Singled Out? The Risks of Using Social Feedback in Performance Management

As
we have adopted social media into our organizations, we’ve seen many
instances where it has become necessary to discipline employees because
of their behavior on social networking sites due to the negative light
that behavior has shed on a company. It goes without saying that because
of these behaviors, companies have scrambled to draft social media
policies to minimize these occurrences and to manage employee
performance overall. In many circumstances, actions and policies are put
into place to protect the employee as much as the company.

But aside from social behavior, social feedback is another component
of social media that is becoming a growing trend in its impact on
performance management —  using the comments and / or criticisms a
company receives on social networking sites to manage performance.

Have we reached a place within social media adoption where a company
can  (or should) use solicited (or unsolicited) comments, remarks or
feedback as a basis for disciplinary action or to affect a single
employee’s performance plan. And is social feedback any different from a
comment card or if someone called in and complained?

If you’re a company who manages a Facebook page, you undoubtedly have
received negative as much as positive feedback on your wall. As we all
well know, Twitter is often the “911 button” for disgruntled
consumers. As a company, what do you do when you receive social feedback
that refers to a specific employee by name? Or perhaps not by name, but
with enough data mining, you can trace the situation back to a
particular employee?

For example:

You are
in the restaurant industry and you receive negative feedback on Yelp or
Foursquare, or even an application such as OpenTable. The review speaks
to poor service and to poor food quality. Is it fair to discipline the
employee who served that table?

OR

Your
company receives a comment on your Facebook wall that identifies a
customer service representative by first name and speaks to the bad
experience they had with this employee. Is it fair to include this
feedback in the employee’s performance review?

Part of becoming a social workplace means adapting your internal and
external policies and processes to mitigate risk  in social
environments. But culture is an important, and essential, component to
an effective social workplace, and it’s important to weigh the risks of
using social feedback in your performance management process against the
impact this could have on how employees view themselves and their
performance within your company.

There’s a lot a grey in this area and companies might be tempted to
approach with caution or to assess situations on a case-by-case basis.
But at some point your company will have to take a definitive stand to
better equip you and your employees for these situations. With this on
mind, here are some considerations and suggestions.

Considerations:

  • Why should one single employee be held accountable for a situation
    that could have potentially involved a collective of peers? Doesn’t this
    detract from the essence of team collaboration and responsibility?
  • To hold an employee accountable for actions they themselves did is
    one thing, but is it fair to hold an employee accountable for someone’s
    opinion or what could be the result of consumer angst against not a
    particular employee, but rather, the company?
  • A good social media policy protects both the employee and the
    company. So does integrating social feedback into your performance
    process truly protect both the company and the employee, or are you
    really just seeking to protect the company?
  • This kind of change in policy should also be covered in your code of
    conduct and other related policies, and doing so means that you’re not
    only making changes in how you manage performance but that you are
    making changes that influence your corporate culture as well.

Suggestions:

  • Determine whether actions regarding social feedback will be on a case-by-case basis or if it will be a general policy.
  • KEEP CONSISTENT. Social feedback isn’t any different from say a
    comment card or if someone called your company directly to complain.
    Look at how you treat those situations and apply the same policies.
  • If you’re going to use a social feedback as a performance management
    tool, then you need to make sure that you’re gleaning feedback from ANY
    social networking platform where your company has a presence and where
    feedback can provided rather than just one specific one.
  • APPLY CONSISTENTLY. If you discipline (or reward) one employee based
    on feedback, then you must apply this to all your employees.
  • If you use negative feedback as a means to discipline (or penalize)
    your employees then you should also recognize them when POSITIVE
    feedback is received.
  • Prepare yourself to respond to employee confusion or backlash should
    a particular situation arise and the employee feels that they were
    singled out and / or they feel that the situation involved more than
    just themselves. How will you handle this?
  • Use the negative social feedback as a learning opportunity on how to
    better improve your customer service or costumer management rather as
    an opportunity to discipline one single employee.
  • Modify your social media policy to include guidelines on why social
    feedback is considered a valuable component to employee performance.
  • If your company chooses to incorporate social feedback, make sure
    that you include this into your onboarding process where you review
    social media engagement guidelines.
  • Require that all existing employees acknowledge this modification to
    your social media policy and have them sign the agreement again.

Has your organization considered using social feedback as part of
your company’s performance management process? Do you have any other
considerations or suggestions? I’m by no means a performance management
expert. These are high level thoughts that I have considered myself. If
you are a performance management expert, by all means, please provide
your thoughts on this topic.

Leave a Reply

Singled Out? The Risks of Using Social Feedback in Performance Management

As we have adopted social media into our organizations, we’ve seen
many instances where it has become necessary to discipline employees
because of their behavior on social networking sites due to the negative
light that behavior has shed on a company. It goes without saying that
because of these behaviors, companies have scrambled to draft social
media policies to minimize these occurrences and to manage employee
performance overall. In many circumstances, actions and policies are put
into place to protect the employee as much as the company.

But aside from social behavior, social feedback is another component
of social media that is becoming a growing trend in its impact on
performance management —  using the comments and / or criticisms a
company receives on social networking sites to manage performance.

Have we reached a place within social media adoption where a company
can  (or should) use solicited (or unsolicited) comments, remarks or
feedback as a basis for disciplinary action or to affect a single
employee’s performance plan.

If you’re a company who manages a Facebook page, you undoubtedly have
received negative as much as positive feedback on your wall. As we all
well know, Twitter is often the “911 button” for disgruntled
consumers. As a company, what do you do when you receive social feedback
that refers to a specific employee by name? Or perhaps not by name, but
with enough data mining, you can trace the situation back to a
particular employee?

For example:

You are
in the restaurant industry and you receive negative feedback on Yelp or
Foursquare, or even an application such as OpenTable. The review speaks
to poor service and to poor food quality. Is it fair to discipline the
employee who served that table?

OR

Your
company receives a comment on your Facebook wall that identifies a
customer service representative by first name and speaks to the bad
experience they had with this employee. Is it fair to include this
feedback in the employee’s performance review?

Part of becoming a social workplace means adapting your internal and
external policies and processes to mitigate risk  in social
environments. But as someone who  considers culture an important, and
essential, component to an effective social workplace, I believe it’s
also important to weigh the risks of using social feedback in your
performance management process against the impact this could have on how
employees view themselves and their performance within your company.

Generally, I’m not opposed to taking your time and assessing these
situations on an individual basis. But at some point your company will
have to take a definitive stand to better equip you and your employees
for these situations. With this on mind, here are some considerations
and suggestions.

Considerations:

  • Why should one single employee be held accountable for a situation
    that could have potentially involved a collective of peers? Doesn’t this
    detract from the essence of team collaboration and responsibility?
  • To hold an employee accountable for actions they themselves did is
    one thing, but is it fair to hold an employee accountable for someone’s
    opinion or what could be the result of consumer angst against not a
    particular employee, but rather, the company?
  • A good social media policy protects both the employee and the
    company. So does integrating social feedback into your performance
    process truly protect both the company and the employee, or are you
    really just seeking to protect the company?

Suggestions:

  • Determine whether actions regarding social feedback will be on a case-by-case basis or if it will be a general policy.
  • Prepare yourself to respond to employee confusion or backlash should
    a particular situation arise and the employee feels that they were
    singled out and / or they feel that the situation involved more than
    just themselves. How will you handle this?
  • Use the negative social feedback as a learning opportunity on how to
    better improve your customer service or costumer management rather as
    an opportunity to discipline one single employee.
  • Modify your social media policy to include guidelines on why social
    feedback is considered a valuable component to employee performance.
  • If your company chooses to incorporate social feedback, make sure
    that you include this into your onboarding process where you review
    social media engagement guidelines.
  • Require that all existing employees acknowledge this modification to
    your social media policy and have them sign the agreement again.

Has your organization considered using social feedback as part of
your company’s performance management process? Do you have any other
considerations or suggestions? I’m by no means a performance management
expert. These are high level thoughts that I have considered myself. If
you are a performance management expert, by all means, please provide
your thoughts on this topic.


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