I have some news for you, HR. You have no business looking at your employees’ Facebook posts. Ever.
That means it’s none of your business what your employees do on their free time. Yeah, I’m talking to you. You know who you are. You have no life, and you want to make sure that the people who work in your company don’t either.
For those of you who got into HR to be hall monitors I say this: Get out of HR. And here’s a message to you: It’s invasive to look at Facebook posts for people who aren’t your friends. Yeah, there are people in this world with friends. They drink fun drinks from red cups. They wear swimsuits. And pose in all kinds of provocative ways.
So what?
Just because you continue to wear panty hose 25 years after they went out of style doesn’t mean that your employees — or potential employees — have to conform to your Carrie Nation worldview. And in case someone didn’t tell you, wearing a belt with suspenders is just so…anal retentive. Your employees aren’t.
Stop being little Facebook Stalkers and get back to the real work of HR. Solve problems. Help managers be good managers. Then get out of the way. Being an HR Voyeur is just so icky.
The first rule of Facebook is: you do not talk about Facebook.
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Damn right!
And while we’re at it, let’s go back to calling HR “Personnel”, which incorporates the word “person” (hey, that’s me!) and also has a nice French ring to it (I guess because it’s a French word). Being called a “human resource” or “human capital” makes me feel as though I’m about to be traded or optioned on some sort of commodity market.
Paul, you’re always on the verge of being traded. Yikes. I’m not crazy about “human capital” either. I always feel like screaming, “Soylent Green is PEOPLE!”
Here here! I’ve had debates regarding networking sites with HR folks before. It extends way beyond Facebook- gotta include Twitter and LinkedIn as well. The company you work for shouldn’t be tracking down your every move outside the office.
James, I agree…it’s Twitter and LinkedIn, too. All social media sites. I know the argument about employing the whole person, but this kind of cyber stalking is icky…I mean, should they be able to listen in to your phone calls? Really? Bueller?
This is simply another source of public information.
You posted it..
You “Friended” your employer like a doof. and now the employer gets a notification: “Billy Bob updated his pictures”. Well BB is token his brand new Billy Bong Thorton with the baggie of purple sticky on his lap… People act naively, this is neither HR’s nor the Manager’s problem.
Second rule of Facebook is “Know who your FRIENDS are”.
So what do you do when personal time activities go directly against a zero tolerance drug policy.
Hi Gary. I 100% agree about the Second Rule of Facebook. We’re going to put up a post tomorrow to the knuckleheads who allow their HR people and boss access.
As far as drug policy…I really wonder about that. How would you know? If someone was holding a hand-rolled cigarette, could someone in HR misconstrue that as going “directly against a zero drug policy” because they thought it was a spliff? I mean, how do you know? A kid here at a local high school won a huge lawsuit because the high school was snapping pictures of him with a webcam installed on his school-issued computer. The school claimed he was taking drugs…the “drugs” turned out to be Mike & Ikes. Candy.
I think there’s way too much “guilty until proven innocent” going on. That’s actually how it works in France, but HR isn’t judge and jury. They have to be careful. Zero drug policy is by drug testing, not by leering at photos. (I don’t think drug testing works, by the way. Check out the Olympics.)
That was simply an example.
It all comes down to being Intelligent about who you invite into your “Circle of Trust”. Know who can take a joke and who can’t. Same thing goes for those types of updates, Joke or not, if you work for a Drug Screening company then why push the envelope of stupidity.
That is like posting pics of outings with the guys at stripper central when my day job is Pastor for a Youth Group.
It’s called protecting your online brand. i.e. persona…
amen!!! just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. and just because you can, doesn’t mean you’re getting anything valuable from the experience or the knowledge. if it doesn’t apply to one’s ability to do the job and it isn’t illegal, then it doesn’t matter.
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Fran…I so agree. I think it’s invasive to look at what people are doing…I just need to tell them how to be more private. Bet HR hasn’t caught onto that part yet.
YESS… Facebook has nothing to do with employee’s performance, it is none of their business.
The question comes into play: can you use Facebook to pre-screen? But once hired or the ones already working for you, it’s too late to judge things on Facebook?
Fire everybody who is not on Facebook, then those that do the prowling will be like the rest of us – prowling on Facebook and PART OF THE COMMUNITY not outside. They will get drawn in and eventually BECOME ONE OF US!!!! Mwah ha ha.
I happen to love online stalking, uh, perusing – ex-boyfriends, new boyfriends, potential recruits, the whole shebang.
But yes, when in HR, you have to know your place. As I’m just in the (super tedious) process of revising our internet and email use policy with IT, this is an all too familiar subject at the moment.
On one hand, your employees can and do what they will after hours online.
On the other, if what they’re doing involves slandering your organization, revealing insider information or disparaging their supervisor, then it is time to step in.
ps – I never wanted to be a hall monitor. Neon vests do nothing for my complexion.
Perhaps, if someone who works for me states on their facebook “My supervisor is an asshat”, they are entitled to their opinion?
And if the supervisor takes umbrage with the statement because he’s friends with the employee on facebook, he should ask “why do you think I’m an asshat?”
17 years in HR, and I’d much rather coach an employee to take care of their problems on their own, than solve it for them. I have a kid. I don’t need more. I hired grown-ups.
Revealing insider information is a whole other gig….and usually in direct violation of a confidentiality agreement, but “don’t talk bad about me” is high school.
Hi Tammy…I love what you say about the kids. LOL. I’m in the same boat with teenagers.
If someone does reveal proprietary info….well, that’s in another league. Then they are out…and on double secret probation.
Actually, I couldn’t care less if Joe Blow is wearing his wife’s pantyhose or not or smoking a bong on his off hours (as long as it isn’t going to interfere when he comes to work at 11pm). What I do care about is if if we’re paying for hours of Farmville or Bejeweled Blitz instead of their working with the kids in our care like they’re supposed to.
Couldn’t agree more.
However, Facebook has a million privacy settings – even if you “befriend” your HR manager..you can chose what to give them access to. Including choosing which pictures / posts / comments they can see.
Social media is part of our lives. It’s silly to try to pretend it’s not. Just use it with half a brain. And remember my number 1 rule – you put it on the internet, DO NOT expect privacy.
I agree that Facebook should not be aimed at targeting employees and their lives. Facebook has ruined many careers and lives with people’s place of employment. For example, in one instance that I one of my fellow employees have experienced is she was given an official write-up because of a joke she made on her site that did not reference to the patient or even the real situation. She was devastated, and I felt sorry for her because she is the type to never do anything wrong and never meant anything by the comment. So in that situation, I feel that the situation was taken to far. Facebook also has influence on the employees and employee moral. For example, if the other emplyees are not in conjunction with what they want to do, the other emplyee gets made fun of and the work place environment is really not constructive for that person. I just feel facebook should be left out of the workplace.
Completely agree. Facebook, when used for personal reasons and not company reasons, is none of HR’s business. If the employee mentions the company’s name or representatives themselves as an employee of the company, then HR may have issues. But as for personal use, it is completely fine. People have lifes outside of work and if they choose to post pictures and converse with their friends, then that’s their business and not HR.
I absolutely agree. I particularly enjoyed this declaration: “Stop being little Facebook Stalkers and get back to the real work of HR.” I think it is unrealistic to expect people to not have lives outside of the workplace or to live their lives in a way that is consistently representative of company standards. It’s just not how it works. I believe that as long as what a person does with their life outside of work does not negatively impact job performance, than it is none of HR’s business. I think that employees do need to show a little discretion like not using Facebook while at work.
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