Banning Facebook at Work

I am amazed that in 2011 this is even an issue frankly but it astonishes me how poorly some companies treat their workers.  I have no idea how companies truly believe they will produce more productive workers if they punish them, monitor them and generally treat them like children.  This rant has been prompted by a friend of mine who stated recently that he would no longer be posting on Facebook during the day as his employer was shutting down access.  My reply was:

“Companies that block Facebook or indeed any websites are so misguided. Why do they insist on treating people like children? Also do they not know of smartphones?  If someone is not working by being on Facebook they will continue to not work by doing something else, like spinning in their chairs or something. I guarantee productivity will not increase one little bit. People need to be motivated not hit with a big stick”

Rather than debate the whole motivation versus punishment issue I will leave it to Maurice Martin, director of server and cloud platforms for Microsoft UK, to close this off:

"I had assumed that if you want to be a leading technology department you are going to want to hire the best talent possible," responded Martin. "To do this you want to provide them with a flexible interactive environment where they can communicate in the way they do at home. I'm afraid this is done on Facebook," he added. "I find it strange that the kinds of IT departments that are trying to attract the best talent would be so traditionalist. It's an old prohibitionist approach, and it's an old way of thinking about our problems.  "If you turned off Facebook at Google or Microsoft, I think half the staff would revolt." Read more: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2077597/leaders-forum-banning-facebook-strange-microsoft-chief#ixzz1WUxhxk6g 

Moreover, what company these days can do without using Facebook?  Given that the world is using Facebook to communicate companies need to be part of the debate.  Social Media monitoring must be a crucial part of any companies arsenal and the only way to monitor is of course to participate.  Proactive and forward thinking companies would use Facebook to evangelise their message to both recruit talent and to motivate existing talent.  I would be amazed if any of these companies ban Facebook at work: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2011/08/29/the-companies-doing-the-most-to-make-their-employees-happier/

Any how rant over........