Create a Social Media Policy to Avoid Potential Work Problems

By Guest Blogger – Melanie Black Dubis, J.D.

Do you allow your employees to update their status on Facebook, Twitter or other social media websites at work? Are there any instances where using social media on the clock is acceptable?

You and your employees should know the answers to these questions. Everyone at your workplace should realize exactly what work-related information can be posted on social media sites and under what circumstances. A social media policy offers such assurances, as well as provides you with legal standing to enforce your standards.

Consider employees as individual representatives of your company. You can monitor their social media activity and set appropriate guidelines. These guidelines often reflect personnel policies already in effect, but more details may be needed.

While there are many social media policy templates available online to use, make sure yours includes the following items:

• A requirement that employees must display a legal disclaimer when commenting or posting content involving the company. A typical statement reads, “The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my company.”
•  Provisions against airing material that violates the company personnel policy (e.g., equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment, work-related grievances). 

• A confidential disclosure section forbidding discussion of litigation and sensitive or proprietary information about the association and its partners and clients. 

• Prohibitions against posting commentary, content, or images that are defamatory, pornographic, proprietary, harassing, libelous, or that can create a hostile work environment.

Because social media is virtual and constantly evolving and changing, create a policy that is flexible enough to apply to new social media tools that may emerge in the future.

Penalties for violating any of the restrictions listed in the policy should be listed as well, and should include termination of employment as a possible disciplinary action. As an additional level of security, have all employees sign an acknowledgment that they have received, reviewed and understood your association’s social media policy. This will provide you with just cause for taking any necessary actions if the terms are violated.

Even with a completed policy, it always helps to remind your team members to think about the implications of what they are doing with social media. Tell them that everything they post online is likely permanent and cannot be deleted – therefore, they have to consider carefully what they reveal in social media forums.

Social media sites have become so prevalent in our society that association leaders must have policies in place at work to protect themselves legally. Create a social media policy that will dictate and reflect your company’s philosophy and image favorably, and you should have little problem adjusting to new social media options as they arrive.

Melanie Black Dubis, a partner at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, handles commercial disputes for clients in North Carolina State and federal courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and arbitration proceedings. For more information about Dubis, visit http://www.parkerpoe.com. 

How To Shift Problem-Solving From Your Shoulders To Theirs

By Guest Blogger - Willy Stewart

I have discovered through many years in business that managers tend to be good problem solvers. Because of this fact, people migrate to these managers and ask them for help in solving their problems. In other words, problems drift “uphill,” and many managers end up working longer and longer hours trying to solve other people’s problems.

In solutions-driven organizations, however, managers shift from solving everyone’s problems to empowering their employees to solve their own problems. Employees are often closer to a problem and can come up with better solutions than their managers.

In problem solving one should ask whether what is being solved is the problem or a symptom of the problem. To find the answer, one must determine a problem’s root cause, then use a template to analyze creative alternatives to that root issue.

To help employees solve their own problems, consider using an action planning template that requires people to carefully analyze a given situation in a focused manner and write down their thoughts. A template that prompts people through a set of questions will work well to stimulate their ideas and help them to formulate solutions more thoroughly.

• “What goal do I want to achieve?” The answer must be specific and written down.
• “What will I get from achieving this goal?” The respondent must write down several benefits.
• “What obstacles could possibly interfere with achieving this goal?” These obstacles can be factors such as training needed or additional costs.
• “What are ways to remove these obstacles from my path?” The answers tend to be problem solutions in encapsulated format.

The next section of the action plan template goes on to prompt the employee for the steps that must be followed to achieve the stated goals, and a date when each goal should be met. The template ends with the question, “Is this goal worth the time, effort and money?” The employee must respond “Yes” or “No,” then take the completed form to their manager for discussion and approval.

This approach works, because it empowers employees to “own” the situation and be invested in the success of the solution and its results. People are encouraged to think for themselves, and when they do, generally they come up with excellent solutions. Morale is affected in a positive way when people feel empowered, and that leads to higher productivity and job satisfaction.

Willy E. Stewart, PE, is the managing principal of Raleigh Consulting Group, a consulting firm that works with CEOs and senior management teams across a diverse collection of industries to assist in improving efficiencies and optimizing growth while remaining focused on the company’s purpose and its people.

Manage Well To Avoid Employee Disengagement

By Guest Blogger – Bruce Clarke, J.D.

How do employees get help at your company? Who does the employee go to with problems? Who is there to help keep your employees involved, engaged and committed to their work and the company?

Employees who lack regular communication with a good manager can disengage with their work or eventually join another company with stronger management. Office managers and HR pros can help employees with mechanical questions such as pay and benefits, but only a manager familiar with an employee’s day-to-day tasks can grow a productive two-way relationship promoting strong work engagement.

Skilled managers provide many benefits to the workers they supervise. They are the primary goal setters and the best place to create alignment between the employee and organizational aspirations. Good managers provide frequent feedback and have a genuine interest in their employees’ professional and personal aspirations. They also serve as problem solvers to help workers when obstacles arise.

The negative effects of no management or poor management include decreased productivity, lowered morale, absenteeism and lack of trust and commitment to the company. Employees need managers for guidance, growth and recognition.

Guidance
Managers help employees understand their roles and how their actions affect business results. With proper goal setting and consistent feedback, both positive and corrective, managers help employees understand what success looks like and how to get there.

Every employee has key questions and quandaries they need answered, and managers who work with them on an ongoing basis are the most equipped to offer responses. Sufficient guidance and attention spent on employees will also help them feel essential and valued in the workplace.

Growth
People are rarely satisfied doing the same tasks for long periods of time, so failing to plan for employee challenge and growth opportunities can have dire consequences for your company—specifically, high turnover. Because good managers provide consistent feedback, they know the strengths and weaknesses of their employees. This not only helps managers assign projects, but it helps employees understand what they do well and where they can improve. Managers are also advocates for employee development opportunities, raises, promotions and recognition.

Recognition
Data and personal experience show that good employees who do not feel valued by their employer will leave.  Managers who communicate well and regularly with employees are in the best position to see and prevent unnecessary turnover.  Private recognition of good work, really listening to employee opinions, and removing hurdles in the way of job satisfaction are important tools.  Public recognition within the workplace when important milestones happen or key behaviors occur is also very powerful.

Whether your organization is large or small, the presence or absence of good one-to-one management is the best predictor of workplace health.  All the flex-time, free cappuccino and blue-jeans-days you can muster are no substitute.

Good managers who demonstrate leadership qualities are critical for keeping company morale high. Please feel free to call CAI’s Advice and Counsel at 919-878-9222 or 336-668-7746 for additional information about how to strengthen the skills of your company’s managers.

Bruce Clarke, J.D. is president and CEO of CAI, Inc., a human resource management firm with locations in Raleigh and Greensboro, N.C., that helps organizations maximize employee engagement while minimizing employer liability.  For more information, visit http://www.capital.org. 

Value in Your Association

It’s not hard to convince a staff person with an association or a board member that there is value in belonging to the association. They have already bought into the benefits of belonging. But how do you convince other stakeholders the value of being involved in the association.

The challenge of value in associations, however, is that it’s a floating concept. And value is in the eye of the beholder. Every person has their own ideas about what value means to them. This was the subject of a recent CEO Roundtable that brought out nearly 30 senior association staff and CEOs.

To get folks thinking, our facilitator, Wendy Scott, CAE, president of Wendy Scott & Associates, posed the question about how are associations like entrepreneurs.
The answer: we have to think about profit, have to be cutting edge, we have much more savvy consumers, have to deal with more competition and have to be risk takers.

What change can you make in your organization to better convey your association’s value, move the association forward and sustain it? Well, you have to think like an entrepreneur.

But first, it’s important to understand the value of your association? Well, you need to figure out what the ROI is or let the member’s tell you what the value is.

Some information from ASAE’s recent Decision to Join research said that the more members are engaged, the greater they valued membership. And also, retention is easier over time. You are more likely to loose members in the first 1-3 years.

How do you identify and define value? And there are two parts to value – there is the value to the member and the value to the association. You have to asses your core value you and the determined value will be defined differently by the board, membership and other key leaders. As an organization, you have to go through this process.
There are many ways to achieve this, formal surveys, town halls, focus groups, needs analysis, etc. But, don’t underestimate the power of the backroom, hallway discussions. Those are important, too.

Once you have identified, you have to be able to differentiate value by identifying your core competencies, studying your customers, turn core competencies into values and also study your competition.

Then, and only then, can you provide stakeholders with a well thought out value proposition that shows your unique position, shows your relevance to market segments, is credible, has clarity, communicates advantages and differentiates yourself from others.

To see  Scott’s PowerPoint from the day’s session, click here.

For more information about Wendy or Wendy Scott & Associates, click here.