No networking on the job, say employers as a worrying number of corporates decide to block employee access to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
A Robert Half Technology survey of chief information officers claims just over half (54 per cent) now ban staff from using social networking sites because of their potential to sap productivity.
Only a tiny fraction of those surveyed allowed workers to use social networking for “any type of personal use” — which isn’t exactly a revelation, nor especially unfair. But is it a good idea to ban a set of tools so widely praised for their ability to reach customers?
You can see why employers might be nervous — picking just a handful of cautionary tales:
- At the beginning of the year, there was a report about retail giant Tesco’s employees posting nasty remarks about customers on Facebook.
- This came after Virgin Atlantic had fired 13 flight attendants who called passengers “chavs” and posted disparaging comments about the airline’s safety procedures.
- Then there was the girl whose Facebook rant included calling her boss a “pervy wanker” — forgetting he was one of her Facebook friends. He fired her just as publicly.
- An off-colour tweet got a California Pizza Kitchen employee in trouble, while “Cisco Fatty” became famous for all the wrong reasons by sharing this gem with followers: “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work”.
But an across the board ban could leave your company out of the loop in a pretty damaging way, as our online reputation feature explains here. A survey last year found that 79 percent of workers polled were using Facebook, LinkedIn or even YouTube for business reasons — mainly for research or networking.
Recruiters could really lose out. Mashable, which reports on the Robert Half poll, also posted about an August report that said nearly half of employers were vetting potential employees through social media sites, so not sure how that works… limited access for HR only? What about a hiring manager who wants to check out a potential work experience candidate’s online presence? A block on certain sites could be a real hindrance.
Plus, isn’t it worth spotting “Cisco Fatty” before it’s too late?
Rather than ban it, use social media to rectify wrongs. Take Asda and the bizarre ‘chicken licker’ film footage posted by former employee Adeel Ayub on YouTube. Employees at the store where Ayub had once worked posted their own YouTube clip with their own views of Ayub’s antics.
Last, it’s worth remembering that serious concern about your corporate reputation being trashed suggests a bigger problem that banning Facebook won’t fix.
