Comments on: I Don’t Trust You…

By: Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:50:28 +0000

Nice post Bill. The key words here are Trust, internally and Authenticity, externally. I think David Talamelli’s comment sums it up nicely and i love the Tsunami analogy!

Chris LaVoie also makes an accurate statement about leadership and finally Debbie Brown’s point “use your best judgement” really hits the spot.

If you have people in your organisation that have poor judgement or who dislike the organisation for whatever reason and who, as a result, will be careless with its reputation then you have a problem that has nothing to do with social media anyway.

By: Track 1, Round 1, Ding Ding! « Norton Folgate: The Recruiting Unblog

Track 1, Round 1, Ding Ding! « Norton Folgate: The Recruiting Unblog — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:34:07 +0000

[...] @BillBoorman: I wrote a guest blog on this recently for @theredrecruiter. Here’s the link [...]

By: Debbie Brown

Debbie Brown — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:02:39 +0000

My 12 year old declared the phone “obsolete” this year. I also hear e-mail is heading down the same path now that we have real-time conversation on the web with something like google wave.
Why, does a company policy that governs phone conversation and e-mail not also cover social media? Is “social” any two-way interaction where you are representing the firm inside or out?
Nordstroms relies on one line for their HR policy- “use your best judgement” there is something to be said for that?

By: Joan E. Ginsberg

Joan E. Ginsberg — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:00:50 +0000

As a person who comes from a small business background (manufacturing/production), I immediately wanted to jump in and support Jon in his assessment of the difficulties small biz owners might have in allowing their employees to embrace social media during work hours.

But as I reflected, I realized that BIll’s assessment was even more valid: this is an issue of trust, developed by training and communication, no matter the business size.

In my experience, small business (less than 100 employees) operate on very constrained time lines with a lean workforce, and every single employee’s performance is critical every single day. Training is limited to the specific task at hand and doesn’t include much “development” jargon.

Bill says: “All it takes is some policy, training, and communications on expectations . . .” Small business can do these things, too, and then trust their employees to make smart decisions. Sadly, many small business owners in this country do not have the time, resources, or ability to do these things. We need to find a way to reach small business owners and make this training affordable and relevant.

By: Jon L. Long Sr

Jon L. Long Sr — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:22:41 +0000

As a small business owner, a single employee’s production, if impared is felt much more than say a larger company with 100s. Knowing a job has to go out and seeing an employee frequently texting on their PDA, can create an awkward situation. As a boss and owner, do I mention it? In doing so, am I alienating the employee from the team? I’m not sure that “one rule would fit all” in this situation and would have to be judged on an individual basis along with the employees other work habits. If production suffers below the norm, then there is reason to address it. On the other hand if it becomes the “accepted norm” to carry on social media (not relevant to work) during the paid hours, as an employer, you have a problem. As management, it is important to set accepted standards and expectations and then trust that your employees will be adult enough to not abuse. Nice article Bill.

By: Chris LaVoie

Chris LaVoie — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:59:03 +0000

Terrific Article Bill!

It shows that they don’t have must confidence in the people they hired. Which to me is a direct reflection on the leadership in those companies.

By: SmartBlog on Workforce » Blog Archive » Today’s bonus tracks: The experience you didn’t know you had

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:22:43 +0000

[...] What your social media policy says about trust [...]

By: Jeff Lipschultz

Jeff Lipschultz — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:22:44 +0000

As Craig and I like to say when speaking on this topic, “people don’t buy from companies, they buy from other people.” The same can be said for employment. We work for people, not companies.

What better way to truly understand what a corporate culture is like than hearing from the people who work there blogging about their latest achievements, newest technologies, and favorite tools? It has an air of authenticity that is more powerful than HR marketing (although, much of this is getting better).

All it takes is some policy, training, communication on expectations, and a trial run. The reality is: you cannot stop employees from talking about their company. There are other outlets. Why not provide one that is guided by corporate principles hopefully tied to the corporate vision and values?

Jeff Lipschultz
A-List Solutions

By: laurie ruettimann

laurie ruettimann — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:00:37 +0000

Bill, this is very much in line with my thinking. I fear that companies operate via cabal of lawyers and paternalistic risk managers. You let your talented employees cultivate their own personal brands and they will carry their corporate brands with them!

By: Steve Boese

Steve Boese — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:26:36 +0000

Bill – Thanks for supporting the Happy Hour show and for mentioning it here. I do agree that trust is a major part of the reason many organizations seek to control and/or ban access to to social networking and other sites. Certainly organizations are free to set their own policies, and what is right for one may not work at all for another. But with each passing day, it does seem like social networks are becoming so embedded into the fabric of work and life, that barring them will seem very strange indeed, and organizations that cling to this type of thinking will eventually relent, or die off.