By Greg Komarow, SPHR, GPHR, HRMP
Social media is impacting employees across the globe. How do we stay ahead of these ever-evolving platforms?
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One hallmark of developing nations is their tendency to skip steps of development and readily adopt practices deemed to be leading-edge. For example, the concept of engagement surveys rather than satisfaction surveys has taken years to gain traction and adoption in Western or developed workplaces. But companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries jumped straight into engagement surveys after conducting satisfaction surveys for only a short time. They believe that there are no obstacles to better, more useful practices. Now all companies have the challenge of dealing with social media and the issue of privacy.
Social media by nature are fluid, ever-changing and adaptable to the environment. In the United States, the sheer speed of social media forced companies to create individual policies long before legislators, agencies and the courts could react. The line between personal privacy and workplace privacy blurs as technology advances deeper into the individual lives of all workers. When desktop or laptop computers were the primary methods of integrating social media, it was simple to block access to sites or restrict use on corporate hardware. As smartphones, BlackBerrys and tablets have now become essential components, the global workplace faces the challenge of balancing privacy concerns with organizational needs.
Imagine being a part of a major construction project in the Middle East and going to the building site to view the progress of the work. You are amazed by the scale and scope; you snap a picture by using your iDroidBerry device and post it on your Facebook page. Here in the Middle East, you can unwittingly cause problems with your expression of pride and excitement. Based on the progress of the construction, the image may indicate that the project is behind schedule, which could reflect poorly on the contractor or others and could damage your company’s relationships with them. Would the photo be discovered and, if so, how? Does your company have a right to demand you remove the image? What about an ambiguous Tweet: “@the Construction site … In awe of the scale of this building!” A company could have a blanket rule, “No discussion/use of social media,” but it would be nearly impossible to enforce, and it might obstruct engagement of staff whose lives flow seamlessly through social media channels. Organizations in the GCC are addressing some of these issues by having social media officers within their marketing departments both track and manage content distributed through the various channels.
HR departments face unique challenges in the use of social media. LinkedIn is, of course, a tool many recruiters use to source candidates. But what happens when you see candidates’ profiles with links to their blogs or Twitter feeds? Is it appropriate to view that content, and more importantly, is it appropriate to make employment decisions based on that content?
In Argentina, companies consider social media to be “work tools,” meaning employers can monitor employees’ usage time, though they cannot monitor the content that the employees post. In France, companies can use content only for work-related decisions or evaluations; all elements related to privacy content must be excluded from consideration. The United States has legislation protecting the rights of all workers to discuss workplace conditions. Blogs or discussion boards where multiple employees are engaged in topics that fall into this category have some protection under the National Labor Relations Act, depending on the factual nature and intent of the comments. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lacks a similar law but has other considerations, such as defamation, insulting the culture, norms and so on. Cultural sensitivities in the UAE, particularly among conservative families, can have significant impacts on social media strategies. Images posted on corporate Facebook websites (including recruitment microsites) can cause unintended fallout from seemingly innocent events, such as group lunches or celebrations.