Categories: Articles

Reputation, Social Media And Your Boss

"60 percent of business executives believe they have a right to know how employees portray themselves and their organizations in online social networks."

That was just one of many insights culled from the third annual Deloitte Ethics & Workplace survey released on May 18th, 2009. With that comes the employee reaction, where 53% responded back that their online social networking activity is not the employer’s concern. As the age of the employee skews younger, that statistic rises (63% of 18-34 year old respondents wished their employers would buzz off).

It’s going to get a lot more blurry and confusing before there is some semblance of a resolution.

Anytime there is a platform that is open and fairly democratized, institutions and companies more accustomed to "controlling the message" get worried and express the potential for corporate damages that could be associated with employees speaking their minds. In this study, 74% of executives felt that online social networking platforms make it very easy to damage a company’s reputation.

“One-third of employees surveyed never consider what their boss or customers might think before posting material online,â€? said Sharon Allen, chairman of the board, Deloitte LLP. “This fact alone reinforces how vulnerable brands are as a result of the increased use of social networks. As business leaders, it is critical that we continue to foster solid values-based cultures that encourage employees to behave ethically regardless of the venue.â€?

Do you think Social Media rules and regulations will help or do employers simply need to provide clear guidelines that are in sync with the employees current NDA/employee agreement?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.