How companies can address aggressive social media behaviour by employees

Twitter and Facebook were recently abuzz with the rantings of Capgemini and TCS employees. IT professionals from the two firms vented their frustrations and mocked their employers over meagre pay hikes and salaries.

Employee disgruntlement over company policies, pay and increment are common, but using social media as a channel to wash dirty linen in public speaks volumes of employee disengagement within a company. Employers recognise that social media is no longer a mere millennial fad, but a highly powerful tool that can change company futures and business outcomes.

Says Neeraj Sharma, senior director at startup FourKites, "Social media especially Glassdoor encourage employees to express themselves freely about the workplace and companies are keeping a close watch on the change in ratings on such platforms."

But employees utilising this tool to vent angst can have severe repercussions for a corporate entity, say experts. Firstly, it affects employer branding, which deters candidates from applying for jobs, says Purvi Sheth, CEO, Shilputsi Consultants. "Secondly, investors and shareholders tend to worry about internal processes of the company and compliance procedures. And finally, it affects employee morale, which dents the productivity levels."

HR experts say organisations should, therefore, create an environment based on trust and mutual respect, where employees feel valued and confident in their roles and aware of the rewards that are in the pipeline.

According to Prabhash Nirbhay, founder of HR consulting firm Flipcarbon, companies should create internal processes of communications that empower employees to open up about their feelings. ''Earn and protect employee trust at all costs by being fair and transparent. This includes ensuring that both good and bad news is heard from the management and not read in the next day's newspapers."

Agrees Sheth who feels that organisations should know the pulse of its people and their problems and expectations. "Companies should be in touch with their talent and anticipate their anxieties and worries. They should find ways of making employees understand the company's constraints and limitations. Social media aggression only reminds organisations to constantly talk about issues and build a culture of open communication and transparency," says Sheth.

Nirbhay says companies should also look out for toxic employees and coach them with positivity. Moreover, there is a need for companies to deploy a leadership team that is agile and empathetic. The leadership must recognise that there could be situations which an employee does not like and hence he or she should be able to discuss it with the leader, says Aditya Mishra, chief executive of CIEL HR Services. "In case an employee is not happy with the action, he or she should be able to reach the top leaders for another discussion. When the company enables such listening mechanisms, the probability of a disgruntled employee ranting in public is negligible."

Experts say, professionals, on the other hand, should act with maturity and balance out their freedom of speech with the responsibility of protecting company information. "For example, an employee could have a concern about how contracts are awarded, appraisals are held, teams are managed, etc. These are confidential issues, which is spoken in public can hurt the company's prospects. Employees should not take such issues to social media," says Mishra.

But if employees have used social media to tarnish a company's reputation or cause damage, can companies look to suspend such employees? ''Depends,'' says Nirbhay who feels that if an employee is blatantly spreading falsehood and if there is an environment that allows for action, then companies can take action.

"Companies can have policies where highly damaging comments or abuse can be controlled through penalty. But the definition of what is damaging must be clearly laid out and employees should be aware of this. Companies cannot suspend or punish at their discretion," says Sheth.

FOR A SAFE VENT

• Employers recognise that social media can change company futures and business outcomes
   
• Employees using this tool to vent angst can have severe repercussions for corporate entity
   
• This impacts employer branding, which deters candidates from applying for jobs
   
• Organisations should, therefore, create an environment based on trust and mutual respect