Rules of Engagement

 We are all involved in a highly competitive world in the economic workplace. Our success is based on the degree to which our organizations can be the first to innovate a new product, service, or process. This innovation comes out of a high level of collaboration among the human capital assets of our organizations. To further the scenario our organizations are beginning to be faced with the impact of the Generation Y or millenials who have never seen a conversation that they did not like.

The direct outcome is our human capital assets of today and more important going forward depend on the usage of social media to find the answers to their questions and to hold an ongoing conversation. The hidden point coming from the social media world is that it is primarily about the conversation --good or bad.

Ever since Facebook and other mediums came into existence, a great debate has been heard across the land on how we control the usage of social media by our employees. Social Media policies have been created that reportedly created very strict rules about what employees were and were not allowed to say in the social media world.

The came a rash of legal decisions governing the degree to which corporations could control the conversation. This was culminated in the case of a Connecticut woman who spoke out about the working conditions at her employer. The company retaliated by dismissing her from her job.

In the past week I have seen no less than 5 emails from Labor law firms who have warned corporations to be careful on what they do based on the National Labor Relations Board stating that she was fired illegally. The NLRB based their view on Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act:

Section 7, is the heart of the NLRA. It defines protected activity. Stripped to its essential, it reads: Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection. Section 7 applies to a wide range of union and collective activities. In addition to organizing, it protects employees who take part in grievances, on-the-job protests, picketing, and strikes.

We need the conversation. We need the collaboration. We need the innovation. We need open and frank discussions about the way we operate. So lets not turn off the dialogue through policies which control the threads. So lets not turn off the dialogue in the name of being overly cautious. Lets not try and guide the dialogue by trying to anticipate what might be said.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed