No 'Personal' Opinions About Work

Like any Job , Profession out there , there is good and bad in every position. 

There has to be a proper way to vent , let off your frustration, get things changed for the good of all involved. 

Complaint lines ( anonymous )

Suggestion cards

proper frustration channels to help deal with lifes problems in job situations or public frustrations.

Never just venting up the chain or spewing out hurts, disappointments or other ideals at the boss.

 Proper chains of command that protect the employee from retribution or retaliation 

That being said , that is why you have to create cultures of Teamwork, Family, loyalty. 

Common Cause or Common Bond for working together or getting along with each other. 

As a general rule, I think that one should (1) be quiet, (2) make posts private or (3) carefully consider the impact one's public statements have before making them.

I think "3" is the only practical option here. "Be quiet" would also work, but that just seems a bit draconian, and impractical with the prevalence of social media these days.

In some ways, disclaiming your association with your employer almost reinforces it, but either way, if you post on social media about topics directly related to the industry you work in, your comments reflect on your employer.

Just as company culture/ethics/etc influence employees, companies are not independent entities, they are the sum of their employees. If employees are showing through their posts that they hold extreme positions, or have an odd outlook on something, their opinions and attitudes are surely reflecting on the company as a whole, particularly if they are in a position to directly influence company policy or product.

Who pay your subsription?

You or your employer? 

Any opinion bases on my background Is by my own .

I think your summary is exactly correct.

Being in Sales, I am always mindful that what I say or write reflects not only on me, but my employer.  I think that everyone owes their current employer at least Public loyalty while you are cashing their paychecks.  

And remember that in this brave new world, nothing you type (or say, now - thanks google/amazon) is ever forgotten once its captured by any type of electronic device. 

I used to be a big social media fan. Now, I essentially post nothing and just use it as a news feed. I am not comfortable posting my opinions all over the internet from a professional use account. I've always found that baffling.

Doing so is bound to change someone's opinion of you at some point, whether that's a coworker, a customer, a superior, a subscriber, whatever. It could be for the better, sure, but it's also pretty likely to make not want to do business with you or your organization.

I know that that has 100% been the case for me, in the past couple years in our, uh, "volatile" political/social environment. 

As far as what employees should be able to say, it's a trickier question. In a perfect world, I'd say they can say anything. They should just be prepared to face consequences if said statements don't match up to the company line or culture. However, off-brand messages from individual employees can pretty quickly impact public perception if you aren't careful. So I get why any company would want to limit what employees post. 

I tend to ignore these kinds of disclaimers on social media posts. Companies are composed of a number of individual people, working within a legal corporate framework. So any opinion you express is a window into the opinions/culture of your employer, regardless of how you decorate your message.

If more than one employee of a company had posts like that "work is crazy, can't wait for vacation" message, it tells me that maybe working for that employer is chaotic and stressful, and that maybe people don't love working there.

I'm not a fan of being muzzled by social media policy, and fortunately Milestone has been very generous in that regard. I haven't been asked to represent my employer here, and I pay my own membership fee. I do it because I see it as an opportunity to increase my personal equity, and I get some satisfaction from being helpful/informative. While it isn't necessarily a deal breaker, I consider this an important factor in my job satisfaction and would be discouraged by a restrictive social media policy.

I voted 'Anything" because the question says "What should employees..".  I think they should be free to say whatever they want, but we all know that is not the case.  Meaning technically you can say what you want, but you may also lose your job because of what you say.

Employee's can post whatever they like.  However, employees should never confuse the freedom to post whatever their opinion of the day is with "protection from consequence" as a result of a public post.

That seems to be where many employees get confused.  Yes, you can post whatever you like.  Yes, there could be consequences as a result of your post (either positive or negative).  Yes, you choose whether you keep your job or if your actions dictate your termination.

Likewise, you impact your future employ-ability based on the general public's / hire manager's perception of your social presence.  Much deeper than most realize. 

Note, the manufacturer head of manufacturing, Alex Asnovich, cited in the post, has now removed all his tweets but one.

Undisclosed is the only option.  It would be interesting to see who is actually saying what for comedic purposes only.

When hiring talent, I make sure I do my own due diligence, and this includes everything I can find on line that the candidate put their name to.   In the end, I will hire the best qualified candidate - who scares me the least. 

I had a big argument about this with a much younger/mpore-hip-than-I employee, who felt this was "prying into the candidate's personal life." 

Yep.  That's exactly it. 

If I find nothing but helpful well-reasoned comments on a site such as IPVM?  Awesome for them - they're proving that they know their stuff and are willing to share it:  I value this sort of interaction very highly.  

If instead I find a lot of vitriol, trash-talking of customers, fellow employees, and/or former employers?  My decision becomes easy.

If it's on line, it's fair game.  

New example: Tyco Specifier Defends Dahua And Hikvision Backdoors:

I saw this string months ago and haven't commented prior to this post.

Disclaimer; RE: Disclaimer: My twitter account contains the very same one that is mentioned in the OP.

With that said, I don't use this disclaimer as some kind of shield from being fired by my employer for uttering potentially offensive things... instead, I use the small amount of common sense that I possess to not post offensive things that would lead someone above me in the corporate food chain to consider firing me - if only to protect the brand/company from potential damage which could ensue based on my public words.

The primary position driver here, imo, is whether or not you are a sole operator vs being part of a team.  Sole operators can say whatever they want to say and the fallout falls entirely on them and theirs.  When you are a part of a team, the dynamic is - and should be recognized as - different.

I am a US citizen protected by the Constitution.  But I am also an employee of a company - and a part of a team.  When I engage publicly - on any topic - I understand that even though I have a constitutional right to free speech, this right does not shield me from the responsibility I possess to protect my employer (team) from any fallout caused by the words I utter publicly.

Finally, I want to thank John (and his team) for allowing us all to utilize the Undisclosed posting function.  As an IPVM OG who has an opinion on lots of things, I take liberal use of this feature that allows me to engage constructively without having to worry about the need to protect from the above-mentioned potential dangers to my team.

Herm Edwards 'Dont press send!'

Undisclosed for me is the only option. Other wise I could only view here and post nothing.