Social media could be holiday risk for businesses
Dec 22 2011
Social networks can be breeding grounds for unprofessional behaviour
Photos and videos of Christmas parties posted on social networks could do great damage to businesses’ reputations, according to an HR expert.
Employers’ lives have got harder due to evidence of staff misdemeanours quickly finding its way online through outlets such as Facebook, says employment law adviser ELAS.
Despite the concerns, 65 per cent of businesses have no policy in place to deal with any material posted online by staff which could tarnish their employers’ reputation, according to a survey of 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses by the support group.
Peter Mooney, head of employment law for ELAS says, ‘Part of a manager’s role at any Christmas party used to be to try to keep a lid on any problem behaviour and deal with it afterwards behind closed doors.
‘But now, any misconduct can be plastered all over the internet long before the manager even finds out, making issues more difficult to deal with internally, but also causing significant damage to the company’s good name.’
Mooney says the situation has grown into a massive problem and that he has seen more and more enquiries from employers unsure about how to handle issues where social media is a factor.
He adds, ‘Most businesses are very keen to ensure that staff don’t waste company time tweeting or browsing Facebook, but assume that what staff say and do online in their own time is none of their business.
‘That’s just not true, especially when it comes to publishing details of what the company does, either during the working day or during office parties after hours.’
Employers are well within their rights to remind staff that they are ambassadors for their companies around the clock and make clear that anything which brings the business into disrepute cannot be tolerated, Mooney concludes.
'If they don’t, then what started out as a bit of fun between colleagues at a Christmas party can quickly become a damaging and uncontrollable storm which leaves your company’s good name in tatters.'
There are currently no comments on this article
Comments