News
Virtual Friends May Lead to Frenemies in the Workplace
May 17, 2018
How should managers approach social media relationships at work? That is the question NYIT School of Management faculty members Joshua Bienstock, J.D., and Deborah Cohn, Ph.D. (M.B.A. ’89), address in an article on WSJ.com.
“At their best, [social media relationships among co-workers] can enhance workplace harmony—increasing productivity, employee retention and job satisfaction,” say Bienstock and Cohn. On the flipside, “they can also trigger conflicts, making employees uncomfortable and distracted, leaving them vulnerable to such transgressions as sexual harassment and bullying.”
What are employers to do? According to Bienstock and Cohn, managers should treat these relationships as if they were “real life.” For example, expressing political opinions, posting messages about sex and religion, or divulging too much information about one’s personal life may make a co-worker feel uncomfortable or isolated. One instance that Bienstock and Cohn cite in their research involves an employee who saw a photo of a co-worker with someone other than her husband on Facebook. The picture made the employee so uncomfortable that she chose to remove herself from Facebook entirely.
Employers should be aware of when these relationships might create an uneasy work environment, because it is ultimately up to the organization to implement policies that help employees feel safe and comfortable on the job.
Bienstock, who specializes in human resource management and reducing workplace conflict, and Cohn, whose expertise is in marketing and consumer behavior, have been researching social media etiquette at work under a grant from the Albert and Pearl Ginsberg Foundation for more than a year.
In the article, they recommend a range of policies for supporting employees in a rapidly changing social landscape. Some “dos” for managers to remember are to keep an updated list of which employees are comfortable with mixing personal and business social interactions; to make sure employees respect confidences, both of their colleagues and of their organization; and to report any inappropriate online behavior (threats, bullying, etc.) just as they would if they saw it in the office. On the “don’t” side, managers should discourage employees from talking online about sex, politics, religion, or working conditions and pay, as these topics are most likely to cause offense. Management should also offer social media training, just as many organizations offer cultural sensitivity training.
“While some of these [recommended] policies will feel intrusive,” they say, “it’s important to remember that online relationships can be just as beneficial—and just as harmful—as relationships in the real world.”
Read more at WSJ.com (subscription required).
