Social media in the workplace is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it creates opportunities for learning useful information and reaching customers and potential customers. On the other hand, it provides opportunities for employees to spend valuable work time updating their Facebook page or tweeting about what happened at the club last night.It is not surprising then that managers should have mixed feelings about social media, as was evident in a survey carried out by The Cara Group, published last week.While 81% of respondents believe that social media offer valuable learning opportunities for their workforce, lower productivity, security and quality of source were cited as significant concerns, found the study, entitled “How Informal Learning Is Transforming the Workplace: A Pulse Survey on Social Media’s Impact on Informal Workplace Learning”.The survey defined ‘informal learning’ as learning that takes place independently from structured instructor-led classes or course-specific work.Developed by The CARA Group, Inc., a consulting firm specialising in custom learning and performance solutions for Fortune 500 organisations, the survey posed a range of questions on how informal learning is impacting formal corporate training programmes and how organisations are adapting and keeping pace with the current learning landscape.The themes covered in the survey ranged from what sorts of formats work best for informal learning to social media scepticism, security concerns and adoption hurdles.Key findings included:l Informal learning is a vital tool in employee training; 90 percent of respondents encourage or support it in some way.l According to participants, informal learning is most useful when the format is social and in person rather than individual and isolated from peers.l 81 percent of respondents feel social media offer valuable learning opportunities for employees.l 98 percent of respondents agree that social media are changing how employees are learning and accessing information.“The survey findings reveal a tension between social media’s perception as a valuable learning tool and companies’ ability to govern its impact on productivity, security and information verification,” says CARA senior vice-president Jane Ehrenstrom. “With the millennial generation joining the workforce with a sense that social media tools and technologies are the norm, companies would do well to understand and leverage this trend to their advantage sooner than later.”The survey report lays out three strategies for companies to keep pace with learning resources and habits to successfully manage, train and cultivate their workforce.The survey polled 125 corporate learning and training leaders at businesses across the US. The top five industries represented by respondents include: Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals/Biotech, Telecommunications, Financial Services and Insurance. Participants came from organisations of all sizes, including small- and mid-sized firms, as well as global enterprises that exceeded more than $40 billion in annual revenue.