I had quite an experience this morning. On my way to work, there was a car in front of me that had several ‘Sheriff’s Association’ stickers and a big plate attached to his real plate that made anyone from here to Mars realize he gives to the Sheriff’s Association. I always wonder if this really gets people out of speeding tickets.
Well that wasn’t really the problem this morning. It was a 45 mph zone and this guy was going 35. I naturally switched lanes without honking or anything and suddenly the guy gives me the one finger salute. I pulled up next to him and gave him a look like ‘What was that for?” and he just kept looking at me as if he had done nothing wrong. Then to top it off, I see a large magnet stuck to his driver’s side door announcing he was a driver for ‘DS Shuttle Service’. Unbelievable.
When you hire people to be part of your organization, these people are your representatives, your face in the community. Likewise, with the growth of social media, this is more important than ever. Now, I’m not saying you need to police every single thing your employees do online. But a simple social media policy that asks them not to discuss politics, race, religion etc. is appropriate, especially if they’ve plugged your name into that employer box. Think of your employees logging on every day to talk to reporters. That’s how social media affects opinions. Never forget people buy from people and when they don’t like those people, the damage is sometimes irreparable. Your social media policy can be short and to the point, and will help cover you when an employee has clearly stepped out of line in saying something negative and you wish to take action. Otherwise, you don’t have a chance.
Now, I’m on to find more about this company and be sure this guy’s employer knows what terrible
Brown Bear Social 