With the prevalence of social media at the workplace and the undeniable need to utilize social media to engage consumers in today’s highly competitive marketplace, it was quite surprising to learn during “The Ethics of Social Media in Today’s Workplace,” an #SMWWDC event, that employees who engage in social media experience retaliation for whistleblowing and are accepting of questionable workplace behaviors. It was also interesting to find that companies lose out on a great opportunity when they stand by their anti-social media policy which then (inadvertently) prohibits employees from sharing positive stories that promote their employers services/products.
On Monday, February 13, Powell Tate hosted “The Ethics of Social Media in Today’s Workplace” panel discussion with Ethics Resource Center (ERC) Director of Public Relations Adam Benson, Northrup Grumman Manager of Social Media Lauren Green, iO Studio LLC Social Media Account Executive Rachael King, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Director of Social Engagement Curtis Midkiff and was moderated by Powell Tate’s Senior Vice President Joel Daly. The discussion revolved around ERC’s new study; the 2011 New Business Ethics Survey, #NBES.
According to the NBES presentation by Adam Benson, active social networkers (ASNs) primarily tend to be “males in managerial roles between the ages of 18 to 44” and about 42% of ASNs felt that it was acceptable to post both negative and positive workplace comments on social media. Since ASNs tend to be more transparent about their activities and engagement on social media to their superiors and to others around, the panelists agreed that traditional business environments may have a difficult time engaging ASNs in the workplace unless clear social media policies are in place to benefit both the organization’s culture and mission.
Curtis Midkiff believes that the questionable behaviors accepted by ASNs may be considered as grey areas if they were recruited via social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and the like. Therefore, from an HR perspective, employees who are recruited through social media have a hard time reconciling with the fact that they are restricted in the use of these digital tools when they were brought into the organization that way.
On the other hand, Rachel King couldn’t be any clearer when she questioned the correlation between ASNs and their acceptance of questionable behavior particularly when they’re willing to whistle blow after observing workplace misconduct. She also raised the issue of the lack of internal communication around policy parameters which could provide guidance to ASNs to effectively do their jobs, engage in a reasonably and responsible manner, and assist in spreading the corporate mission through their social media activities.
It was also very clear in the discussion that active social networkers experience resistance when trying to create culture change in the workplace.
“Resistance” struck a familiar chord with the audience as it did with Lauren Green. As the Social Media Manager for Northrup Grumman, Lauren knows all too well the difficult job she has of engaging employees who aren’t allowed to communicate over social media. Although, as government contractors, Northrup Grumman (NG) employees spend over 50% of their time in the field and without access to computers, Lauren has to rely on text messages and other online communication tools to reach her audience. Also, the possibility of NG employees tweeting or being engaged through their personal accounts has been limited by employees’ personal desire to separate work from personal activities.
So how can Lauren, and other NG social media professionals, chart the progress of their online communication campaigns? After the panel discussion, Lauren conveyed the tools she has started using that is helping to shift the thought around the use of social media by all employees – metrics, data and performance reporting.
Even though there may be a limited number of approved social media users in the office, Adam Benson reported NBES data which shows ASNs are at-risk of experiencing threats and/or serious harm to their possessions or themselves when they report workplace misconduct.
Throughout the dialogue, we continously heard the importance of employee education around the use of social media and how it is a both a key opportunity and investment for any organization, especially when employees immediately become unintended and unassuming brand ambassadors upon their hire.
In order to create a safe and transparent work environment, clear social media policies must be communicated and, most importantly, established with the mindset of achieving strategic brand management goals. This will hopefully reduce both the actual and perceived retaliation experienced by active social networkers and assist in the evolution towards a progressive and ideal workplace for all.
About the National Business Ethics Survey and its methodology
Follow the conversation on Twitter at #NBES & #SMWethics
Written by Ayan Islam, an official Social Media Week DC blogger. Follow her @1Ayan.
