How Not to Get Fired Using Social Media at Work - EEO, Diversity and Social Media

Social Media is the Social EqualizerPhiladelphia Federal Executive Board (FEB) EEO/Diversity Day

Andrew KrzmarzickDirector of Community Engagement, GovLoop

May Not Be

Our Time Together Today…

1. What is social media?

2. Who is using it?

3. What’s the impact on our workplaces?

4. How is it being addressed?

What do you do (in 7 words or less)?

1. In 7 words or less, explain what you do

(Don’t cheat: NOT your title!)

2. Discuss your response with 4-5 people near you

Don’t cheat: NOT your title!

Discuss your response

with 4-5 people near you

Caveat: My Experience…

Starship Captain Lawyer (Not!)

What is social media?

Photo credit: http://drivingtraffic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/socialmedia1.jpg

What is social media?

http://heidicohen.com/social-media-definition/

“media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques…web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.” “platforms that enable the interactive web by engaging users to participate in, comment on and create content as means of communicating…” “not about what each one of us does or says, but about what we do and say together, worldwide, to communicate in all directions at any time…” “a reflection of conversations happening every day, whether at the supermarket, a bar, the train, the watercooler or the playground. It justallows for those conversations to reach a broader audience…”

What is ? Tools:• Blogs• Forums• Groups• Datasets• Video / Photo Sharing• Tools

Value:• Learn and share with peers• Get questions answered

quickly• Solve problems faster• Find and contribute best

practices

50,000 Members

• Federal, state and local employees• Contractors, non-profits, academia• International (Canada, UK, Australia, etc.)

Online community of government colleagues

that help each other to do their jobs better.

Who uses social media?

AGE

Source: http://pewinternet.org/topics/Digital-Divide.aspx

Who uses social media more?


OR ?

Who uses social media more?

GENDER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR4LdnFGzPk


GENDER



54% of adults living with a disability

vs.

81% of adults that report no disability

…use the internet


Who accesses more by phone?


OR ?OR

51% of Hispanics vs.

46% of Blacks

vs.

33% of Whites

…use their phones to access the internet


36% of Hispanics vs.

33% of Blacks

vs.

19% of Whites

…use their phones to access social media


Who uses ?

Source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?id=8394258414&ref=mf&note_id=205925658858

Who uses ?

…but

A greater percentage of whites than blacks and Latinos still have broadband access at home

laptop ownership is now about even for all these groups


“…mobile Internet access may not be the great equalizer.

Aaron Smith, a Pew senior research specialist, says there are obvious limitations on what you can do on a mobile device —

updating a resume being the classic example.”

…so


…or maybe it is! 78% attributed their job to

40% cited assistance from

42% cited

…oh, and

…and

http://adage.com/article/the-big-tent/digital-divide-segregation-alive-social-media/148596/

Reactions?

What’s the impact at work?

•Can a supervisor fire someone based on Facebook?

•Can you turn down someone for a job based on information you find on Google?

•Is it harmless to take a look and “snoop”?

What’s the Impact at Work?

• Form a small group with 4-5 people around you

• You will receive one of 4 scenarios

• Assign a spokesperson / note-taker

• Using the worksheet, take 10 minutes to address the scenario assigned to your group

• Be ready to share with the large group

• We’ll address each scenario for 5-10 minutes

Scenario 1 – To Friend or Not To Friend? When Eva hears the news she has earned a spot at the prestigious

State Department International Fellow program, she is ecstatic as she prepares to leave Latvia and travel to the US for one year. Her fellow students in the program are from all over the world and want to know all about her - where she is from, what languages she speaks, what her hometown looks like. “Are you on Facebook?” they ask.

After much convincing, Eva decides to join Facebook and begins accepting friend requests from everyone in the program. Since DC has a great nightlife, she starts posting lots of pictures from outings with her new friends. One afternoon, she gets a friend request from her supervisor. This supervisor was the one who originally accepted her application into the program, and will be on the panel to decide if she will be placed in a select group of students to intern with a US company when the program ends.

Scenario 1 – To Friend or Not To Friend?

Questions:• Should Eva accept the friend request from her

supervisor?• How can Eva ensure that she doesn’t miss out on

valuable connections while maintaining a comfortable level of privacy and maintain her reputation?

• Should a supervisor send a friend request to direct reports?

Scenario 1: “To Friend or Not to Friend?”• Recommendation: Create personal guidelines/policies on

sending and accepting invitations on social networks, and define your objective for engagement on each platform first.

• A) Accept friend requests from all colleagues to gain better camaraderie

• B) Accept all friend requests, but create different levels of viewing access for different groups of people.

• C) Keep Facebook strictly for family and friends, and politely send a message to all who friend you, stating this is the protocol you follow - no feelings hurt.

•

• How to limit who sees what on your profile.• Click on the top right of your FB page, and select Account >> Edit

Friends. • Select different people for different groups, and then set the different

groups as having different profile view rights.• For more information - check out this Facebook help center resource.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=768&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEzcF_a509Ph5j0z2XqMbHPNIya7pLQ

Scenario 2: The Office OffenseDan and Jeff are like oil and water in the office. Despite sharing a common mission, they can't seem to get along. They're always taking not-so-subtle digs at one another in meetings and small camps of sympathetic colleagues have formed around each of them.

The problem: they are both excellent performers overall, meeting deadlines and accomplishing team goals. However, things really seemed to have gone too far when Dan found an unflattering personal photo of Jeff on Flickr, posted it on his Facebook page and used it as his screen saver at the office.Jeff spoke with Dan's supervisor and reported the incident to HR. Dan was forced to take the image off his work computer but refused to remove it from his Facebook page, stating that he could do what he wanted with his personal account.

Scenario 2: The Office Offense

Questions:• How would you handle this type of situation from

the perspective of Dan's supervisor? • How about from the vantage point of HR?• As a colleague?

Scenario 2: “Venting in the Wrong Venue”

Recommendation for the Supervisor: • The behavior issues, including the Facebook photo, should be addressed as performance

elements and considered as part of Dan’s evaluation. • Set a concrete date for removal of the photo. • If the supervisor is responsible for both Jeff and Dan, s/he should sit them down together

and address the issues jointlyRecommendation for HR: • Establish a clear policy for this type of scenario. • Tie into existing policy that prohibits the posting of inappropriate photos or images in the

office place, or addresses the appropriate use of the Internet. • Work with the supervisor and legal counsel to develop the most appropriate course of

action, then stand behind the supervisor in his/her decision.Recommendation for Colleague: • Encourage Dan to remove the photo from Facebook. Recommend that Jeff check the

Internet for other photos of himself that could be troublesome.

Scenario 3: Venting in the Wrong VenueKarla is a Human Resources Specialist at an agency. After a particularly difficult day, Karla is frustrated with a difficult employee and makes the following comment on Twitter: “Ridiculous how [name of agency] keeps incompetent people around. Time to clean house!” There are rumors of a reduction in force coming on the horizon, but nothing official has been announced. She makes the comment after work hours from a home computer on her personal Twitter account.

Scenario 3: Venting in the Wrong VenueQuestions• Would / should Karla lose her job?• What would be a fair policy in terms of how agency

employees should use social media during their personal time?

• What if colleagues join her in commenting about the work situation and begin to organize to do something about it?

Scenario 3: Venting in the Wrong Venue• Recommendation 1: • An employee should be extremely careful in posting

anything about work, especially if it casts the agency, a colleague or a customer in a negative light.

• Recommendation 2: • A fair policy would seek to clarify the difference

between professional and personal use and connect online behavior to current guidance on the appropriate conduct of an employee in a public setting.

Scenario 4: Digging Up DirtVanessa is a hiring manager for your agency. She has discovered that Google, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all effective tools for rounding out the qualifications and determining the cultural fit of potential candidates for position vacancies. One candidate is highly qualified for an opening, but Vanessa discovers in her web search that the individual belongs to a special interest group with which she strongly disagrees. For that reason, Vanessa does not forward the candidate's information to the supervisor for review and consideration. Another member of the HR team learns about Vanessa's decision and elevates the issue to the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer.

Scenario 4: Digging Up Dirt

Questions• What kind of policy would you develop to protect potential

candidates from experiencing this kind of discrimination?• What if the person truly would not have been a solid

culture fit (i.e. could create significant tension among team members) based on their affiliation?

• What if you learned that this happened to you in applying for a job? How would you react?

Scenario 4: Digging Up DirtRecommendation For You:*• Remember that everything you place online may be subject to search.• Conduct personal audits using various search tools...or have a Google

Alert set up to inform you in real-time what information is being indexed. Recommendation For HR:• You may discover information that you wouldn't be allowed to ask about in

a job interview• Have someone other than the interviewers / selection committee conduct

this research to avoid those discoveries• Keep detailed records of why you did or didn't hire everyone you

considered, so a complete and transparent paper trail will be on hand if auditors come calling or a plaintiff's lawyer formally requests documents.

* Excerpts from:http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/02/checking-out-job-applicants-on-facebook-better-ask-a-lawyer/

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/02/checking-out-job-applicants-on-facebook-better-ask-a-lawyer/&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEzc_wlpxpf43-7usls6I3Ysed6rRJQ

http://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458056e743

http://www.tlnt.com/2011/08/22/the-nlrbs-new-social-media-guide-what-employers-can-and-cant-do/

http://www.socialmedialawupdate.com/

http://www.socialmedialawupdate.com/2011/10/articles/social-media/legal-issues-surrounding-social-media-background-checks/

You might be thinking, "what could possibly be wrong with finding public information that the job candidate has freely shared on the Internet?" "Having shared that information, the company should be able to ask him about it. After all, the job applicant is not making a secret of it."


Subjects that are considered off limits for employers to ask job applicants about:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in hiring, discipline and termination decisions based on race, color, national origin, religion and gender.

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) adds to the list with a prohibition on discrimination against individuals who are 40 years or older.

• Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination against "qualified disabled" individuals. Employment decisions are defined broadly and include promotion, demotion, compensation, and transfers.

• Many states add additional areas that are off limits for making employment decisions (i.e. California => sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, cancer, political affiliation, genetic characteristics, and gender identity.


“It is very easy to see how someone with a Facebook page may post about these protected factors.

The challenge for employers who are researching job applicants, or monitoring the social media activity of their employees, is not to let this protected status information bleed into their employment decisions.”


Some lessons to be learned from Gaskell vs. University of Kentucky:

(1)HR department training on interview skills and managing employees should include the ways in which information taken from social media and Internet searches can possibly give rise to allegations of employment discrimination;

and

(2)Internet searches of job applicants or employees should be done ideally by people who are removed from making employment decisions so they can filter out information that are protected factors before the search results are forwarded to the company employees who are giving performance reviews or making recommendations on hiring, promotions, or downsizing.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15100977658791449436&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

• Companies Should Have An Internal Procedure For Researching Job Candidates And Employees On The Internet

• The Business Practices Of Outside Vendors That Provide Social Media Background Checks Are Being Examined For Compliance With Privacy And Intellectual Property Laws


Policy Considerations (from Federal CIO Council)

• Goal: not to say “No” to social media websites and block them completely, but to say “Yes, following security guidance,” with effective and appropriate information assurance security and privacy controls.

• Focus on user behavior, both personal and professional, and to address information confidentiality, integrity, and availability when accessing data or distributing government information.

Training Considerations (from Federal CIO Council)

• Provide periodic awareness and training of policy, guidance, and best practices: what information to share, with whom they can share it,

and what not to share. mindful of blurring their personal and professional life -

don’t establish relationships with working groups or affiliations that may reveal sensitive information about their job responsibilities.

Operations Security (OPSEC) awareness and training to educate users about the risks of information disclosure and various attack mechanisms

Policy / Training

45 Policy Examples:http://data.govloop.com/dataset/Web-2-0-

Governance-Policies-And-Best-Practices-Ref/b47r-pgph

Read BlogsGovLoop.com/Blogs

http://www.govloop.com/profiles/blog/list

Start or comment on discussions in our

ForumsGovLoop.com/Forum

http://www.govloop.com/forum/topic/new

Join GroupsGovLoop.com/Groups

http://www.govloop.com/group/humanresources

http://www.govloop.com/group/federalrecruiters

http://www.govloop.com/groups

Andrew Krzmarzick

[email protected]

GovLoop.com/profile/AndrewKrzmarzick

202-352-1806

How Not to Get Fired Using Social Media at Work - EEO, Diversity and Social Media

Technology

Transcript of How Not to Get Fired Using Social Media at Work - EEO, Diversity and Social Media