10 August 2007
Facebook faces ban by even more companies
However, some argue that such measures imply a lack of trust in employees.
Facebook, the rapidly-growing, web-based social network utility appears to know no bounds in terms of growth, but should you ban access to it in your organization? According to a recent report in UK newspaper, The Telegraph, many organizations already are:
- "More than two thirds of employers are banning or restricting the use of Facebook and similar sites over fears that staff are wasting time on them when they should be working. Several companies have warned employees that accessing the site during office hours is a sackable offence. More than 70% of businesses, including banks and law firms, have barred the sites."
Draconian measures or business sense?
Banning employee access to sites deemed mainly for social, non-work
purposes is nothing new. For example, a vast number of organizations
have banned access to the popular web-based e-mail site, Hotmail.
More than two thirds of employers are restricting the use of Facebook and similar sites over fears that staff are wasting time on them.
However, with current and developing discussion on the role of trust within organizations, and allowing globally dispersed employees to connect via web- or intranet-based social networks, such heavy handed action from employers has drawn criticism.
Trust is the key
In response to the report, independent brand consultant Krishna
De suggests on her blog that the Facebook ban echoes similar
organizational mistakes of the past: "Do
not let your people think that you do not trust them – that would
bear too much of a resemblance to the times when companies didn’t
let you have access to an external phone line for fear that you would
spend too much time on the phone to family and friends and not focus
on business results."
A number of other stories this week have suggested the benefits of social networking sites range from help in defining work and sharing resources, although skeptics may argue the lack of any measurable gains with such activities.
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