Yammer

Yammer is a social network software designed for corporate environments. It's very easy to use and works in a very similar way to Facebook in that there is a news feed, groups, instant chat and the ability to post messages, videos, audio and other file types. It works as a secondary file storage solution for employees as well as a means of internal communication. It's always healthy to foster internal relationships while keeping it private is a good way for large companies to minimize any risk and liability involved with the use of public social networks such as Facebook. It's quite fast with a clean, straightforward dashboard and everything in it available usually with a click or two. I like that the majority of the menus are label based. It can be cumbersome having to learn icons for multiple softwares that you use daily so I like that I don't have to learn any new symbols in order to utilize the functionality in the software. I like the idea of being able to stay in touch with new colleagues and associates that you meet at events. It's useful for planning internal projects especially extracurricular team building and special events. You can also use this software for human capital management purposes. It's ideal for providing that personal touch when reaching out from the HR department whether it's to wish a an employee a happy birthday, anniversary or best wishes on the vacation or maternity leave which in my opinion is probably to most significant function of Yammer. I like the unified news feed approach so you can view all of your history at a glance with the ability to easily add comments and have extended discussions. The groups feature is useful for planning internal events. You can invite specific people and work on project, the company Christmas party for example, and have everything in one place with the ability to collaborate in real time with whomever is in your group with you working on it. The gallery feature is cool too for this purpose because you can share all of the crazy pics from your Christmas party in it and share this with everyone super easily.

Technically, you could create a private Facebook or LinkedIn group and accomplish the same purpose with social networks your staff are already using with no additional cost, so if you're planning to pay for Yammer for it's core functionality only then consider a free option like Facebook or LinkedIn or even Slack for this, but if you're already using the Office 365 for business package and have a reason to use Yammer from a human capital management purposes, or to minimize employee liability through use of public social networks in general than Yammer is a good choice. The notifications could become a bit annoying if you have a lot going on and don't customize this in your settings to be most appropriate for your needs.

I believe Yammer is best utilized as an human capital management tool for adding a personal touch to your internal communication from management to staff and does a good job with this while keeping it all within your brand. It's also good for employees to organize and collaborate on special team projects like planning company events. It's great place to share company photos from parties and other events. In that sense it's a solid secondary storage option with strong internal communication options. But if you're considering investment in Yammer for these purposes only perhaps consider a free option like a free LinkedIn or Facebook group or Slack which integrates which may integrate with your current systems. If you're already using the Office 365 business suite of tools and want to have your HR communication remain branded and personalized than it's a solid option.