So, I’m sure many of you do not religiously watch Bravo like I do… but stay with me on this one. Bravo’s newest TV show “Kell on Earth” follows Kelly Cutrone and her minions at People’s Revolution in the fast-paced world of fashion public relations.
Cutrone is cut-throat and intimidating as hell, and infamous for the line, “If you have to cry, go outside.” (Note: I would never work at a place where employees bursting into tears happened enough times for that rule to be in place). Yikes.
A recent episode, however, let loose another strange rule at People’s Revolution: employees are not allowed to use social media.
**Update: I was informed by Katy Smith that, in fact, employees of People’s Revolution are using social media. However, given the recent episode where a new hire was terminated for tweeting about being hired, I am leaving up this post. I’m still interested to hear your thoughts about social media policies.
Huh? What?
Staff (and thus, actors) on Kell on Earth are not allowed to use social media – in fact, one poor girl was fired for tweeting about recently being hired to the agency. To be fair, she did tweet something to the effect of: “It’s official. I’m joining the cast!” Which doesn’t scream good intentions. However, the reason given for her termination was the general idea of her using social media.
While I understand that the general population catches on to new forms of communication slower than the industry, I can’t imagine doing my job without social media. Not only for the sake of my clients and their activities online, but to learn from peers and experts.
I learn something every day from my friends and those I follow on Twitter, whether it’s industry-related or other interesting, useful information. I am fortunate to work for an organization that not only sees the value of social media, but encourages employees to become trail blazers in the field. We are constantly pushed to try something new, discover new applications and teach each other.
What do you think? Do you find that social media helps you do your job? Or is it a distraction?
Does your company encourage your behavior online? Or prefer you do it on your own time?
#1 by Kasey Skala on March 9, 2010 - 2:59 pm
I think it depends on the company, Kristin. In the agency world, a company would be silly not to encourage its employees to use and understand social media (so long as it doesn’t affect your work). However, while I was in the financial industry, it was a different story. My previous employer blocked social channels, blocked certain Web sites and monitored email. It was only until I left that the company started “exploring” social media options. Being in a marketing/communications role, I had more access than say bank branch employees, but even I was limited.
The problem is, and it’s been said before, people and employees will find other ways to use SM (i.e. mobile). So why block it? Why not embrace it? Why not educate your employees? After all, there’s no better advocate of your brand than your employee.
#2 by Heather on March 16, 2010 - 3:17 pm
Social media scares many organizations. The lack of control organizations have on information going out to the general public is a major security risk, depending on the industry. I don’t think many employees try to be malicious; they don’t typically see the impact of their actions. Let’s say I work for a high-tech company and I tweet and say “had another delay on my project” someone knows I work for X company and they pick it up and it impacts stock prices. A little extreme, I know, but organizations needs to cover themselves. I think there’s a happy balance. Blocking websites doesn’t help much because I could still blog/tweet/facebook about my company on my own time. It’s becoming an issue for many organizations. How about that for an HR answer??
#3 by Kristin on March 17, 2010 - 2:13 pm
Thanks for the HR perspective, Heather. I can definitely understand the innate fear that comes with having your employees out in the world with little supervision. Without policies set in place to prohibit types of conversation allowed, I can’t imagine many companies would be willing to take the risk.