Venting anger online? You’re being watched
Recently two Air India employees were arrested for allegedly posting unparliamentary and derogatory remarks on popular social networking sites against the Prime Minister’s office, the national flag, the Supreme Court and leaders of an opposing employees’ association. The case was not a first in India or globally.
In 2010, Dawnmarie Souza was fired from her job at an ambulance service in Connecticut, USA due to angry and profane remarks she made on Facebook about her boss. Her case made headlines as she took the issue to court in an unprecedented lawsuit, setting off a chain of related instances. By 2011 there were 24 pending lawsuits involving other Facebook firings in the USA. With the cases growing in number and employers losing face in the ‘open world’, corporate response has come in a variety of forms — banning networking sites in the office, framing social media policies, and checking online profiles of professionals before hiring them.
“The social media policy at HCL Technologies encourages employees to participate in online communities, but requests them to do so responsibly. Sharing any company or client-related information on social media sites is discouraged, unless specifically authorised,” says Naveen Narayanan, Global Head, Talent Acquisition, HCL Technologies.
An IT professional, Gaurav Prakash knows the “unprofessional” side of social networking sites. “The right protocol is required. There are several options available today to confront the employer. Facebook and Twitter are easier paths but they are not the right ones for professionals,” he adds.
For HR experts like T. Dev Joshi, Group President, HR, LNJ Bhilwara Group, every citizen enjoys the right to freedom of expression but while exercising this right, one has to be mindful of one’s language. “Every employee is governed by the code of conduct of a particular organisation. There are companies which provide intranet mechanisms and facilities like blogs so that employees are able to express their ideas, views and reactions, so long as the language is proper and aired on the right platform,” he says.
Taking a more humane stand, Dr Samir Parikh, director, Mental Health Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare advises employers not to paint all comments derogatory. “A lot of times when angst is building up, posting such updates releases an employee’s angst and helps him or her settle. As long as there is no harm done, one should treat it as digital gossip. The solution is that companies should invest in the emotional engagement of their employees. Addressing their problems or concerns immediately will help too,” he says.
Interestingly, a career networking site, knowthecompany.com lets professionals talk about their bad experiences with their employers under a dummy name. “While doing our own research, we realised that not many employees are proud of their employers. The workers are unhappy and the corporate environment is not conducive for them to speak. This is where our platform gives them a solution,” says Ashutosh Harbola, Co-founder and President, Knowthe company.com.
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