Human Resources: WorldatWork Journal Reports:High Numbers of Employees Blog About Their Employer

A high number of employees are blogging about various aspects of their employment, and much of the blogging is not positive, according to a new report in the WorldatWork Journal (Fourth Quarter 2006 edition). Two attorneys from a major Cleveland law firm report this finding in their paper “Bloggers in the Workplace: An Employer’s Rights, Risks and Responsibilities.”

Arlene Brens and Troy Prince, attorneys from the Thompson Hine law firm, found 48,500 separate blog entries—some mentioning companies by name—in a search of Technorati using the search string “work sucks.” Technorati is a search engine that monitors blogs.

“Individuals diary their daily lives (including whining about the various aspects of their employment as well as their employers, and protesting political issues) and commonly use blogs,” the authors wrote. “The use of tagging coupled with the ready availability of search engines for public blogs make it easy to find blogs about any topic.”

And they went on to warn: “The days when employees published information by simply posting information on breakroom bulletin boards are long gone. Blogs, wikis, tagging, social networking and peer-to-peer networking potentially can transform an employee with access to a computer into a veritable publishing powerhouse capable of broadcasting rich, multimedia information worldwide with the click of a button.”

The WorldatWork Journal article outlines some fundamental capabilities and tools that enable participatory publishing through blogging. The paper discusses some legal challenges facing employers in developing effective policies to regulate and control employees’ behavior and some practical solutions for HR professionals in dealing with blogging.

“This combination of personal and professional publication using tools such as blogs poses a significant challenge for HR professionals,” Brens and Prince wrote. “It is critical for HR professionals to develop policies and training procedures to help employees understand the difference between internal and external participatory tools such as blogs, and effectively harness the power of these tools for positive purposes while minimizing the potential for harm.”

About WorldatWork Journal
WorldatWork Journal is published quarterly by WorldatWork. WorldatWork (www.worldatwork.org) is an international association of human resources professionals focused on attracting, motivating and retaining employees. Founded in 1955, WorldatWork provides practitioners with knowledge leadership to effectively implement total rewards – compensation, benefits, work-life, performance and recognition, development and career opportunities – by connecting employee engagement to business performance. WorldatWork supports its 30,000 members and customers in 30 countries with thought leadership, education, publications, research and certification.

About Thompson Hine
Established in 1911, Thompson Hine is among the largest business law firms in the United States. For the last several years, the firm has been named one of the Best Corporate Law Firms in America (in an annual survey of corporate directors conducted by Corporate Board Member magazine). With more than 370 lawyers, Thompson Hine serves premier businesses worldwide. Brens is a labor and employment attorney and focuses her practice on the representation of employers and management in all aspects of employment litigation and labor relations. Prince is an intellectual property attorney and a registered patent attorney. His practice ranges from aspects of intellectual property law, to electronic commerce and information technology aspects of the law.

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