Why Is Nissan Mimicking MySpace?

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Sproule won't say what N-Square is costing Nissan. But he's convinced that social networking will pay off by making it easier for employees to tap into the expertise they need to do a better job. Because it's voluntary, anyone who disagrees with him doesn't have to join. "You often learn more when you're sitting in the lunch room with your colleagues saying'what are you working on today?'" says Sproule.

In many ways, N-Square aims to be a virtual lunch room. Like the company's intranet home page, the day's news is listed in the center. On the right side there's a space for a person's profile, along with downloaded photos. Down the left side is a search box and list of categories for online communities. "On" communities discuss work-related topics such as designing a next-generation, diesel-powered engine or reducing overtime, while "off" groups rate the best local low-budget eats or debate the challenges of raising kids. Unlike users of Net-based networking sites, N-Square users can't leave comments anonymously.

Most of the 1,000 employees who have taken part in Nissan's pilot study like the site. Todoroki, the engineer, says he clicks on the site for a few minutes at least a half-dozen times a day to blog about the news, reply to feedback, or check in with friends. N-Square has come in handy for work, as well. Recently he suggested that a group deciding on stereo systems for overseas models hold their meeting on the pilot site. Three days later they made a decision. "It normally would have taken a month," says Todoroki, 33.

Using the Net to Retain Employees

But once the site has its full-fledged launch, not everything may go smoothly. Bosses might think their charges are goofing off, or employees might spend more time networking than working. The site could also widen the existing digital divide between office and factory workers, or unwittingly spill sensitive N-Square information to the Net, or get so overloaded with information it becomes unwieldy. And the company will need to set guidelines for what's allowed and what's forbidden and how rule-breakers will be punished. Says consulting firm Ovum's Steve Hodgkinson: "It needs people looking at it and managing it who are sensitive to the organization's social dynamics."

The potential payoff is happier employees who feel more attached to their jobs. "What we know from research is that one of the primary reasons people stay at the same company is that they're well tied into the social fabric of the place," says McKinsey & Co. consultant Leigh Weiss. "Companies will often lose top performers because they aren't sufficiently mentored or connected."

It's also a shrewd way to lure Gen-Y recruits. "Given the popularity of social networking in the consumer space, new and often younger generations of employees expect that these same types of social networking capabilities will be part of their work environment," says Jeff Schick, vice-president at IBM Lotus, which has created sites for Deutsche Bank (DB), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and the Film Foundation.

Hall is BusinessWeek's technology correspondent in Tokyo
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