Negative Company feedback on social media? Seize the opportunity.

Posted by MichaelStrelitz 7 years ago

Categories: General

As companies build communities of employees and customers on social media, the opportunities to showcase not only the product but also the philosophy, culture and community created by that organisation are great.

Talking to employees and users in their language through their preferred media of communication is clearly increasing engagement. However, the risk of lack of control over a platform that could lend itself to negative and potentially damaging feedback is likely to increase accordingly and management of that risk needs to be thought about carefully. Below, are some key considerations to address and mitigate those risks but, most importantly, benefit from the opportunities they offer.

Setting the scene. Imagine, for a moment, a contrived scenario in which an IT manager at a successful accountancy practice posts a video of the office party accompanies by the following comment “Success and Co is no place for women to work, nobody knows how to behave and I resign” . The tweet is posted directly after the office party on Friday night when the marketing manager calls the individual to tell them to take it down immediately. The employee refuses. The marketing manager tells them that they have not complied with the firms policies and procedures and they have to take the post down. The employee continues to refuse until the following Monday at lunchtime when a settlement is reached in the office.

Although the scenario, would be pretty disastrous, it throw up a number of considerations that can move to turn employee dissatisfaction into an opportunity for learning and change. These would need to be balanced with the need to ensure that as least damage is done to the company. They will include the following:

Go beyond policies and procedures.

Employment lawyers and HR have stepped up to the social media and communications challenge by developing simple policies and procedures setting out what is expected of individuals and the consequences of non-compliance. Great advisers will back that up with training and gentle reminders. However, we have to acknowledge that provision needs to be in place for situations in which when people are really disgruntled, they cease to care about the consequences and feel boxed and patronized by policies and procedures.

Understand the employees resentment as a first step.

Most people who put up a damaging post will feel that in some way they have been justified in so doing. They will not necessarily be interested in the companies’ policies and procedures and they will have communicated in this way because they want to be heard and so may feel that posting is the best way to do this. Although they present as an aggresive threat, an employee who publishes this kind of post may well be or feel very vulnerable within the organisation and generally and this vulnerability will need to be properly understood in order to manage the situation effectively.

However, unjustified / wrong / damaging the organisation may feel the post is, concentrating on telling the employee that they are in the wrong at the time they are being asked to take it down is likely to be a red rag to a bull and create the opposite effect. Equally, there is likely to be some level of validity to the employee’s complaint that could be valuable learning for the organisation.

Do not leave the solution to HR.

Often it will not be HR who will pick up the comment in the first place and other individuals may be better placed to ask the employee to take the post down. This means that members of the organisation will need a variety of employees to have the skills to have conversations with the employee that ensure that the company is protected but also, crucially, that the employee is managed well.

Hold your boundaries.

Much has been made of understanding the employee in these situations as it is going to achieve the best result for the company and the employee. Having said this, what is and is not acceptable for the organisation is key and boundaries and consequences will always need to be clear.

Manage the fall out.

There is bound to be team fall out however the matter is dealt with. Individuals will take sides and further issues may arise and bubble underneath the surface as a result. The incident may mean that people are feeling that they cannot communicate within existing channels and so it is valuable to look at how that might be changed within the organisation.

Be advised.

The law around these issues is emerging so it is important to stay close to lawyers and HR advisers and be clear about the company’s position.

Written by Louisa (Taylor) Weinstein

Mediator and Trainer helping you transform conflict into cost effective solutions and engagement | mediation, training. Conflict Resolution Centre

Go Back