Don’t Rely on Employees’ (Not So) Common Sense

TM (new)Here is an excerpt from an article written by Deanna Hartley for Talent Management magazine. To read the complete article, check out all the resources, and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.

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Taco LickerNot too long ago, a picture of a Taco Bell employee licking a huge stack of hard-shell tacos — in a uniform, mind you — surfaced online and set off a media firestorm. Apparently the picture was taken in response to a contest intended to feature employees enjoying a new product. But the spirit of creativity took a turn for the worse.

Besides abruptly halting my Mexican food cravings and giving the employee in question his 15 seconds of infamy, the stunt had tangible ramifications. Regardless of the intent, no one (perhaps discounting some of his buddies) thought it was funny in the least, and it didn’t take long for the fast-food chain to terminate his employment. An interesting facet of this story is that it wasn’t even the taco-licker who circulated the picture via social media. All it took was someone else in the room — in this case a co-worker, who was also fired — to freeze-frame the moment for eternity.

Then there’s the Wendy’s employee who was similarly let go by the fast-food chain for starring in this photo where he’s directly guzzling what appears to be some (under different circumstances delicious) soft serve ice cream right out of the tap. The picture later went viral via Reddit, and other publications scooped the story.

That’s the tricky thing about social media: People can never be too cautious or exercise enough common sense to avoid being in situations where they could end up the laughing stock of the digital world. The problem is that common sense isn’t that common after all, as it turns out. This sentiment was reinforced by Aliah D. Wright, manager and online editor at SHRM and author of A Necessary Evil: Managing Employee Activity on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn … and the Hundreds of Other Social Media Sites, during a press briefing this week at SHRM 2013.

We’ve all said or done things in the heat of the moment that we come to regret. Hindsight is 20/20. But if people decide to enter it in the public realm (i.e. on Twitter, Instagram, etc.), then they have to resign themselves to the fact that the post or interaction will be permanently frozen online for all to see, and no

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Deanna Hartley is a senior editor at Talent Management magazine, and has worked at the publication for more than four years. Prior to that, she earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She has had an array of pieces featured in publications including The Times of Northwest Indiana, Daily Herald-affiliate Beep, The Chicago Defender and Skin Inc. magazine. She can be reached at dhartley@talentmgt.com.

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