Despite all the talk about the dangers of employees using social networking sites to waste time and ruin your company’s reputation, supervisors can use those same tools to benefit the company.
Of course, there’s still a lot of debate going around as to whether bosses and employees should “friend” each other on Facebook, MySpace and other sites. Some say that’s a line neither party should have an interest in crossing.
But others disagree, saying online contact can help build a relationship between employees and their managers, and therefore, the company as a whole.
Some possible benefits to managers setting up online profiles:
- Seeing glimpses of a boss’s personal tastes, non-work interests and family life could make him or her more approachable in employees’ eyes. That’s good for productivity, trust and morale.
- Supervisors can also learn more about employees, which could help them tweak their managerial styles.
- New avenues of communication could generate new problem-solving ideas.
Do you any of your managers communicate with employees through Facebook or other sites? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
