Understanding the Challenges of Social Media in the Defense Workplace Panelists Matt Robbins Ethics Resource Center Chandra McMahon Lockheed Martin Alex Heidt Harris Corporation Dean Krehmeyer UVA Darden School of Business Moderated by Laurin Mathson Lockheed Martin LOCKHEED MARTIN PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Topics of Discussion Matt Robbins Chandra McMahon Alex Heidt Dean Krehmeyer National Business Ethics Survey, Social Networking Findings Social Media and Cyber Security The balancing act of social media in the workplace Perspectives from education & research and implications for orgs
2011 National Business Ethics Survey Social Networking Findings Matt Robbins The findings and conclusions of this report are those of the Ethics Resource Center alone and do not represent the views of the corporate and individual sponsors of this research project.
Ethics Resource Center Non-profit organization; established in 1922 Advances high ethical standards and practices in public and private institutions Key activities: Identify drivers of good conduct in business Support companies seeking to improve ethics cultures Educate policymakers about drivers of good conduct in business National Business Ethics Survey Longitudinal study; seventh since 1994 Workplace ethics from employee perspective In 2011: 4800 participants, employed in business Telephone and web-based survey Data collected from September 15-29, 2011
The Headlines Misconduct at an all time low Whistleblowing at an all time high Retaliation, pressure and perceptions of senior leaders alarmingly negative Two drivers: Recession & Social Media Corporate America is ripe for an ethics downturn
Profile of Active Social Networkers (ASNs) Spend at least 30% of work day on social networking activities Predominantly male (62% of ASNs are male) 18-44 years old Managers o 51% are top or middle management o 56% manage at least one employee At company for 3-5 years 11% of employees are active social networkers in the workplace
Social Networking What sites are active social networkers using?
ASNs Have More Negative Ethics Experiences
ASNs Observe More Misconduct 9
ASNs Perceive More Retaliation 10
ASNs More Tolerant of Questionable Behaviors
It isn t all bad. Active social networkers are: More willing to say positive things about their employers More willing to say positive things about their colleagues More transparent with employers on social networking use Ethics Resource Center www.ethics.org 703-647-2185 Matt Robbins, Researcher matt@ethics.org 12
The Advantages of Social Media For the Bad Guys Chandra McMahon
Social Media in the Workplace: A Balancing Act Alex Heidt How do we tap into the enormous advantages of this medium while mitigating the damages that can occur?
Advantages & Disadvantages The Good: Connect with potential and current customers, employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders Maintain current relationships Opportunity to speed up the pace of business Better establish company message Recruiting new employees The Bad: Misuse of company time and resources Display of negative views about personnel, the company, or the industry from internal sources Conflicts of interests The Ugly: Breach of confidentiality Harassment Employee termination Wrongful termination lawsuits
Social Media in the News Military board: Dismiss Facebook Marine 26-year old Marine Sgt. Gary Stein http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74899.html#ixz 1wIr63syf Stein, a nine-year veteran, posted comments on Facebook calling Obama a coward and the economic and religious enemy, the Administrative Discharge Board was told. Stein urged the president s defeat in the fall election, writing screw Obama and superimposed Obama s face on a poster for the movie Jackass. Teacher fired over Facebook post gets her job back Court invokes notion of contextual integrity to evaluate social media user s online behavior http://blog.internetcases.com/2012/02/09/facebook-privacy-employment-termination-contextual-integrity/ Teacher fired from job for posting, After today, I am thinking the beach sounds like a wonderful idea for my 5th graders! I HATE THEIR GUTS! They are the devils (sic) spawn! The comment was in response to a student at a different school drowning on a 5th grade field trip. The court ultimately decided that the statement was repulsive but not grounds for termination Virgin Atlantic sacks 13 staff for calling its flyers 'chavs' Facebook blog insulted passengers and claimed aircraft had cockroaches http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/virgin-atlantic-sacks-13-staff-for-calling-its-flyers-chavs-982192.html "Following a thorough investigation, it was found that all 13 staff participated in a discussion on the networking site Facebook, which brought the company into disrepute and insulted some of our passengers."
Reducing Risks 1. Grab as many social media sites with your company name as possible. 2. If you are not already doing so, start monitoring mentions of your company online by using Google alerts, Technorati, and other tools. 3. Consider using employee monitoring software. Note: this won t do much good when it comes to social media activity that happens on cell phones! 4. Create a social media policy and communicate it. 5. Consider pre-hire inquiries. 6. Have a plan or process for managing and responding to problems. 7. Educate employees on social media in general.
Creating a Successful Social Media Policy Definitions. What is meant by social media? Exactly what do you consider to be a private, employee-based communication versus a company-based one? Use of Company Equipment. Are you going to let employees use company tools for personal reasons? If so, which ones? When? Why? With what limits? Monitoring. Who s watching what? What disclosures must be made? Accuracy of Information. Any post should be factual, timely, and within the employee s scope of expertise. Personal Use. Since most employees use of social media is for personal reasons, these activities should generally be restricted to personal time. Training Requirements. Don t assume most employees automatically get any of this. So make sure they do. Create an FAQ. Many companies will also include a Frequently Asked Questions document with their social media policy.
Social Media in the Workplace: Perspectives from education & research and implications for organizations BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE INSTITUTE FOR CORPORATE ETHICS The Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics is an independent entity established in partnership with Business Roundtable an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with over $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 14 million employees and leading academics from America s best business schools. The Institute brings together leaders from business and academia to fulfill its mission to renew and enhance the link between ethical behavior and business practice through executive education programs, practitioner-focused research, and outreach. The Institute is housed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Dean Krehmeyer Executive Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics Executive Director, Initiative for Business in Society Darden School, University of Virginia KrehmeyerD@darden.virginia.edu
Social Media and Students What do we know and what are the implications from the next workforce? The millennials growing up with social media How students evaluate risks, opportunities, and so what of social media Direct ethics/compliance implications of social media for organizations: Privacy / security Reputation / Integrity / transparency Indirect ethics/compliance implications of social media for organizations: Trust and ethical culture
Business Roundtable Institute research on trust in business What factors translate into trust?
Research findings: Significant factors of public trust
Impact of age on Integrity trust factor
Summary of findings and discussion questions Integrity, profitability (e.g., financial performance), and ability are top-tier factors for building employee trust For integrity, trust is a dynamic factor across age groups. In particular, the next workforce is a skeptical audience whose trust builds with experience Identification with an organization s values matters higher trust What are the implications direct and indirect of social media for organizations? What are the opportunities for social media to build stronger ethical cultures in organizations?