Let your employees blog!

I wrote this opinion piece for the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2007.  Please read this article in tandem with my advice on company social media policies. (in earlier blog posts)

Let your employees write blogs
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Perry Binder
May 7, 2007

In the past few years, blogging employees have been fired for criticizing unreasonable bosses, decrying the cowardice of supervisors and posting provocative personal photographs. Anyone who's worked in the corporate world for awhile can remember when company dirty laundry was once contained internally at the water cooler, while now it is aired on the Web for all to see.

Many workers have the innocent, yet misguided, notion that what they do on their time with their home computer is their business. But in most states, employees can be fired for virtually any reason unless they are union members or allege the firing violated a discrimination statute.

So when a company spends a fortune creating and promoting its brand, should it guard that identity by instituting a no-blogging policy, or allow workers the freedom to discuss company life online? My answer is a resounding "Let 'em Blog!" for two reasons -- money and morale.

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