Off the Shelf: The Retail & CPG Blog

By now, you’ve probably heard about the incident where two Dominos employees decided to enhance food intended for customers with their own special recipe of additives.  If not, you can read about it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/business/media/16dominos.html?_r=2&ref=business

The internet is dense with examples of how web 2.0 communications, e.g. blogs, gripe sites, social networks have created havoc and damage to corporate brands and images.  There is no question that these new media will persist and likely proliferate.  Just pick a company name and insert it into the URLs www.IHATE(companyname).com or www.(companyname)SUCKS.com.  There’s a good chance the site already exists.  The internet is a double edged sword that can buy you desired awareness and public praise or place a giant e-spotlight on your least proud moments faster than child actor gossip travels to TMZ.  Some of the most compelling sources of information are employees, current or past, publicly praising or covertly condemning.

So from a governance and management perspective, how do you wield this potentially awesome yet dangerous tool to your advantage?  How do you exert control over the effect of your employees on your image and brand while still respecting them and respecting their rights?

• Is it ethical, moral, and/or legal to disparage your employer online?  Does it matter whether you do it during work hours versus during time off?
• How do you differentiate between an employee stating an opinion versus disparaging their employer and possibly sharing sensitive information?
• What are the implications of posting trade secrets?  How do you define a trade secret?
• What policies should be instituted to protect against these damaging information?  What policies and enforcements can be instituted?
• Are there consequences for posting false information?

Some ideas about developing your corporate position on participating in web 2.0 communications related to the company:

• Do you have goals/ guidelines for what you want to accomplish using social media (e.g. raise awareness and visibility, supplement the traditional channels of communication like help lines)?
• Do you have relevant guidelines for this area for proper business conduct?
• Are employees explicitly informed as to whether they are allowed to participate in social media during company time?
• Do you have/ want/ need an oversight or review function?
• Do you have explicit guidelines on what can be posted on internal social media platforms?
• Are employees allowed to identify their company affiliations on their public messages and postings?
• Do you have guidelines for how your employees discuss the competition?

Some thoughts for employees thinking about sharing their thoughts indiscreetly:

• Are you really anonymous on the web?
• Can the company find you?
• Can the company monitor your web activity?
• If the company does find you, can it fire you?

Yes, plenty of questions and not many answers at this stage of the game.  What I can tell you in this space is this: Enterprises should manage social network dangers with sensible policies leveraging a combination of proper training and use of technology.  Do not do this reactively to a recent fire that was created, but go through the necessary thought process (like the questions above) and develop a position on what you want to accomplish.  Then your policy can be developed to support these goals.

Your next challenge will then be getting your employees to follow the policies, but that’s a topic for another time.