Unlocking engagement: how employees experience organizational social platforms

Purpose Organizational Social Platforms (OSPs) are modern HR digital tools introduced to enhance and promote employee engagement in the workplace. While they hold significant promise, organizations often face difficulties in achieving genuine and sustained engagement through these platforms. Guided by Social Exchange Theory (SET), this study examines how internally developed Organizational Social Platforms (OSPs)—distinct from outsourced or vendor-managed platforms—are operationalized in organizational settings. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study draws on two data sources: semi-structured interviews with 27 employees and a longitudinal qualitative content analysis of 288 typewritten comments submitted over two years. Thematic analysis was employed to identify patterns and insights regarding employee engagement with OSPs. Findings The findings reveal that employer-driven content delays (24–48 h) significantly inhibited reciprocal interactions and discouraged employee participation. The findings indicate that employee disengagement frequently emerges from managerial misimplementation and mismanagement, thereby creating a substantial disconnect between the intended functions of OSPs and employees’ lived experiences. These practices diminish trust, limit reciprocity—central to SET—and ultimately reduce platform participation. Furthermore, the lack of employee involvement in the design phase, insufficient communication of platform objectives, and organizational unpreparedness contribute to the platforms’ failure. Practical implications The findings offer important HR implications, particularly for the design and management of HR technologies that shape employee relations and workplace engagement. The study shows that Organizational Social Platforms (OSPs) are most effective when HR adopts an employee-centred approach, involving staff early in design and implementation to ensure platform features reflect actual communication and engagement needs rather than managerial assumptions. Clear and transparent communication of policies—especially those related to content moderation, data use, and participation—can strengthen trust and reduce perceptions of control. Sustained engagement also requires continuous technical and organizational support, alongside granting employees meaningful autonomy to create and interact with content. These actions help position OSPs as genuine tools for collaboration rather than compliance. Overall, the implications directly address the challenges identified in this study, including filtration practices, technical constraints, and limited interactivity, offering actionable guidance for organizations aiming to introduce or improve OSPs. Social implications Unlike other technological work-related systems in the workplace, OSP is a social application heavily dependent on employees’ voluntary social interactions. Technological studies often equate “user” with engagement, but employees’ roles in OSPs extend beyond that of generic users. Employees in OSP, unlike public users, have specific needs and expectations related to their workplace issues within OSP. Originality/value The study concludes that the socio-technical mismanagement of OSPs undermines their role as tools for engagement. It contributes to the literature by extending SET within digital HRM, showcasing a novel dual-source qualitative approach, and offering actionable insights to improve OSP design, implementation, and governance.