Does the Transparent Organization Translate to a Transparent HR?

Fed up with corruption, employees and customers are demanding that organizations become more transparent. When glancing through today's business section headlines, you can't help but get the impression that "Corporate America" is built upon the foundations of closed doors, hierarchical structures, and ultimately degeneration. As a business major with a penchant for new age thinking, it's sometimes difficult to justify my idealistic belief that corporations can serve the needs of society in an ethical and positive way.

Why do I believe in this seemingly hopeless ideal? Well it's called the internet. More specifically social media. Twenty years ago if company X decided to treat it's employees poorly, the chances of anyone actually finding out were pretty rare. It would take a serious lawsuit of sorts before the company started to get a bad reputation, and even then you'd have to rely on heavy media coverage, which again would be rare. Today however, social media has exponentially increased the power of word-of-mouth communication. I don't feel the need to go into too much detail on what this means, because we've already seen this phenomenon take place with online reviews of hotels, restaurants, and businesses. What is happening right now though, is that employees and prospective job candidates are looking up your company on social media sites. Employees are telling their friends and family what they love or don't really like about working for you. Regardless of your awareness or approval, employees are sharing their stories. Now that fact in and of itself is nothing new - people have always complained or raved about how much they love or hate their job. The difference with social media is that 1. the potential for the stories of love or hate to spread has grown exponentially, and 2. you actually have more influence over what is said about your company than you might think.

Transparency in HR means that you hold pride for the way you've taken care of your employees. You have dedicated your profession to serving the needs of your employees, while simultaneously meeting the organization's goals. These two purposes are at the heart of the HR function, and if you've done this, you should be proud. Yes, there may be a stray manager here or there that wouldn't be the best representation of your company. That is unavoidable. What is avoidable is letting that stray manager become the face of your employees. You can do this by taking control of your social media. Join the conversations your employees are having by making their stories fun and accessible. Look at Zappos Facebook page where they offer hilarious videos for their employees and customers to share. Not only will your employees be proud to share their work with friends and family, but other people will view employment at your company in a very positive light.

Regardless of how bureaucratic, or antiquated your company may be, this is the future of corporations and thus HR: open, transparent, and engaging employment practices. Social media, and the all-encompassing web 2.0 world serves as a welcome forum to engage in conversations and reveal a "day in the life" of your employees. Let's make it a good one!

Octavia Nasr: The Shark Week of HR

Ah, Shark Week...I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of it. I've often wondered what it is about shark attacks that fascinates so many people? I mean we all know the likelihood of being killed by a shark is paled by the likelihood of being killed by a dog or dying in a car accident. So what's the big deal?

Well this got me thinking about an article I read yesterday on the SHRM website about how CNN reporter Octavia Nasr was recently fired for an inappropriate Tweet. Although the SHRM article was written to remind HR professionals of the importance of monitoring social media use and creating a social media policy (which I completely agree with), I can't help but sense an attitude within the HR field that social media is "dangerous". It seems we tout stories like that of Nasr in the same way that Shark Week glorifies the few extremely rare instances where recreational ocean goers were actually attacked.

So what is the similarity I see between Nasr and Shark Week? Why are we so fascinated by these two seemingly rare misfortunes? Nasr's actions were as the SHRM author describes "harmless". In other words, she had no intention of stirring up a political controversy and inevitably losing her job. Consequently, in every reported shark attack, the shark accidentally mistook the person for a seal. Again, the shark never intended to attack a person (or at least we hope not..). And so, here lies the similarity: we are terrified and yet strangely obsessed with accidental misfortune.

The thing is, survivors of shark attacks don't stop going into the ocean, and I for one certainly hope that Nasr doesn't stop Tweeting her thoughts on news events in the Middle East.

What's my point here? I would like to invite (or better yet challenge) HR professionals to take a step back from all the hype of the few rare instances where a professional accidentally Tweets the wrong thing, and focus on all the examples of companies who have grown and excelled through using social media. HR professionals should be empowering employees to promote their organization and employer brand through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Of course, I'm not saying you shouldn't be cautious. As strategic HR professionals let's be proactive instead of reactive. Like I said before I'm all for social media fair use policies, and the more detail the better. I also believe in heavily educating and training employees on your company's social media policies. Just as a surfer can monitor the likelihood of a shark being nearby, it is absolutely our job to monitor employee use of social media sites.

However, just like the ocean, social media isn't going anywhere. And although the extremely rare instance of an accidental attack is sometimes unavoidable, let us HR folks take on the attitude of the brave surfers. If you haven't yet, start looking into what your company is doing to promote it's employees to safely use social media. What kinds of creative ideas can you think of to get employees more engaged in your company's social media efforts? Better yet, how can social media better enhance HR events and trainings you already have?? The possibilities are endless, so grab your board, and start surfing!