Social Media and Privacy
Challenges in the Global
Workplace: Are We Crossing
the Privacy Line?
By reg Komarow, SPHR, GPHR, HRMP
G
Social media is impacting employees across
the globe. How do we stay ahead of these
ever-evolving platforms?
O
ne hallmark of developing nations is their
tendency to skip steps of development and readily adopt
practices deemed to be leading-edge. For example, the
concept of engagement surveys rather than satisfaction surveys
has taken years to gain traction and adoption in Western or
developed workplaces. But companies in the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries jumped straight into engagement surveys
after conducting satisfaction surveys for only a short time. They
believe that there are no obstacles to better, more useful practices.
Now all companies have the challenge of dealing with social media
and the issue of privacy.
Social media by nature are fluid, ever-changing and adaptable
to the environment. In the United States, the sheer speed of
social media forced companies to create individual policies long
before legislators, agencies and the courts could react. The
line between personal privacy and workplace privacy blurs as
technology advances deeper into the individual lives of all workers.
When desktop or laptop computers were the primary methods of
integrating social media, it was simple to block access to sites or
restrict use on corporate hardware. As smartphones, BlackBerrys
and tablets have now become essential components, the global
workplace faces the challenge of balancing privacy concerns with
organizational needs.
20 CERTIFIED
2014: Volume I
Imagine being a part of a major construction project in the
Middle East and going to the building site to view the progress
of the work. You are amazed by the scale and scope; you snap
a picture by using your iDroidBerry device and post it on your
Facebook page. Here in the Middle East, you can unwittingly
cause problems with your expression of pride and excitement.
Based on the progress of the construction, the image may indicate
that the project is behind schedule, which could reflect poorly
on the contractor or others and could damage your company’s
relationships with them. Would the photo be discovered and, if so,
how? Does your company have a right to demand you remove the
image? What about an ambiguous Tweet: “@the Construction site
… In awe of the scale of this building!” A company could have a
blanket rule, “No discussion/use of social media,” but it would be
nearly impossible to enforce, and it might obstruct engagement of
staff whose lives flow seamlessly through social media channels.
Organizations in the GCC are addressing some of these issues by
having social media officers within their marketing departments
both track and manage content distributed through the various
channels.
HR departments face unique challenges in the use of social
media. LinkedIn is, of course, a tool many recruiters use to source
candidates. But what happens when you see candidates’ profiles
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