this little gem and get the information directly from the source:

Jon kicks of the first #e20s conference day together with Dan Ponterfact during the Keynote Panel: Heading from Engagement to Passion in Future Work Performance.

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Rogier Noort

Rogier Noort

I'm a Social Business addict coming from the technical depths of IT and rising from these dark ages, through web and social, to the enlightened field of Social Business. Also blogger, podcaster, talker and listener.

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