In the avalanche of current stand-downs, redundancies and reduction of hours, emotions will run at an all-time high and not all employees will be so understanding of your decisions as an employer and may take to social media to ‘vent’.
So that raises the question: How can you avoid being sledged on social media by disgruntled ex-employees? Your company’s reputation can be easily tainted by comments on social media made ex-employees. In addition, employees have access to your company’s sensitive information.
Underestimating the power of social media is the biggest mistake a company can make. A small tweet or a short post could either do wonders or collateral damage to an organisation’s reputation.
Preventative actions
The best way of avoiding trouble is to prevent disputes or disagreements to happen in the first place.
You should have clearly documented policies in place so that your employees are well aware of the rules, the expected performance, conduct and what actions the company can take in the case of under-performance.
Make sure you have a social media policy in place. This takes the guesswork out of what is appropriate for employees to post about your company, who can post it and other restrictions.
You should also have a written employment agreement in place, containing a confidentiality clause that prevents an employee from using or disclosing any confidential information. ‘Confidential information’ should also be clearly defined.
Be Smart with Severance
If you need to part company with an employee, it’s important to follow a fair and legal process.
Warnings and terminations should never come as a surprise. Sacking a person without any warning will not only create a disgruntled ex-employee but also a potential legal dilemma. Unless the actions of your employee involve serious misconduct, you should always provide them with an opportunity to respond to the warning(s) and a reasonable chance to rectify the problem.
If you are having to let go of employees due to the COVID-19, make sure you seek qualified advice before you do so, and ensure authenticity and care toward your employees in the process.
Clean Up the Mess
You have to be perfectly sure the sensitive information of your company doesn’t go out along with an employee you just terminated.
As soon as you terminate your employee, be sure to block access to all sensitive information, including email and other accounts on your management system. This would require you to change password, permissions etc.
How to Deal With Trouble
So, after taking all the above precautions, you may still end up with some social media action. What do you do then? The hard truth is that unless you have a non-disclosure agreement in place, there is really not much you can do. This is why it’s absolutely necessary to take all precautions. If sensitive information has leaked at the hands of a disgruntled employee or you have been defamed in the press, the damage has already been done. The internet is viciously unforgiving and sensitive information may keep circulating till the end of time.
Thus, take the above precautions and keep the reputation of your company safe.
If you require information on this important area of management, please contact us. At Signature, your first consultation is always FREE
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Author: Mats Eriksson
Hi Mats,
Former disgruntled staff are nowhere near as bad as unethical business competitors who upload bogus posts on Glassdoor to win more market share, e.g. google “TeleBiz Cairns” and look at the fake comments about me and my company. This same author (whom we are closing in on) has also claimed to have held numerous positions at TeleBiz which in fact were never on offer, and he alters his disgusting comments each time we bust him lying and point out the truth. And to top it off, Glassdoor consistently refuses to remove the obviously false and highly defamatory information.
Apparently, employers have been known to upload false info on Glassdoor to misleadingly raise their business profile ( which I condemn), but having researched such claims I’d say it is very rare exception, compared to >50% of false reviews uploaded by supposed employees (ex-spouses, jilted lovers, business competitors etc).
Hi Mats,
Former disgruntled staff are nowhere near as bad as unethical business competitors who upload bogus posts on Glassdoor to win more market share, e.g. google “TeleBiz Cairns” and look at the fake comments about me and my company. This same author (whom we are closing in on) has also claimed to have held numerous positions at TeleBiz which in fact were never on offer, and he alters his disgusting comments each time we bust him lying and point out the truth. And to top it off, Glassdoor consistently refuses to remove the obviously false and highly defamatory information.
Apparently, employers have been known to upload false info on Glassdoor to misleadingly raise their business profile ( which I condemn), but having researched such claims I’d say it is very rare exception, compared to >50% of false reviews uploaded by supposed employees (ex-spouses, jilted lovers, business competitors etc).
Hi Mats,
Former disgruntled staff are nowhere near as bad as unethical business competitors who upload bogus posts on Glassdoor to win more market share, e.g. google “TeleBiz Cairns” and look at the fake comments about me and my company. This same author (whom we are closing in on) has also claimed to have held numerous positions at TeleBiz which in fact were never on offer, and he alters his disgusting comments each time we bust him lying and point out the truth. And to top it off, Glassdoor consistently refuses to remove the obviously false and highly defamatory information.
Apparently, employers have been known to upload false info on Glassdoor to misleadingly raise their business profile ( which I condemn), but having researched such claims I’d say it is a very rare exception, compared to >50% of false reviews uploaded by supposed employees (ex-spouses, jilted lovers, business competitors etc).
Hi Mats,
Former disgruntled staff are nowhere near as bad as unethical business competitors who upload bogus posts on Glassdoor to win more market share, e.g. google “TeleBiz Cairns” and look at the fake comments about me and my company. This same author (whom we are closing in on) has also claimed to have held numerous positions at TeleBiz which in fact were never on offer, and he alters his disgusting comments each time we bust him lying and point out the truth. And to top it off, Glassdoor consistently refuses to remove the obviously false and highly defamatory information.
Apparently, employers have been known to upload false info on Glassdoor to misleadingly raise their business profile ( which I condemn), but having researched such claims I’d say it is a very rare exception, compared to >50% of false reviews uploaded by supposed employees (ex-spouses, jilted lovers, business competitors etc).