Blogging Employees
One of the challenges that organizations face with the growth in social media and the blogosphere is the issue of employees blogging about their work. I had an interesting discussion with a staff person from an international non-profit. This person raised the issue from a security perspective. There is a certain amount of risk in allowing an individual to blog about their work from a country that may have security issues. The knee jerk reaction was to create a policy that would govern what blogging was allowed, what wasn’t, or would cut it off altogether. I think after some discussion, I was able to share some insights about the value of training rather than policy and the value to the organization to have staff tell the “real-time” story of what is being accomplished. Here are some points to consider:
- The personal voice of a staff member can have huge impact to their immediate circle and beyond.
- Be cognizant of the potential danger for staff who live in risky areas of the world. Communicate that danger to those who are headed to those areas of the world.
- Train your team members to communicate clearly.
- Consider providing a centralized avenue for blogging with minimal controls.
- Be clear about what is not acceptable.
- Recognize that short of termination, you really can’t stop the blogging.
- Remember, that for many, blogging may be cathartic and a way of releasing the stress of the work place.
I hope that helps.
I think number 3 works best for this sort of situation. You can’t really stop a person from blogging especially if he or she has already started. As you said, it’s a way of releasing stress and prohibiting such an act would only induce a more rebellious attitude. By training employees to communicate clearly, they can avoid getting into sticky situations and still have the freedom to rant or rave about work.
Comment by jen_chan, writer MemberSpeed.com — December 3, 2007 @ 8:08 am