My worker keeps whinging about his job on Facebook – how do I get him to stop?

Dear Aunty B,

I have recently been ramping up the promotion of my business on social media and as a result, have become Facebook friends with a number of my workers. We all get along in the office so I didn’t think twice about connecting with them online.

The problem is one of my employees often complains about his job via Facebook status updates and, on one occasion, he even went as far as posting a conversation I had with him online. I have now seen three separate negative posts about my company on his page and I am getting worried about what this might do to our reputation.

He must know that I will potentially see the posts. So is he just trying to get my attention? Can I bring this up with him at work or am I supposed to assume that what’s on Facebook is private?

Marie,

Sydney

Dear Marie,

Yes, you can bring this up with your employee and I think you absolutely must.

Whether your employee likes it or not, what we do online is no longer off limits. If he is choosing to post negative comments about your business on a platform where you will see them, he has to expect that you will act on what he has said.

My advice is to take the discussion offline as quickly as possible. The only way this can be resolved is if you have a face-to-face conversation.

Arrange a meeting with him to let him know you’ve read his comments and are concerned. Give him an opportunity to tell you his problems, while also making it clear that posting potentially damaging comments online could hurt your business, and therefore his job prospects, in the long run.

Be Smart,

Your Aunty B

What are you waiting for? Email your questions, problems and issues to auntyb@smartcompany.com.au right now./p>

Follow SmartCompany on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.