Employees looking for jobs, businesses managing brands consider social media policies

Social media has become a daily habit for many smartphone users.

For some, it’s the first thing they check when they wake up, sometimes even before getting out of bed.

Knowing what’s trending in the hot topics of the day drives the need to scroll. Or there’s the entertainment value of just watching a video of a skateboarding, strawberry margarita-drinking squirrel on a skateboard just before going to bed.

There’s no doubt that social media is how many Americans get their news these days. It’s also how Americans voice their opinions.

And loudly.

Those opinions can be at odds with an employer or paint that employer in a negative light, whether or not the comment has anything to do with where employees work.

“It can get very dicey when you work for an organization, and you have your own personal presence on social media,” said Chelsea Whittington, the owner of C WHITT, a public relations firm based in Gary. “The two sometimes will meet in conflict because of what you’re representing personally versus what you have to represent professionally.”

Historical perspective

Invariably, the issue of free speech comes up, but interestingly enough, these conflicts didn’t start with social media.

As far back as the 1800s, the tug-of-war between the free speech of employees and their jobs has been a touchstone for controversy.

Back in the 1890s, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who would go on to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, decided a case when he sat on the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The case was regarding a police officer who was fired for talking politics. He then sued the mayor and aldermen of the city.

“The petitioner may have a constitutional right to talk politics, but he has no constitutional right to be a policeman,” Holmes wrote when throwing out the case.

Whittington said there are laws and rules regarding free speech and employees, including the National Labor Relations Board’s policy that says: “Federal law gives you the right to join together with coworkers to improve your lives at work — including joining together in cyberspace, such as on Facebook.”

But, according to the Indiana Department of Labor, Indiana law does not provide job protection for content posted on social media.

“You want to be very careful how you show up personally, and how it may negatively impact the brand of your place of employment,” Whittington said. “The advice I give is that everything you post, regardless of what platform it’s on, can potentially be seen.”

Whittington, who has nearly three decades of public relations experience, offers advice to employers on the best practices when it comes to the use of social media by employees. She teaches courses through her C WHITT University on everything related to social media.

Whittington has one simple rule to follow: “Count to 10 before you hit send.”

Can’t take it back

Of course, many businesses and firms don’t have policies in place when it comes to social media use by employees whether in the workplace or on personal time.

“This is a problem that has existed for the last decade, and it continues to grow,” said Tom Dabertin, owner of Shared Resource Solutions Inc. in Hammond. “What I suggest first and foremost is to make sure employees realize that for their own sake, as well as the sake of their employer, that anything you post on social media, once it’s out there, it’s out there forever.”

Dabertin said that while you can take a post down, it may be visible elsewhere.

“A lot of people are very naive,” Dabertin said. “When it comes to the use of social media, they don’t realize that once it’s out there, it’s almost impossible to take out.”

Whittington said workers who use social media should always ask themselves a few questions.

“Move in a way as if whatever you just posted, imagine it being duplicated and reposted all over the world,” Whittington said. “What would happen if that happened? And if you think that through, then you might change your mind on some of the posts that you put out there.”

Dabertin said social media has become the new way of communicating with your neighbors but having a far wider reach.

“When you used to go home after work and you vent about your employer to your neighbor over the fence, the neighbor probably forgot about it,” Dabertin said. “But when you put it up on social media, you’re basically putting it into a permanent format that others can find, and others can see. That’s problematic both for the employee and the employer.”

Hiring practices

Dabertin advises companies to make sure employees never use the firm’s logo on their likeness on social media without the company’s permission.

“I want to make sure my employees aren’t posting things that could be derogatory to my company,” Dabertin said. “I always insist that companies have a policy in place that basically covers the use of company logos, company photos, things like that.”

Dabertin said companies often check an applicant’s social media use before deciding to hire the person.

“I tell employees you need to realize that what you post, once it’s out there, it can’t come down, and it may come back to haunt you later in your career,” he said.

He cited an example of a potential hire who made a poor social media decision.

“Let’s say you didn’t like the company you worked for, and you post something that’s derogatory about that company,” he said. “Maybe it’s truthful, but it reads in a negative light.”

Companies might not like to hire someone who announces their dissatisfaction where potential customers might see.

“Will your next employer want to hire somebody who posts things that are negative about their employers? Probably not,” he said. “I think it really comes down to educating employees and employers about social media and having a good solid policy in place.”

A 2018 CareerBuilder survey reported that 70% of employers use social media platforms to research prospective employees.

Tammie Carr, founder and president of TalentSource, based in Mishawaka, said she always asks employees to be aware of what they are posting to social media.

“Our clients, the employers, can go out there and see what they’re posting and what they’re writing,” Carr said.

TalentSource is a job placement service for professional-level people in fields such as engineering, accounting, finance, human resources and information technology.

In business for 15 years, TalentSource, which employs about 10 people, is big on selecting people with integrity, a reason why Carr doesn’t worry too much about her employees’ activities on social media.

“We’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve done a good enough job of hiring people that I trust, that I also trust their judgment that they would use better discretion when it comes to anything like that,” she said.

Some say hiring is the key to making sure social media does not become a problem.

Lorri Feldt, regional director of the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center in Merrillville/Crown Point, said so far, she hasn’t seen an issue with employees’ use of social media.

“We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had any difficult incidents,” she said. “Our advisers are keenly aware that they’re thought leaders in what we do. It’s hard to picture them posting something negative about a small business or something like that, which would be concerning to us.”

But other companies are not so trusting. CareerBuilder reported that half of survey respondents said they monitor their employees’ social media posts and 10% said they do so daily.

Policies in place?

Rich Shields, chief marketing officer for the United Way of Northwest Indiana, said the agency is developing its own policy surrounding social media.

The nonprofit uses most social media platforms to get its message out about meeting the needs of Northwest Indiana, as well as events coming up.

“We like interaction by the employees that’s favorable for the company,” Shields said. “We do a lot of marketing through our social media channels.”

In working with clients who are small business owners, social media comes up often, Feldt said.

“Small businesses are trying to figure out how to use social media as a marketing tool,” she said. “A lot of business owners feel like they have a lot of room for improvement in that area.”

There are varying, unverifiable statistics on the percentage of businesses that have their own social media policy. Some put it between 51 percent to 64 percent of businesses without a social media policy.

Whittington suggests employees find out what their employer’s social media policy is before posting anything that could be considered negative.

“Study whatever policy is in place that is in your workplace. You don’t want to end up in HR, and you say you didn’t know, and they say, ‘you said you signed the employee handbook,’” Whittington said. “There are a lot of companies who haven’t caught up, and they don’t have a real specific policy, but they have something, and you need to be aware of what that is before you sign the bottom line to work for them because, if you can’t adhere, you’re setting yourself at risk for either disciplinary action or getting fired.”

The Regional Development Co., based in Valparaiso, is one organization in Northwest Indiana that has guidelines for employees to use when navigating social media.

“It’s simply a statement that says staff should be sensitive to the fact that information posted on social media sites clearly affects, reflects on the individual and may reflect on the individual’s professional life,” said Erica Dombey, president of the RDC. “Consequently, staff should use discretion when posting information on these sites and be conscious of the potential perceptions and responses to the information.”

Based in Valparaiso, the RDC is certified by the Small Business Administration to provide loans to small businesses over a seven-county area in Northwest Indiana.

“It’s important to remember once information is posted on social media, it can be captured and used in ways not originally intended. It is nearly impossible to retract as it often lives in copies, archives, backups and memory,” Dombey said. “The policy does say that they should be sensitive to that, but it doesn’t necessarily restrict them.”

Policies also must adhere to the National Labor Relations Act, which allows for “concerted activity.” That term refers to the right of employees to discuss work-related issues.

As the United Way NWI continues to develop its official policy, Shields said the agency does offer some simple safeguards.

“Watch what you’re posting and make sure there is no negative connotation associated with the organization,” Shields said.

Read more stories from the current issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.