This is a two part series on corporate social media risk.  Check out Part 1:  As Social Media Adoption Grows So Does Corporate Risk.

Organizations particularly in the human resources industry are finally taking notice with SHRM, the Society of Human Resource Management releasing findings from their Social Media in the Workplace Survey with Part 3 released in October of 2011.  Conversations are happening among HR teams, employment law attorneys as well as executives. The key to understanding social media and the potential risk for social media discrimination and harassment require business leaders to use and engage on the social networks in order to understand the fundamental communication shift.  HR Professionals need to embrace social media themselves much like an anthropologist does when studying a new culture or tribe.

Conservative companies like The Hartford and their executives have taken a digital anthropology approach when it comes to executives using and learning about social networks with positive results.  Their reverse social media mentoring program began in 2010. It involved a group of mid level employees who mentored senior executives. The mid level employees provided valuable insights and nuances into how employees are using social networks.  From improving their golf swing to understanding how employees are using social networking for professional growth, development, networking, and learning, the results were surprising.  This lead  to the company opening access to Facebook to all employees at their locations in 2011 increasing their Facebook Fan Page from 2,700 Fans to 103,000 Fans in two and a half weeks.

As the popularity of social networking grows both for employers as part of their candidate recruiting process and for job seekers as part of their personal brand building and company engagement, there are a number of HR vendors that have recently launched tools to help HR and executives mitigate the risk.

One such company is Social Intelligence.  Social Intelligence offers a social media and online background check program allowing for employers more comprehensive and consistent alternatives to googling or self-service social networking vetting methods.  Their search and vetting processes go beyond traditional social networks and avoid situations of mistaken identity.  Max Drucker, the President and CEO of Social Intelligence says, “Employers are in a tough spot – on the one hand, if they do not review applicants’ publicly available social media, they expose the organization to workplace risks and negligent hiring.  On the other hand, if they conduct the screening internally, they are exposed to a lot of information not legally allowable for hiring such as religion, sexuality orientation, and health status that may lead to a discrimination lawsuit.”

Social Intelligence provides candidates the opportunity to sign a disclosure much like the traditional background check document allowing the job seeker the opportunity to dispute information found during the social media background check process.  But many more informal social media background checks are happening behind the scenes by managers who are viewing profiles and pages during an employee’s annual review, as a screening process for their promotion or merit increase, in addition to external candidates.

Companies who are using an informal social media vetting process incorporate the following steps into to help mitigate the risk:

• Have Candidates Sign a Disclosure Document.  Make the informal process more formal allowing them an opportunity to disclosure information themselves as it relates to social media but do not ask for passwords or other login information.

• Treat Informal Checks as Formal.  Create a more formal process with a process document.  This provides guidelines and an understanding of those who are completing the process the requirements and comes in handy during employment investigations or when the EEO comes calling.

• Separate the Process.  Limit the likelihood that hiring managers and those involved in the decision making process have access or the protected information unconsciously influences their decision, by separating it.  This could include hiring an outside party or having someone in house responsible for conducting checks.  Many large companies already separate the Internet sourcing process for the candidate interview and selection.

• Training Your Teams.  This may seem like a no brainer but training and constant communication are important when it comes to social media. Social media and its implications for employers isn’t a one and done scenario.  Your training and team communication shouldn’t be either.

Social media discrimination involves the entire employee engagement as well as hiring process.  Companies can evaluate vendor options like LinkedIn’s Recuiter Seat(s) to limit liability and remove protected information from profiles while also gathering OFCCP compliance data for companies who are government contractors.  Venture funded Startup, BranchOut offers a similar tool for Facebook recruiting called RecruiterConnect.  These are resources and tools available to recruiting teams that your employment law attorneys aren’t typically aware of.

The growing trend and widespread use and adoption of social media means that social media discrimination should be on the minds and agenda of corporate human resource professionals and executives.  Companies using social media as part of their recruiting and engagement strategies shouldn’t shy away from its use.  It is a great way to engage candidates and customers but should be aware of the risks that social media can bring.

This is a two part series on corporate social media and the risk that companies as well as HR professionals face.  Check out Part 1 to learn more.  

Photo credit. 

This is a 4 part series on Managing Your Social Media Mullet.  You can view Part 1 where I discussed the concept of social media mullet and “Business in the front.  Party in the back.”  In Part 2, the discussion continues specifically discussing how social media can help or hinder your personal as well as corporate brand.  

I come from a corporate human resources background.  Many corporate professionals (non HR) are often surprised just how much involvement and influence human resources has on hiring and corporate policies and procedures.  While HR might not have the final say in who your hiring manager or organization hires, they are involved in creating your company’s social media policy as well as the company’s background check policy and corporate investigations which many times involves social media.  Which is why involving your HR and recruiting teams in social media education and training is so important.

Since the term web blog was coined in 1997, social media and the internet has been a corporate wild card.  Employment law attorneys and corporate counsel have advised senior leaders and HR against allowing employees to have access to the internet as well as social media at work.  This is because the internet and social media is something that executives cannot control.  And by something, I mean your opinions, thoughts, feelings, and personal stories shared online right along side details about your work.  And by work I mean your company’s name, their brand attached to your own.

That’s the dilema with the social media mullet.  Many corporate professionals in HR and the C-Suite fear what they don’t understand.  How can someone talk about their job and work responsibilities and then 10 minutes later be tweeting about taking jello shots during the corporate holiday party?  Yes, I said Holiday instead of Christmas.  Some HR traditions die hard.

When it comes to the social media mullet, managing your own personal brand as well as the corporate brand you represent as an employee is necessary for your future employment at said corporation.  Doing the following things when it comes to social media, however, will not save your job:

• Listing a disclaimer anywhere within your blog or social profiles.  If a company wishes to fire you, they are likely to find a reason; social media related or not.  While a disclaimer makes your corporate legal team sleep a little better at night, it doesn’t remove you or the company from liability.  Personally, that disclaimer on your Twitter bio takes up valuable SEO and keyword space for interested parties to find you.

• Talking to your boss about your blog.  Even if your boss knows about your activities on the internet, social media related, or after hours, this fact won’t protect you from being terminated.  Sometimes in the corporate world of politics, your boss or even your boss’s boss isn’t the one who holds the keys to the kingdom.

•  Anonymous blogging or tweeting isn’t protected.  Just because it’s anonymous doesn’t mean you are protected.  Just because you refer to someone hypothetically in your tweets or blog won’t keep you safe.  It’s likely someone knows in your office that you are the author of an anonymous blog or Twitter.  Word gets out, or you disclose a little too much.  Your company cuts their losses because of the potential risk you represent.

**

 

According to Wikipedia, a mullet is a unisex hair style that is short in the front and long in the back. The mullet began making appearances in the popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not catch on with the masses until the early 1980s.  I first wrote about “the social media mullet” in 2009.  It’s a foundation piece of my keynote speeches, social media training sessions, and my book.

Business professionals, entrepreneurs, and job seekers can learn from those that sport this fashionable cut when managing their online and social media based personal brand.  A popular saying when describing a mullet comes to mind:

Business in the front. Party in the back.

Social media is a conversation not unlike the phone you just finished or the networking mixer you attended last night.  Conversations happen that are guided by a mix of personal yet professional topics.  There are social norms and understandings that are relied upon when it comes to voice to voice or in person contact.  And many forget that when it comes to social media as well as the internet, that these “social norms” do not apply.

Business in the Front

Social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, and Twitter are great mediums in which to develop relationships and grab the attention of hiring managers and recruiters. Share your expertise and lead with the business in all you do. Your posts, pictures, and tweets should be at least 70% business related. Lead with interesting articles, tidbits, and information that is industry specific or related to the job in which you currently work or aspire to.

Social media is a form of communication, a channel in which to use to communicate your message.  And people respond to these messages differently because social media isn’t about sending and receiving your message, it’s about the conversations, content, and information flow that you aren’t disseminating as well as your interactions with those that see you and your business as a information source and a value add.

Party in the Back

The remaining 30% of your social media content can be related to your personal side but be wary. I have visited FaceBook profiles with one too many drunk pictures and tweets leading me to search for talent elsewhere. If you are unsure if something is inappropriate, ask yourself if your mother would approve. Social media is all about interacting and developing relationships. I encourage you to tweet or post comments seeking input and feedback from others. Commonalities make you interesting which lead to engaging conversations with persons from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Depending on your business, industry, and personal comfort level, mullet sizes (your party in the back) vary.  My social media mullet has a lot of party in the back.  It’s what I’m known for and that is my ability to be very open about my life, family, and personal as well as professional struggles.  Not everyone has the willingness to share, and that’s okay.  My mullet is based on the foundational principle of pushing people to what I call comfortable yet necessary places, and to be uncomfortable that means pushing the envelope just a teenie, tiny bit.  Your however, might be completely different.

Your social media mullet size, style, and length will vary.  And that’s okay.  It’s what makes social media social.  It’s not a science but a journey helping you to learn as well as define your business and brand one tweet, blog, or Facebook post at a time.

This is a four part series on time management when it comes to social media.  This means understanding your voice, and learning techniques to maintain a social media presence without selling you or your brand’s soul.   Check out Part 2 Social Media CYA. 

Since last week when I shared my story about how my personal brand, namely my blog was causing tension between me and my former company, a number of social media and blogging savvy professions have connected with me sharing their personal stories and frustrations with social media both in and outside of the workplace.  It’s funny how sometimes the truth isn’t really what sets you free.  It’s your truth that sets others free.

Blogging like many social media tools provides you a channel in which to share your voice, and in 2001 I, as well as an employee learned that sometimes that voice can get you in a little bit of trouble.  As the HR professional I was responsible for my facility’s employee newsletter.  And from time to time we had employees contribute recipes, pictures, and short stories.  One employee, in particular was quite adept at creative writing and over a period of 4 months had a very popular short story series that was featured in our newsletter.  He was a great writer and had an amazing imagination.  I wasn’t surprised when he shared with our management team as well as many employees a while later that he had launched a website as well as a blog to continue his conversations.

In all my years as a corporate leader, I have never subscribed to constantly monitoring employee activities whether online or offline.  I believe that employees generally make good decisions and with the right structure, training, and information we help guide them.   Even today 10 years later, this philosophy holds true for myself as a leader, business owner, wife, and mother.  So when Jason handed me his shiny new business card that contained his blog’s website address, I didn’t think twice.  I was proud of him, and I went about my business.

Fortunately for me, one of my manager’s decided to do a little investigating, and what he found blew me, corporate HR, and our legal team away.  Contained within Jason’s blog were posts, articles, and updates serving as a sort of online diary detailing his inner most thoughts, as well as activities like a blog often does.  What I didn’t tell you is that Jason’s boss had recently been fired for a performance problem.  My team worked with Billy, the department manager, for months finally placing him on a performance improvement plan.  His work performance didn’t improve and the decision was made to let him go.

Jason’s blog contained a chronological list of events discussing Billy’s performance leading up to and including his actual termination.  For months his words were angry, vulgar, and included personal information of employees and managers including myself.  As the HR professional, I gathered the evidence, took screen shots of the website and blog and contacted my boss for guidance and further instruction.

You see, in 2001, the idea surrounding a blog was still very, very new.  I was also very, very new to HR.  And although I had begun using dating websites and forums to recruit, I was taken back by the very candid nature that Jason displayed.  Our corporate HR and legal team’s were baffled.  There was no case law or corporate precedent to help guide us in a particular direction, and after 4 or 5 business days the decision was made regarding Jason’s fate.

Unlike Dooce, Jason wasn’t fired for blogging (or dooced) but given a Final Warning for his work-related blogging activities.  It was suggested that Jason remove last names as well as personal information about company employees and avoid blogging about work related activities altogether.  Jason’s blog is the reason I kept a journal instead of blogging until I began writing in 2005 anonymously until 2007 when Blogging4Jobs was born.

It’s funny how small things shape your future.  I was introduced to blogging in very unique and intense way.  Out of necessity I became a student who watched, learned, and listened.  Thank you, Jason.  Thank you for being “almost dooced.”  I’m pretty sure without you I wouldn’t be blogging today.

**On a light note I ran into Jason recently on Twitter.  He was obviously way ahead of his time and now is a film maker and social media thought leader.  Depending on how Jason feels it might just be interesting to get his side of the story, but that’s for another time.  

Photo Credit Gawker.

I had an interesting conversation this week with someone in human resources about social media, particularly Twitter.  They had an interesting social media workplace scenario come up that I thought I would share with my readers and let you help decide.

This human resource professional is savvy on the social medias.  He/she is not there to police but to learn while also monitoring the activities of employees as well as customers who mention the company where he/she work’s brand.  Earlier this week they noticed a message from an employee who was tweeting their frustration with a company change in mandatory dress code.  Upon clicking on that employee’s Twitter profile the message previously tweeted, really (I mean really) caught their attention.

The employee tweeted about using drugs and getting high.

Yes, you read correctly.  This employee posted on his personal Twitter about getting high.  The employee’s first and last name was listed on their Twitter profile to boot.  Crazy, right?  Not entirely.

A few years back I dealt with a similar issue where a manager needed access to an employee’s email because they were out sick for work and had a large sales order that needed to be processed.  We provided the manager access and worked with IT to make this happen.  Upon accessing the employee’s email, the manager saw a private email message from another employee also from his work email detailing his recent recreational activities, and these activities happen to involve smoking marijuana.  And by recent, I mean to say that these “recreational activities” happened either during or before working hours according to the timestamp and timeline on the email communciation.

Of course I was quickly involved in the discussion as the human resources manager.  Was this single email enough to warrant reasonable suspicion?  Should human resources or the management start an investigation?  Could the manager bring the employee in and require drug testing?  Or was this another discussion entirely surrounding professionalism with regard to workplace communication and email?

I flashed quickly back to this scenario that I encountered when my HR colleague asked me this question.  Except that him/her question was different. . . maybe.  So I wanted to ask my readers who are managers, company leaders, employment law attorneys, and human resource professionals directly.  Does this tweet warrant a reasonable suspicion workplace investigation or is it something else?  What actions do you think should be taken if this was an employees who worked your organization?  And has anything like this happened in  your workplace?  You are welcome to share anonymously if you wish.

I, (as well as my friend) are looking forward to your response.  Thanks for reading, conversating, and being a part of Blogging4Jobs.

Photo Credit Scesonline. 

I’m captivated by infographics.  They, in my mind are the preferred alternative to boring reports and bullet-filled craptastic powerpoint presentations.  For me an infographic is a great way to explain a point of view or organize a group of interesting facts and data points designed to please the eye.  Kind of like how social media is the new alternative to email.

I’m pretty passionate about social media in the workplace.  Last week I flew to New York City to speak at Jeff Pulver’s BrandsConf and this week I’m traveling to San Diego where I’m speaking and training a group of employment law attorneys on social media and its place in the workplace.  But before I hop on that plane, I wanted to leave you as well as your senior leaders with an infographic designed to discuss social media and its place in the workplace.

The infographic is made to view, share, and generate conversations.  Feel free to print, post, and forward as way to help explain, demonstrate, and discuss social media at work.