Khulekani Yakobi

The emergence of social media in financially high-risk institutions has had a negative impact on employees’ perceptions towards utilization of social media for team collaboration and communication. This study investigates social media impact in commercial banks and explores the contribution it has brought among teams, thus, ascertaining collaboration and effective communication within the banking industry. It adopted a quantitative research method whereby 194 questionnaires were distributed and 102 completed, thereby generating a response rate of 53%. The study findings revealed 60% of the research participants who agreed, 14% undecided, and 27% disagreed that social media present an opportunity for people to commit fraud and attracts hackers. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge in South Africa as there is a limited number of published studies on the impact of social media in financial institutions

The primary aim of this study is to investigate commercial banks employee’s interactions in the advent and eminence of social media, thus, depict the major influence which is made by social media in two commercial banks (ABSA and Standard Bank) workflow. This study has employed a quantitative research approach whereby structured questionnaires were distributed respectively to two commercial banks’ employees. A self-developed and administered questionnaire was distributed to a population size of 194 employees with 102 returned and completed successfully, thereby generating a response rate of 53%. Findings in this study revealed the extent to which social media has changed workflow in commercial banks (54% agree, 23% were undecided, and 24% disagreed). Among other major findings that this study reflected, social media among commercial banks employees’ has totally transformed channels of communication (60% agreed, 25% were undecided, and 24% disagreed). Despite the positive advancements revealed in this study, social media has not allowed openness of emotions among commercial banks employees’ (49% agreed, 28% were undecided, and 24% disagreed). This study is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge, as there is a paucity of published studies on commercial banks employee’s interactions in the advent of social media. This study will also help the bank managers to intensify online team management and supervision.

Keywords: collaboration, communications, employees’ emotions, human interaction, supervision, team management.
JEL Classification: G21, M30, M54