Your Boss Is Big Brother, Part 2

I recently saw this article about how access to the internet, the use of social media and how important connectivity is so important to the next generation of workers.  These "digital natives" as they are sometimes referred, would prefer a lower paying job that provides them flexibility on their use of social media, the location of where they work  and the devices they use to complete their work rather over a high paying job that restricts these practices. The author raises some questions for employers that look very much like the ones I raised in my prior post on social media and employment.  The questions in the article included:

• What is the appropriate level of openness? Should employees be prevented from slamming their bosses' ideas, for example? Should managers be restricted in the kinds of things they can say to or about employees?

• How much blurring of public and private life is too much? Social media encourages people to mix work- and nonwork-related communication, but some workers prefer to keep their social lives strictly off-limits.

• How can the company prevent abuse of social media? Things can get ugly quickly — all it takes is one thoughtless comment. Employees and managers need to know that there will be serious consequences for any misuse of this potentially combustible form of communication.

• When employees from VPs to interns are sharing company information on Twitter, on Facebook, and in blogs while your competition is watching, how do you ensure that your employees understand what information is confidential and what is public?

This is just another reminder that as our mobile devices and use of social media become an integrated part of our work life that we should remember Big Brother will be watching....