Survey: Company policies won’t change many Facebook users
December 2, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: HR Tech, In this week's e-newsletter - Tech, policies
Social networking sites are becoming increasingly dangerous for companies’ reputations. And creating policies may do little to curb the risks.
Employees and execs both understand the risks: 74% of employees say it’s easy to damage an employer’s reputation via social networking sites, and 58% of execs say companies should have a plan, according to a recent survey by Deloitte.
But that doesn’t make dangerous behavior easier to stop — 61% of employees said they wouldn’t change what they do online, even if their employers monitored their activity. And 49% said a formal policy wouldn’t change their behavior.
Some other findings about employee behavior:
- 24% don’t know if they’re subjected to a policy on social networking (another 11% said there is a policy, but they don’t know what it says)
- 37% don’t consider what their boss would think about something they post online, and 34% don’t consider what clients would think, and
- 53% said their social networking pages are “none of their boss’s business.”
What’s HR to do? Some experts warn against playing Internet cop, and instead writing a simple policy designed to protect the company’s reputation. Then, monitor activity and discipline when it’s needed.
Tags: Deloitte, reputation, social networking
December 10th, 2009 at 9:53 am
What if an HR Mgr was slammed on Facebook after writing up a supervisor?
December 15th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I think the answer may be in what the expectation of privacy was/is for the employee posting the comments. Facebook as certain privacy settings (which have recently changed – causing much less privacy for many users), and if the employee only allows certain individuals access to their wall, then there would be an expectation of privacy. If the settings are public, then I don’t think the employee stands a chance in court should he/she be disciplined for the disparaging comments (if the company has a policy against making such comments in a public fourm).