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Blurred lines: Social media and employees, where do you stand?

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There are currently more than 14 million active social media users in Australia and with this figure on the rise, so are the instances of an individual’s online indiscretions affecting their professional lives and the reputation of their employer.

Social media dismissal cases are becoming increasingly common. A decision handed down by the Employment Appeals Tribunal in the UK last month upheld the dismissal of a British Waterways Board employee for inappropriate posts on Facebook.

The employee was dismissed for gross misconduct due to unsavoury and derogatory comments he posted on his personal Facebook page. Some comments revealed he had consumed alcohol while on a standby shift.  When on standby, employees of the British Waterways Board are prohibited from drinking alcohol.  The employee also made disparaging remarks on Facebook about his workplace and supervisors.

So, closer to home, what can we learn from this case and how does social media affect Australian organisations as employers?

Earlier this year, Australian logistics company Linfox was ordered to restore pay to an employee, whom it had sacked for making inappropriate comments about managers on Facebook. It was found the dismissal was harsh and unreasonable because the employer had not communicated its social media expectations to the worker.

Implementing a social media policy for employees is one tool to not only prevent unwanted social media posts from employees, but also to impose professional penalties when a worker acts outside of the communicated guidelines.

Further to communicating with employees it may be considered to ask employees to sign a social media policy agreement upon commencement with an organisation to minimise the risk of your company being misrepresented online.

Organisations may also consider training staff in the use of social media etiquette. Explaining the differences between private and public online comments and personal and professional social media expectations can prevent Facebook faux pas for both the individual and employer.

Managing Director of recruitment marketing specialists Employment Office, Tudor Marsden-Huggins, says the lines are becoming increasingly blurred between online and offline worlds and organisations must take action to ensure employees represent their company appropriately in all circumstances.

“Employers need to keep a handle on their image across all mediums, including social media.  Disparaging remarks about an organisation, particularly when they come from an employee can be incredibly damaging for a brand,” he said.

“We’re now in a landscape where employees are part of a very tech-savvy generation and are engaging with peers on multiple online platforms.  Employers need to be on the front foot and have clear policies in place to make employees think before they post.

“Each workplace must be considered on a case by case basis, but the key is education.  If employees are forewarned and educated about what is expected of them, the risks will be mitigated significantly,” Marsden-Huggins said.

Is “Competitive Pay” Good Enough?

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Compensation is one of the biggest factors a potential employee will look for in an open position. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the only thing they’ll look for – telecommuting, great benefits, stock options, potential for growth, and more are all going to play a key role in their decision. But good compensation is what all employees are looking for.

Compensation tells an employee a lot about their place in your company. Since most companies aren’t sure how much they want to offer a new hire, they write “competitive pay” in the section on compensation, not realizing that their pay is not actually competitive.

The Problems With Poor Compensation

All companies want to decrease their expenses in order to increase their profits. But paying someone less than they deserve or expect can have pretty drastic consequences on your recruitment, including:

  • Turning Off the Best – Your absolute best talents may be expecting more money from their work. Employers that are either unwilling or unaware of how much their talent brings to the company are going to offer less than the best applicants deserve, and in many cases this will get them to turn down a job quickly. It may even cause YOU to want to avoid hiring THEM because you think their salary demands are too expensive, when in reality they are asking for their market price and you are undervaluing their contributions.
  • Pay Minus Perks – Other companies do offer competitive pay, but nothing else. For example, perhaps the average employee in the position earns $65,000, so they decide to hire $68,000 to be “competitive.” But if that company offers fewer benefits, fewer perks, or fewer reasons to work for their company, the reality is that $68,000 is too low, because other companies offer much more. A “Competitive Salary” has to take into account the other benefits you’re offering.
  • Likelihood of Seeking Competition – Recruitment doesn’t end after the hire, either. Employers that do not pay their employees a competitive wage are at risk for losing the employee once they find work elsewhere. Competitive pay keeps employees in the long term, and so an offer that’s good-but-not-great opens the door for another company to steal them away.

In some cases poor compensation is not your fault. For example, you may assume that you’re opening up a lower talent position in your company and asking for someone with a specific ability, and most people that have that ability are used to being in higher positions in companies and getting paid very well. The task itself may be simple, but the value associated with that task may be high, and you may not be aware of these compensation differences.

Nevertheless, learning how to offer truly competitive pay can make a big difference in your recruitment efforts, and it’s important that you examine how much you’re genuinely willing to offer and how much you can afford before trying to advertise to the top talent.

 

For you recruitment concerns and employment branding you may contact Employment Office Australia at info@employmentoffice.com or visit our website at www.employmentoffice.com.au.

Common Mistakes Companies Make When They Choose Where to Advertise

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As soon as a position opens up in your company you need to try to fill it. Every day that job goes unfilled is a day that you’re not getting the production you need at your business.

Most companies rush to fill the position, advertising at some of the most popular locations in order to attract applicants the fastest. But this rush to advertise can also lead to many mistakes. The following are several mistakes that companies make about where they choose to advertise their job openings.

Mistakes About Job Posting Locations

  • Quantity-Only Locations – The most common mistake is posting to a location only because it gets a lot of candidates, not because it gets the best candidates. Recruitment is not a competition for who can receive the most applicants, but rather whether or not you can find the perfect one for your needs. Quantity locations are good, but focusing only on the places that get the most applicants will cause you to miss out on a lot of better locations.
  • Highly Competitive Ads – Similarly, when you post on these mass job boards, you have to make sure that your ad is even going to be seen. Often you’ll find that your own job ad is pushed to the bottom of the pile in a few hours, and the best applicants may not even see it. It may also be surrounded with similar job openings from companies that sounds like they pay more, which means that great applicants may choose not to apply to your job in favor of the better paying one right above you.
  • Limiting to One Job Board – You also have to make sure you’re not limiting yourself to a single job board, regardless of how much traffic it receives. Even if one job site helps you receive thousands of applicants, your perfect candidate may be browsing some other site and seeing one of your competitor’s placements instead.

What Should You Be Doing?

Ideally, you need to make sure you are advertising open positions in places where your best possible candidates will see them. Look for websites that speak directly to your ideal audience, like specialty job boards and job posting areas of industry relevant websites. Don’t be afraid to take the jobs to applicants on social media, and make sure that if you are posting on the mass job boards, you’re making sure that your posts are going to be seen as desirable by the candidates you want.

Where you advertise is almost as important as how you advertise, because you need to make sure that the right pair of eyes sees your ad and wants to become a part of your organization.

For more tips on recruitment and employer branding you can contact us at info@employmentoffice.com.au or visit our website at www.employmentoffice.com.au.

How Do You Evaluate What Your Company Needs Out of a Position?

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Job ad creation can take a lot of experience, which is why we offer job advertising services here at Employment Office. One of the most common places people make mistakes is figuring out what you truly want out of an employee in the position:

  • What they need to know.
  • What they need to be best at.
  • What they have to be comfortable with.

Often times you can think up a few necessary “skills” or experiences, but in some cases those may be overstated. Does an applicant really need 3 years of experience? Or is it more like 5? Or is it only 1? The qualifications you put on the job advertisement affect who’s applications you receive, and so if you’re putting the wrong qualifications you run the risk of turning off qualified applicants or attracting the wrong kinds of applicants.

How to Decide What Should Go On the Job Ad

So you need to figure out what absolutely must go on the job ad. You need to figure out what should go on there, what should not go on there, and how it matches your ideal candidate. The following are some strategies to figure out this information:

  • Survey Supervisors/Coworkers Independently

One of the simplest strategies is to have everyone that works with that position provide a list of the things they “need” from someone in the job independently, without the influence of the other supervisors/coworkers. Once you have a list, you can figure out what themes there are, what is unique, etc., and then as a group you can all gather and have everyone explain their responses. Together, you can then decide what should go on the application and what should not.

  • Ask the Previous Employee

No one is going to know their position better than the person that was previously working there. You can ask them what they think is necessary from someone that fills in the role. What experience do they think is necessary (if any), what skills should a person have, and what are some of the day to day experiences that they may need to have knowledge of that perhaps are not even on the job description? The previous employee is in the best position to answer this, and in some cases you can learn more about what their job was like for them by their responses.

  • Review Other Job Descriptions

You can also consider reviewing the job advertisements of others in the field. Often these will differ from yours, and you should not treat it as gospel (after all, if you advertise in the same way as everyone else, you will attract only the same people), but the job advertisements of similar jobs can be a great way to identify qualifications that perhaps you hadn’t considered before.

Writing a Great Description

Job advertisements are the key tool used to attract talent, and so what is on the job description can have a significant impact on the types of applicants you receive. Consider the qualifications carefully, and make sure that every single qualification you’re providing relates back to what the ideal candidate will have.

For more tips on recruitment and employer branding you can contact us at info@employmentoffice.com.au or visit our website at www.employmentoffice.com.au.