(Published November 2, 2009)
According to a recent survey by Office Team, 48% of executives would feel uncomfortable being "friended" by their employees on Facebook. I'm surprised the percentage isn't even higher.
Friending your employees is just asking for an exchange of TMI — too much information — both ways. It's crossing a line that you can't go back and uncross. After all, there's a reason Facebook is known as a social networking site. Do you really want to put yourself in a position to…
- view embarrassing pictures of employees carousing on their downtime (and let them see those pix of you in Vegas!);
- learn about their membership in a group or belief in a cause you wouldn't otherwise know about…or ever want to know about ("You're only demoting me because you learned I'm a member of APES — the Alliance for People Espousing Simians!"); or
- read their off-color jokes and derogatory rantings about their job, their co-workers, or, um, their boss (yes, that would be you)?
True, the above concerns are more about the potential social/professional awkwardness than legal liability. But think about the possible legal/professional consequences for a minute. Imagine some relevant information lands in your lap via an employee's Facebook page: Do you report it to upper-level management? Do you take action against the employee? Or, if you do take an adverse employment action that has absolutely nothing to do with their personal information, might they accuse you of discrimination or retaliation? What a mess.
If you're still considering connecting with employees online, at least stick to a site like LinkedIn, which has more of a business emphasis and less of a social one than Facebook, MySpace, and the rest.
But even LinkedIn could pose a quandary or two. What if an employee invites you to connect with them, but you don't want to, for whatever reason? Do you just ignore their request? Explaining to them in person or via e-mail that you have a personal policy of not connecting to your employees sounds reasonable…as long as it's the truth. (Nothing would stir up a tempest in a teapot faster than connecting with some employees but not others and then lying about it!)
LinkedIn itself advises you not to connect with those you wouldn't feel comfortable providing a job reference for. But that would seem to narrow your connections to a very small, select group. And one of the main reasons for online networking is to broaden your professional network to those you might otherwise never come into contact with, isn't it?
Of course, the next generation already seems to have their own idea of who it's appropriate to "friend" online. A recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions found that over 70% of college admissions officers have had applicants try to "friend" them. Consider: The same college applicants who are sending out "friend" requests to college admissions officers right now will probably also try to "friend" numerous HR contacts and hiring managers in four years…so get ready!
Eileen Mager
Writer
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