HR Compliance and Social Media
Dovetail Software joined hundreds of HR professionals last week in San Francisco for the 2012 HR Compliance Conference. Our own HR process design and social media expert Dwane Lay addressed the audience with tips on how to leverage existing social media and HR tools to identify gaps in company culture and address them.
Social media has dramatically altered our culture giving users a sense of belonging to a virtual community making it much easier to communicate directly and build personal relationships. Trends in social media in the business world allow for organizational transparency and can serve as a great platform for employee engagement.
However, it does create new considerations for HR compliance, an already daunting task, with constantly changing laws and regulations. HR functions must evolve using new technology and processes in order to keep up and ensure they’re effectively accomplishing their objectives. The well-versed Lay answered a few questions for me about company culture, social media and how to effectively handle HR compliance today.
Kirby Orosco: What do you define as “company culture” and how can that help an organization maintain its employees?
Dwany Lay: A company’s culture, at its core, is what is OK and what is not. It’s the behaviors we accept, the way we hold each other accountable and support our team. People want to work in a place where everyone is doing their part towards the greater good, and they want to know that they have an impact on the final result. Accountability and recognition are huge when it comes to retention, and those two factors go a long way in determining what your culture will be.
KO: How has social media changed interactions between companies and employees?
DL: I think the biggest change is that there is no longer a 9-5 relationship. Employees have access to information 24/7, and with social media tools, have much more power when it comes to disseminating it. This can be destructive, and many organizations build their policies with that danger in mind. But it can also be very valuable in getting the identity of the company pushed forward and the message shared, an opportunity too many are missing. Along with that change comes the realization that no company has a public face and a private face any longer. What you do becomes who you are, and no amount of spin will change that. Employees will have full exposure to what your organization does whether you want them to or not. The only question is whether they hear it from the company or on the street. Good employee relations require sharing and transparency, which doesn’t always come naturally.
KO: How can coordinating HR functions help improve and ease HR compliance?
DL: One of the toughest things about compliance is that it isn’t just about having good intentions. It also at times, means several functions must work together to achieve a difficult goal. The best example is probably disability accommodations. It’s not enough to want to help. At times, there will be documentation that must be created and stored, there are job descriptions and duties that must be reviewed, and there are application processes that must be examined to avoid issues. The companies that do this best are those with great internal communications.
KO: What are some challenges professionals face in HR compliance today?
DL: The biggest issue is constant change in the law. Just in the last year there have been changes in how we handle credit checks, organ donation, pregnancy, farm laborer identities, independent contractors, unpaid wages, terms of employment, and discrimination as it relates to gender identity and genetic information. Keeping up with the law is a full time job, and without the right tools, it’s easy to get lost.
KO: And how can Dovetail Software help with HR compliance?
DL: It’s all about communication and documentation, two things Dovetail does best. Keeping great records, flawlessly recording the activity and discussion that has taken place, and creating a pristine audit trail means no confusion, no backtracking, and no wondering what was done. It’s a huge help when dealing with the compliance needs of your organization.
