No Bull Business Blog

Boss fires employee on Facebook

There is no question that some employees have posted dumb comments on their Facebook pages, but it may be even dumber for the boss (who has been “friended”) to answer back. TheNextWeb.com shares one such exchange between an employee and the boss. After the employee called the boss a “pervvy wanker” on her Wall, the boss replied by blasting her incompetence, called her a few choice names and fired her in the post.

That’s extreme, but the problem for companies is growing. A recent Proofpoint survey of companies with more than a 1,000 employees said that 8% of the companies had terminated employees for their posts on sites, such as Facebook and Linkedin. That twice what it was a year ago.

DIGGING DEEPER
To head off trouble and to make sure everyone in the company knows what’s acceptable, it pays to have a written policy. To get help, read the Executive Report: Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

The dangers of Facebook, Twitter, blogging in the workplace

Excerpted from the Executive Report - Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

Employees are flocking to social network sites. Every organization needs to have a written policy on use of social networking sites by employees - for the good of both employees and the company.

A recent Harris Interactive survey found that just under half (48%) of U.S. adults have either a MySpace or Facebook account.

Usage statistics are much lower for Twitter, with only 5% of Americans saying they currently use it. But that number doesn't tell the whole story.

Twitter grew 1,382% year-over-year as of February 2009, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the U.S. for the month.

As you might expect, there are substantial differences in who is and who isn't using these selected social networking sites:

• Three-fourths of those ages 18-34 (74%) have a Facebook or MySpace account, but this quickly drops off the older people get. Just under
• one-quarter (24%) of those ages 55+ have an account.
• Tweeting's also more common among the young, but not by much; only 8% of 18-34-year-olds use Twitter, while 7% of those ages 35-44 use it, 4% of those ages 45-54 and only 1% of those ages 55+ use it.
• While men and women use Twitter at the same levels (5% each), women are more likely to have a Facebook/MySpace account (52% vs. 45%).
• There's also an educational difference in usage of MySpace and Facebook. Two in five people with a high school degree or less (40%) have a Facebook or MySpace account, compared with 55% of those with some college and 52% of those with at least a college degree.

DIGGING DEEPER
To protect your company and employees, it's smart to have a policy to explains what's acceptable and what's not. To find out more, get the Executive Report - Facebook, Twitter and Your Employees: The Dangers of Social Networking

Most Difficult Conversation: Tell employee he smells!

When it comes to difficult conversations with employees, which ones cause the most angst for managers?

Firings? Nope.

Explaining why someone didn't get a raise? Guess again.

The most dreaded conversation:

Telling an employee that he or she smells!

And the easiest conversation?

Confronting an employee about having inappropriate photos on his or her computer.

In fact, managers don't mind giving an employee bad news if he or she deserves it. But they squirm when things aren't so cut and dry, says the survey by HR News Update and Communications Update of more than 900 managers and HR professionals. The managers were asked to rate each of 19 difficult conversations on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the least difficult conversation and 5 being the most difficult.

The 5 Most Difficult Conversations (Total percentage those giving ratings of 4 or 5)

1. Telling an employee that he or she smells or has a hygiene problem (78.9%)
2. Telling an employee the company is downsizing and he or she will no longer have a job (73.8%)
3. Informing an employee that he or she is being demoted (68.4%)
4. Telling a hard working, valuable employee (but who doesn't have tremendous talent) that he or she isn't likely to rise any higher in the organization (67.6%)
5. Explaining to an employee this his or her spouse's behavior at a company event was unacceptable (53.4%)

The 9 Least Difficult Conversations (Total percentage those giving ratings of 1 or 2)

1. Confronting an employee who has porn on his or her computer (77.9%)
2. Confronting someone who is spending too much time on MySpace.com, etc. (74.9%)
3. Talking to an employee about begin tardy or missing work (72.9%)
4. Confronting an employee who is job hunting on company time (70.7%)
5. Confronting someone who has stolen from the organization (70.0%)
6. Confronting someone for sending inappropriate email (68.7%)
7. Confronting an employee who's blatantly lied (65.5%)
8. Firing an employee for cause (63.7%)
9. Confronting someone who is spending too much time on the phone (60.3%)

And the 5 Conversations with average ratings:

1. Explaining to an employee why he or she didn't get a promotion
2. Firing an employee for performance
3. Explaining to an employee that his or her clothing is inappropriate for the office
4. Telling a normally excellent employee his or her work is not up to par
5. Explaining to an employee why he or she didn't get a raise

ADDITIONAL HELP:
We've all had some of these “uncomfortable” conversations with employees. To help, you’re invited to check out the Executive Report: Handling Difficult Conversations with Employees: What Every Manager Needs to Know.

Boss can’t spell? You’re lucky!

This might explain a few things. More than a third (35% actually) of entrepreneurs identify themselves as dyslexic, says a London professor. That's staggering when you consider that only 10% of the population is dyslexic.

But it makes sense. The study says dyslexics are:

• more likely than nondsylexics to delegate authority since they're used to getting others to help them read


• excel in oral communication


• extraordinarily creative in maneuvering around problems

Dyslexics have trained from childhood to identify people they can trust to help them. Their willingness to delegate authority gives them a great advantage over nondyslexic entrepreneurs who tend to be control freaks and do everything themselves, says the report in the New York Times.

Dyslexics tend to be hands-on who push very little paper. They lead by talking a lot, not writing memos and reading.

On the other end of the spectrum, only 1% of corporate managers are dyslexic.

Well-known dyslexic entrepreneurs: Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airways; Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage firm; and Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinkos. Orfalea also proudly admits to having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

"I get bored easily and that's a great motivator. I think everyone should have dyslexia and ADD."

Your next CEO? Women to watch

Interesting report in the Wall Street Journal. The number of women in top corporate jobs (particularly CEOs) has barely budged since 2002. But WSJ's Top 50 Women to Watch in 2008 indicates that the pipeline of talented women ready for top jobs has grown significantly. Read WSJ's report to see who they are.

Ante up: Negotiating “tells” to watch for

Playing poker is lot like negotiating business deals. The best "players" know how to read their opponents. In both worlds, savvy opponents try to act weak or appear uninterested, says Gregory Stebbins, author of PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals.

These behaviors will tell you a lot about the person sitting across the negotiating table:

• The Stare-down: Often the tactic of the person in the weakest position. He or she tries to appear strong and confident.


• The Uninterested: If they're still at the table, then they're still interested. The uninterested tactic is usually a sign of strength.


• The Shakes: Don't misinterpret trembling, shaking hands as fear. More than likely the person is excited about the way the deal is going and is in a position of strength.


• The Sigh (or Shrug): Another attempt to hide a position of strength.


• The Chatterer: If the person across the table is normally quiet, but is now chatting up a storm, more than likely they're nervous and in a weak position.


• The Quiet Type: Top negotiators avoid unnecessary conversation. Important information often slips out during those asides.

The worst employees of 2007: Can you top ‘em?

What's the worst thing one of your employees has done? Can you top this list from Careerbuilder?

• Bank employees forgot a 73-year old woman was checking her safe deposit box and locked the building and went home. She was found by a cleaning person later that night.


• The postal carrier that was stealing money from birthday cards, etc.


• Employee, unhappy with his wages, decides to make up the difference by pushing his manager out of the way and helping himself to the cash register.


• The West Virginia ambulance driver arrested for driving impaired after running two red lights. He was stopped because he didn't turn his siren on.

See the full list here.

If you can top these, please share them by leaving a comment.

Flying high - and IMing all the way

Not sure if this is good news or bad news. Starting next week, business travelers on JetBlue will be able to e-mail and IM in flight, reports the N.Y. Times. The No Bull Blog thinks most of us are too connected. We spend too much time "communicating" and not enough contemplating. But for execs who can't survive a couple of hours without "checking in," your prayers have been answered.

Best hires? People you don’t like

Looking for creative and innovative people? You're probably better off hiring wackos and malcontents instead of the best and the brightest.

That's what the Harvard Business Review touts. The article says:

• Hire mavericks and misfits who'll drive you crazy because they don't go with the flow and bull-headedly champion their own ideas.


• Hire novices who don't know how things have always been done.


• Encourage employees to defy their bosses


• Keep creative types away from customers - and anyone in the organization focused on money.


• Get  your happy and content employees "fighting" over ideas.

You get the picture. To shake things up, you actually have to shake things up. And HBR says the payoffs can be huge.

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