Impact of Online Social Networking on Employees Productivity at Work Place in University of Gondar - A Case Study

Employees are considered as one of the most important assets of any institution. University of Gondar is one of the known universities in Ethiopia and has large number employees. Success of this University depends on the productivity of its employees. Social media, which has become very popular, has infiltrated the workplace and most employees are utilizing social media in the workplace without any access restriction. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of social media participation by employees and its effect on their productivity. A sample was stratified randomly selected from a population that has internet connectivity in the workplace. Primary data was collected by using a questionnaire and interview. The research found both negative and positive relationship between social media participation and employee productivity. The negative relationship was however found to be stronger as 68.4 % employees spend most of their time on social media enhancing personal networks and 86 % of employees use office hours to visit online social networks. Positive relationship exists in employee, who use of social media for seeking and viewing work related information. The study concluded that employees participate in social media in the workplace for both work and non-work related activity. Social media has the potential to allow employees to form collaborations and communities for knowledge creation and sharing, better channels of communication, which enhance employee productivity. However, it can draw employees in to an addiction that distracts performance as well as straining the University resources.