Train Supervisors: “You will be talked about on social media”

A common thread in social media cases is that the supervisors have overreacted, says attorney Molly DiBianca. Supervisors aren’t ready for negative social media comments about themselves, and they take the comments personally. That can lead to some bad decisions.

DiBianca, with the law firm of Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor LLP, made her remarks at a recent regional meeting of the Employers Counsel Network.

It’s important to prepare managers and supervisors for being talked about. No one likes to be talked about online, says DiBianca, but with social media it’s going to happen. You need to prepare your supervisors so they know how to react.

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DiBianca noted that it’s just human nature to take comments personally. She mentioned that she once saw a social media post by her assistant mentioning that the assistant was looking forward to the weekend—and felt briefly and irrationally hurt that her assistant was excited about time away from the office.

A good rule of thumb, says DiBianca, is that if it’s something you wouldn’t think twice about if you overheard it in the hallway, don’t make a big deal about it just because it’s on social media.

To Friend or Not To Friend?

In general, DiBianca says, it’s best for HR not to “friend” people at work on social media.

However, if you do, and a legal problem later arises with one specific employee, it is far better to unfriend all work-related contacts rather than just the person with whom there’s an issue (who could then claim retaliation at being singled out).

Additionally, supervisors should be trained not to send friend requests to subordinates.

Tomorrow, DiBianca’s tips for smart social media background searches.

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