No Bull Business Blog

Gossip takes up 65 hours a year

Excerpted from the Executive Report: Managing Gossip: What You Need to Know to Keep the Rumor Mill in Check.

The Human Resources Department at Randstad USA reports that out of a survey of 1,540 U.S. employees, 60% revealed their biggest pet peeve in the workplace was employees who gossiped.

Beyond this, the American Society for Training and Development report on business ethics found 21% of workers admitted to frequently participating in gossip, and 64% reported gossiping sometimes.

The business communications company Equisys researched office gossip in 2002 and found 65 hours a year per employee are wasted gossiping about the workplace.

Multiply 65 by the number of your employees and the grapevine can suddenly look like an enormous money pit for your organization.

DIGGING DEEPER
Office gossip is a fact of life, but you can keep it from getting out of control. Find out more in the Executive Report: Managing Gossip: What You Need to Know to Keep the Rumor Mill in Check.

What employers don't want to see on Facebook

Excerpted from the Executive Report: The HR Guide to Recruiting with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Even though most job seekers are warned to clean up their social networking profiles so they'll make an attractive impression, many don't - or just don't seem to care.

So what do hiring managers find that reflects badly on a candidate?

A CareerBuilder study found that 35% of managers reported finding content that turned them off. The top examples cited:

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information - 53%
  
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs - 44%
  
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients - 35%
  
• Candidate showed poor communication skills - 29%
  
• Candidate made discriminatory comments - 26%
  
• Candidate lied about qualifications - 24%
• Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer - 20%
  

Just using a "smiley face" or emoticon prompted some managers (14% at least) to disqualify a candidate. Another 16% dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an e-mail or job application.  

DIGGING DEEPER
Social media has made a lot of information available about job candidates. But what can an potential employer do with it? Find out in the Executive Report: The HR Guide to Recruiting with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

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