Learn About Employees Posting on Facebook

Learn About Employees Posting on FacebookLearn About Employees Posting on FacebookIn groundbreaking legal action (2010) regarding employees online postings, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that investigates unfair labor practice allegations, filed a complaint against a company that fired a worker because of what she posted on Facebook. Posting company information or negative comments about a company have been grounds for firing in the past, with companies construing the posts as violations of company social media policy. The employee, who had posted a negative comment about herbei boss on her Facebook page from her personal computer on personal time, welches reportedly suspended and then fired for her Facebook postings because the posting violated the companys internet policies. Protected Activity According to the NLRB, An NLRB investigation found that the employees Facebook postings constituted protected concerted activity, and that the companys blo gging and internet posting policy contained unlawful provisions, including one that prohibited employees from making disparaging remarks when discussing the company or supervisors and another that prohibited employees from depicting the company in any way over the internet without company permission. The NLRB complaint also alleged that the company maintained and enforced an overly broad blogging and internet posting policy. The case was settled in 2011, with the employer agreeing not to restrict employees from discussing their employment outside of work. Social Media and Employee Rights Hope Goldstein, Partner with Bryan Cave LLP, who represents employers in all aspects of labor law and employment law, shares her advice for employees and employers on what employees can post on Facebook and other social media sites, along with the issues employers need to be aware of when creating social media policies. Employees, regardless of whether they are talking around a water cooler in a n office or on Facebook have the right to discuss working conditions. Stating your opinion on working conditions is a protected activity. What You Cant Say Employees cant just post anything they want on Facebook or anywhere else. Libel or slander or posting comments about individuals that are not related to your work environment are not protected. Posting confidential company information, good or bad, is not protected. Be Careful Be Careful. Employees need to be careful about what they post. You can still be terminated, even if you were right, if you violate a lawful company policy or the law itself or if your speech isnt otherwise protected activity. That is a lot to have to worry about, so if you have a legitimate company and your goal is to fix a problem at work, what often is the fruchtwein effective is to follow the company policy for reporting workplace issues. Think Twice Before Terminating Employers should think twice before terminating an employee for posting in formation online to be sure they are in compliance with the law. Company Social Media Policies Employers should review their social media policy to be sure they arent limiting protected employee speech and to be sure employers are reasonable. Reasonable policies do include the right of employers to restrict the use of company equipment and spending company time on non-work activities. These policies need to be consistently enforced. When an employee is fired for posting on Facebook or another online site, they have the right to access the NLRB for assistance. Representation will be determined on the basis of the termination and on whether the information posted was protected by the National Labor Relations Act.

Become a Much Better Business Communicator

Become a Much Better Business CommunicatorBecome a Much Better Business CommunicatorWant to improve your workplace communication? Communication is a significant skill that managers and other leaders and key employees need to work most effectivelywith colleagues in the workplace. It is a fundamental building block that allows the employee to successfully and productivelyinteract with coworkers and customers. These resources give you the tips and information that you need to become a successful business communicator. Communication Topics Provide Feedback That Has an ImpactWhen you provide feedback to coworkers, these specific tips will help you clearly and effectively have an impact on performance and relationships. It is an essential skill for powerful communicators. Receive Feedback With Grace and DignityIf you receive feedback well, your colleagues and co-workers will be more comfortable providing it. Here are tips on how to receive and understand meaningful feedback. Getting mo refeedback is good and will have a lasting impact on the quality of your work and performance. How to Hold a Difficult ConversationSome discussions are more difficult to hold than others. At the saatkorn time, for workplace harmony, teamwork, and productivity, difficult conversations are critical. Heres how to hold a difficult conversation successfully. How to Tackle Annoying Employee Habits and IssuesAnnoying employee habits and issues usually occur in the eighteen inches of space that employees consider private and personal. So, these are the toughest conversations of all to hold. You can become skilled with these tips. How to Talk So Employee Performance ImprovesIf you want to improve employee performance, think about how you converse daily with employees. You have no better opportunity to reinforce and help improve excellent employee performance. Your daily coaching, feedback, insights, and praise help mold employees expectations of their own performance. ListenWith Your Eyes Ti ps for Understanding Nonverbal Communication Want to improve your ability to understand and learn from nonverbal communication? Here are several tips for improving your reading of nonverbal information. No matter your position at work, improving your skill in interpreting nonverbal communication will add to your ability to share meaning with another person, our definition of true communication. Need Phrases for Performance Reviews and Other Difficult Conversations?How you approach and verbalize feedback during a performance review can make all of the difference in how receptive the employee is to receiving the feedback. Your goal is to help the employee improve her performance. But first, she has to hear you. Here are phrases she will hear. 10 Simple Secrets of Great CommunicatorsDo you want to become a great communicator? There are specific practices and skills that will help you achieve this goal. You can enhance your skills with these ten tips. Communication Basics for Review Communication in the WorkplaceLooking for the fundamentals of successful and effective workplace communication? There are five components to any communication and a sixth that is the overall environment of the workplace in which the communication takes place. You need to get all of themright for effective communication. Nonverbal Communication in the WorkplaceOne of the reasons that communicating in person is so effective is that your body language, your tone of voice, and facial expressions help convey your message. Most of these are not present in texts, IMs, and email even if you use emoticons. Learn about the power of your nonverbal communication and how reading the nonverbal communication of coworkers can make you a powerful communicator. ListeningListening is a key skill in effective communicators at work. When coworkers feel heard out and listened to, they feel as if they are respected, cared about, and that their opinion matters to you. If there is one skill you want to per fect to improve interpersonal communication in the workplace, it is your ability to listen actively and deeply.

Professors Resume From the Classroom to the Boardroom

Professors Resume From the Classroom to the BoardroomProfessors Resume From the Classroom to the BoardroomAn IT security professional receives a resume makeoverBridgitt Ann Robertson never thought she was conducting two separate careers. Her career in IT security at several enterprises and two masters degrees led zu sich to begin teaching college and graduate-school classes part time. In 2003, when she wanted to work from home to care for her mother, who had lost a leg to cancer, she left the corporate world and began teaching fulltime as an zugreifbar instructor.She now teaches online classes in business and information assurance, the practice of securing proprietary data and information, at four colleges. She is also finishing her own doctorate in business administration.To Robertson, her progress made perfect sense but on a resume it appeared as if she had lived two separate and disparate careers. That split became a problem when Robertson decided to make her next move, back to t he corporate world.With her mother now healthy and living with her in the Atlanta suburb of Peachtree City, Ga., Robertson wants to work again among co-workers and add travel to her job requirements. In fall 2008, she began to look for jobs in corporate training, essentially teaching the same subject she taught as a professor, but to employees in a corporate environment. But she was worried employers wouldnt be able to relate her experience in academia to the the corporate world or understand that her earlier role in corporate IT security would equip her to teach the subject.Her resume was a void between theory and practice, she said, that didnt connect seamlessly to her goal of a career in corporate training.Robertson turned to Ladders resume team to put the pieces together. Her resume had two different elements of her career online teaching and IT consulting neither of which really spoke to what she wanted to do, said Donald Burns, a certified professional resume writer who work s with Ladders. It was two separate things, nothing to tie them together, no focus on where she was going next.2 + 2 = 5Describing multiple career tracks and aptitudes is a common resume challenge that opens many pitfalls, Burns said.People want to show everything they can do, or dont want to close off one aspect of their career for another, he said. Or they tweak their experience so that it fits the job theyre applying for. Neither way works.Robertsons first attempts at doing a resume herself listed the separate jobs she had held and a summary that tried to wrap up her qualifications in each line of work corporate IT security and academia.I didnt really know how to write about myself to make it all fit together, she said. I was afraid that to make it look like a fit I might miss something important or embellish something important.Burns turned a set of fresh eyes to the problem. Your experience is history, he said. You never really want to freundchen that history. You can improve the presentation, but those are history.The answer, Burns said, is to apply a focused title and summary at the top of your resume that encompasses your entire experience and how it relates to the next step. That lets the experience and descriptions support the argument on their own.The title and the summary is where you make that transition, Burns said. The title and the summary are where you explain that the sum is greater than the parts. The job descriptions support it, but its where 2 + 2 = 5. In Robertsons case, the pair added a title, Online Educator Corporate Trainer, that summed up her current position and her anticipated position. It forced her to make a decision about how she wanted to present herself, he said. And the rest kind of just came from that.Burns and Robertson used the summary to tie together the sum of her career into a single experience track training in information assuranceAccomplished online educator and corporate coach with extensive experience making com plex topics understandable. Academic and business background in IT consulting and process analysis. Uses real-world examples and firsthand working experience to illustrate complex principles. Highly commended by students and corporate trainees for meticulous follow-up and eagerness to engage everybody in class discussions and assignments. Extensive experience improving presentation and content of online teaching programs. Competent French and Spanish. Learning Chinese.The final version makes it clear that Robertsons experience is not just theory.The thing is that the students I teach now are likely the same students I would teach in a corporation, Robertson said. These are not young students theyre adults earning degrees and skills for their job, most are even there on behalf of their company.In a sense, she said. I never stopped working in the field. I am still in it and instructing those who are. I just didnt know how to bring that out in my resume.