Ban the Book…facebook that is!

One day you are happily poking your friends, airing your feelings or thoughts on your status and being plugged into everyone’s latest news the next day you log in…gone!  If like me I used Facebook as a break after completing a task at work and to catch up on the goings on of all in my network and then I would move on to the next thing I had to do.

Overnight management pulled the plug on Facebook without a word and left many a disgruntled face in the office.  Performance Appraisals had just taken place and of course as always in life, just like back in high school, a few (the usual suspects) have abused the privilege and caused the entire group to bear the brunt of their actions.

Not Happy Jan!

But was this an effective move? I presume there is an argument on both sides of the coin, but in my mind a robust social media policy and line managers disciplining those that do abuse their access would be the best approach.  Social Media is not going to go away and is only going to become more prevalent and increase as time goes on.  As suspected this action has just pushed employees back to MSN Messenger and or got them dabbling on Twitter. If an employer chooses to ban these sites they may find their ability to attract a certain type of person or age bracket will be severely hampered down the track.

No communication was issued and HR not even consulted regarding the pre-emptive strike that occurred overnight so employees were left gossiping about why and what had happened.  As published in an article in The Age back in April 2008 a

“Galaxy survey found many young workers saw banning access to Facebook at work as a betrayal of trust.” http://bit.ly/8p9w36

By not properly dealing with the offenders I believe that this action has sent out a message of distrust to employees and demonstrates short-sightedness in dealing with the issue at hand.  The company’s disciplinary procedure should be coming into play and guidelines about what acceptable usage is should be clearly communicated.

Let me make is clear that I do not condone the behaviour of “Crackbooks” surfing Facebook for hours on the job when they should be working as they are employed to do, but an understanding by managers of what Facebook actually is about needs to happen with senior managers (a lot of them don’t even know what it really is) and there are alternatives to bans, such as communal access in lunchtime or break out rooms and also restricted access such as timed access between 12pm and 2pm on all PC’s.

Facebook is no different to other forms of time-wasting in the workplace, it used to be smoko breaks and people taking to long to have their ciggies, then it was too much talking at the water cooler or photocopier, then personal emails at work, surfing the net at work and now it is social media sites.  People feel the need to socialise it is part of our intrinsic being and as the way we make and build relationships continues to change into many forms this will only become more prevalent.  Employers would be wiser to board the Web 2.0 Train and discover ways to use this technology to engage with their employees and customers alike.

nice gals finish last – are you too nice at work?

A theme I have recently picked up on in articles about leadership or managers in the workplace is that of being ‘too nice’ at work.  This is an interesting area and one I believe managers struggle with.  Unless they are completely ‘old skool’ in approach then you seem to get two parallels, the softly approach or the aggressor who likes to invoke fear in your heart.  This seems particularly tricky for women as Amy Wilson’s article earlier in the year on Psychology Today  – http://bit.ly/Wex2x highlights findings from a recent study.

“Women perceived as being more competitive were deemed competent for the job but also less sociable than other candidates, and thus less hirable. Competent men, however, were described as hirable even if they weren’t socially adept”.

All is not lost for us ladies though as more companies now are recognising that women are better collaborators and relationship builders though clearly we still have to battle the perceptions that dog us if we do come across as aggressive.  I recently was called on this very area at work.  My approach has always been of the negotiator and to be firm but direct and never reverting to raised voices or displays of emotion.  An employee who continually displayed blatant disrespect of others by  having no manners in regards to their bodily functions and continually used this as a method of amusement for themselves finally made me crack.

They had been asked on a number of occasions to not do this, but is belligerent in nature so never modified their behaviour.  I took the bull by the horns and with raised voice and face to match, told them their behaviour was unacceptable, disrespectful and was to cease immediately, enough is enough.   This caused major upset and a complaint was raised about me, unjustly of course, but I feel sometimes the ‘nice’ approach is not the most effective with some people.  After that incident I received feedback that it was the best thing I could have done and perhaps I am ‘too nice’ sometimes.

I feel this is particularly difficult in the world of HR as forever is your behaviour and conduct on display and up for criticism by those around you.  You must lead by example at all times.  A result was achieved and the behaviour has ceased but in that time I had to justify my actions as it was deemed out of character by my male manager and a comment about my credibility was raised to my horror.

I want to make it clear that I firmly believe in treating people with respect and that this ultimately brings out the best in people but what about the “problem children”? what do you do when that approach fails.

In another article by Fiona Smith of The Australian Financial Review, http://bit.ly/2AjdKV - The downside of being nice this is further highlighted by Mara Olekans a professor of management at Melbourne Business School who says,

“being nice all the time can encourage workplace conflict because people at work are too polite to tackle the issues.”

If this issue had been tackled correctly in the first place because the line manager took the ‘nice’ approach we would not have had this situation. I feel the answer is in the path of mutual respect and you have to know how to play your cards right.  As Kenny sings you have to “‘know when to hold them, and know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run”.  He should have also added know when to face off!  Those around you respect it when someone takes a stand when they feel they cannot or are reluctant to do so but want that change, so sometimes you have to bite the bullet.

My lesson learnt is that by displaying a pattern of behaviour of always being ‘nice’ is not always the most affective and in fact does not create harmony in the work place.  I never wanted to be the ‘Scary HR Lady” nor do I want to be the cold, unapproachable HR, it’s a fine balance and clearly one that needs refining and re-tuning continually along the way but the foundation is respect for yourself, what you stand for and who you represent.