Yesterday I sat in on a fascinating presentation called “The Risks and Rewards of Online Social Networking in the Workplace” hosted by the Human Resources Association of New York. The presentation was geared towards HR professionals and focused on creating social media policies in the workplace to protect employees and employers.
It’s clear that companies are becoming more proactive in their management of social media in the workplace and many will begin to revise their employee handbooks to reflect their social media policy, create employment agreements that clearly spell out company social media rules, and dedicate resources to training employees on the dos and don’ts of social media in the workplace.
For decades, many companies have had a clear policy that prohibits employees from giving personal references for people they have worked with at that company. When employers check references on a potential hire, they are often rerouted to the company’s HR department where very limited information such as job titles and dates of employment are shared. With the advent of new social media policies, I think it’s just a matter of time before companies formalize their policies around giving LinkedIn recommendations because they don’t want to be saddled with the potential liability these recommendations can create.
In addition, don’t be surprised if companies start implementing rules around friending on Facebook. It’s not unrealistic to assume that companies will prohibit bosses from friending subordinates to minimize the potential for creating a hostile workplace and decrease the likelihood of harassment suits. Or companies may propose strict guidelines for friending or connecting with competitors because this activitiy could result in proprietary company information getting in the wrong hands.
Thinking about writing a blog that chronicles your experiences at your new company? Think again. More companies will start to formalize policies that require disclaimers on personal blogs or prohibit use of the company name or company images on the blog.
I’m certainly not trying to paint a doom and gloom “big brother” picture of social media in the workplace and I believe that many companies will find ways to embrace social media in the workplace while protecting the rights of employees and employers.
But as companies create more clearly defined social media policies, job seekers may face new challenges in finding advocates for their candidacy. So my motto for right now for sourcing LinkedIn recommendations and building up your contact list is “Get ’em while you can” because the rules of the game could change tomorrow.
Wow, Barbara, It sounds obvious when I read your post but this is very interesting and disturbing news. I will definitely encourage my clients to go after those recommendations now. I don’t like the Big Brother attitude either…
Julie,
I’m not saying that this will all happen overnight or with every employer, but the Internet is still similar to the wild wild west and many companies are already taking measures to monitor/control how information about them is shared online. I have already had a few clients tell me that they could not get recommendations from former colleagues because they were told they weren’t allowed to.
Barb, Very pertinent; we are drafting these policies at the YWCA as we speak. so many issues, we can’t even keep up. The social media environment is evolving all the time, trying to stay ahead of the game is nearly impossible. Add the fact that we have many children in our programs who are part of the mix – texting, friending, etc. our staff.
Kathy,
It’s incredible how much gray there is when it comes to social media policy. The thing I miss most about HR is employee relations and even though the social media piece is complex I think it is really interesting. Good luck with the policy implementation!
Thanks for being the first to really drive home and define this message. I do think companies will try to harness the positives of social media because they may only barely be able to fight the inevitability of this medium. You can’t harness a storm. I also don’t think the final battlefield will be Linked In, Twitter and Facebook. These sites will either develop or perish under even more powerful platforms. But thanks for really pointing out this potential trend. Additionally, jobseekers and careerists should be warned that their social media will be seen in 3D soon and that may be cool for you if you are Perez or Paris but not for most of us.
John,
I think it will be pretty exciting to see what new “social media toys” are in store for us in the coming years. And I’m equally fascinated by how companies will choose to manage their social media policies. Thanks for commenting!