Social media and your employeesPresented by Becca Roberts

HRizon LtdProviding HR solutions to small businesses

What do HRizon do?Help small business owners with no in-house HR support to:

Resolve people issues

Create a legally compliant HR framework

Straight-forward HR processes and handbook

Recruit the right people for your business success

“Dedicated HR support without the in-house cost”

We’ve seen it all… seriously!

Why work with us?We’re on a mission to help you, the small employers get the best out of one of your biggest investments… your people.

HR services without paying in-house prices

use us only when you need us

We ‘hand-craft’ our HR solutions

so they fit seamlessly into the culture of the businesses we’re working with – we’ll even come onto your site and work as if we were your employee

Reassurance and peace of mind…

we’re on your side – we’re someone you can trust and confide in – for small business owners it can be a lonely trip

The stuff of nightmares…?

Using it to your advantage…Your employees are on it – recognise this and use them as your PR tool!

Social medial allows people to experience the human element of a business – customers don't buy from companies — they buy from people!

Encourage employees to blog about positive work stories. It's a recruiter's dream.

Use it to score customer-service points — especially when clients can reach your subject matter experts directly.

Drive sales - encourage employees to share exciting new content and to participate in conversations during live events. Instead of 1 person tweeting, you could have 20 tweeting, all with access to their own contacts.

Outright ban or full access…?

Different ends of the spectrumASDA

From ‘chicken licker’ to ‘Don’t blog your way into trouble’People Power: “we pride ourselves on having staff who are natural communicators

and it would make no sense to silence what in many cases are our best brand ambassadors”

Morgan StanleyAvoids ‘leakage’ by not providing any work access for many staffPre-vets staff networking where it is allowed and monitor employee activityProtecting commercial confidentiality – totally within the law

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

Outright ban or full access

Is there a happy medium?

Use web filter to ‘log’ but not ‘block’…

Time wasted on non-work related social networking improves as does the type of content posted

Supports access to full range of social media for those that need it

Combine this with social media policy

The stuff of nightmares…?

The hidden cost of tribunalsThe good news:

Potential claimants required to ‘put their money where their mouth is’Stats from 18 months ago showed that only 1 in 10 cases ended with a judge ruling in

favour of the worker – this has increased now because…

The bad news:….what’s left over: the genuine claims, that have more chance of success

Despite tribunal fees, the number of tribunals has rocketed over the last decade

Whether you win or not, you’ll have a hefty legal bill plus reputational risk, loss of huge amounts of time, loss of morale, stress…

If they win… you’ll probably pay their costs, if they lose, they won’t have to pay yours!

A lengthy dispute could cripple a small business

Key factsAn increasing number of tribunal cases involve employees making

work-related comments on Facebook.

Employers can use entries on websites such as Facebook and YouTube as evidence in disciplinary proceedings

Derogatory comments by employees on social media will not always justify dismissal

It is possible to fairly dismiss an employee who has made social media posts that you consider could damage your reputation.

Don’t forget ex-employees

Here’s how to protect yourself…

Protecting yourself

Have a clear policy – covering inside and outside of working hours

Point out important parts and get them to confirm they’ve read it

Make clear what action you’ll take if they breach the policy

If you have to take action, act reasonably

Consider banning use of the company name on personal pages

Put approval systems in place for company updates and professional networking

As a last (and extreme resort) consider an outright ban at work