There’s an open secret that everybody knows, but nobody can really talk about. And more likely than not, it’s affecting your career growth.
Most employees are used to company social media policies, which set guidelines for employees looking to post on social media, write blog posts, or otherwise communicate with the public – whether or not the communication is related to the company.
We normally accept these policies as just another part of corporate life, assuming that every other professional follows suit.But in the past five years, I’ve increasingly heard from dozens of professionals, at companies of all sizes, that these social media policies may have unintended effects.
First there’s the man who couldn’t comment about a professional topic because his “highly exclusive” software company required him to go through media training first – even though the topic was completely unrelated to his company or his company’s industry.
Then there was a professional who told me he wanted to speak on a panel, but chose not to because getting HR approval was such a politically-charged, cumbersome process.
And then there was a woman who impressed me so much, I wanted to nominate her for an industry “40 under 40” award. She told me that although she was honored, she’d rather not be nominated unless I coordinated with her company’s PR team. If she bypassed the process, she told me, she could be “ostracized” for the external publicity.
Then there was the woman who actually did receive a prestigious industry award, and immediately regretted it. “I nearly had to apologize for the award after I received it,” she confided in me.
And it isn’t just within my own circle. Social media shows several professionals frustrated by these effective gag orders.
Taking mandatory corporate training (due 12/31). It is super painful. I’d say more, but I just learned our social media policy forbids it.
@GerryCallahan @Gary_Tanguay you know @gehrig38 had to SIGN a social media policy at @espn that forbids/penalizes this kind of thing.
Started a couple weeks ago and the social media policy forbids me from mentioning where.
Actions speak louder than words. Employer emcourages us to develop our skills, but prohibits us from attending any related events. #irony
Companies do have legitimate reasons for implementing social media policies. The policies help maintain confidentiality, control external messaging, protect intellectual property, and track branding. So where are they going wrong?
The issue isn’t the policies themselves. Rather, it’s the way these policies are enforced in practice, and the implicit messaging that accompanies them. In many cases I’ve seen, the issue isn’t that employees are completely barred from receiving awards, publishing, or speaking at events, it’s that employees are forced to jump through so many hoops to do so. The process can get so cumbersome that it doesn’t seem worth it. If your employer won’t even let you comment on LinkedIn, why…
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