QUARTERLY REPORT: BUILDING YOUR EMPLOYMENT BRAND SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY continued fromthe cover Orler pointed out that publishing


one’s place of work didn’t start with the “Employment Info” section of Facebook; it’s been around since people started creating resumes. The need for a policy, she said, relatesmore to protecting the company’s reputation or private information. “Where the policies getmore


required is when an individual projects something about the company as a whole that has implications to that business or brand,” Orler said. “Anything that falls under company confidential or detrimental to the company brand, the company has a right to pursue.” Many companies are being


proactive on the confidentiality issue outside ethics policies, with more andmore adding disclaimers to internal e-mails that the information is “not for public consumption.” The other function of a social


media policy, according to Orler, is to ensure employers and employees know what to expect. What if an employee is having a bad day and tweets that he just left a terriblemeeting and hates his boss? It’s a gray area, so having transparent boundaries around the company’s ability to monitor employees’ online activities is critical. Orler said she’s not convinced


that the stand-alone socialmedia policy will become a staple at every company. More likely, behavior and ethics policies will be revamped to encompass not just socialmedia, but e-mail,mobile devices and other electronic innovations. ■


Use networking site to your advantage Tomaximize your success using LinkedIn, Brian Burch, senior associate at Lambert, Edwards &


Associates, a public relations and investor relations firmbased in Grand Rapids, Mich., has these five tips: 1. No more generic e-mails. Themore you personalize your e-mails, the better. 2. Give ’em substance. It’s difficult to tell what someone is really like simply by looking at their profile. However, professionals canmake things a whole lot easier by adding asmuch information as possible. 3. Start a conversation. “Use the invitation as an opening to a conversation,” Burch suggests. 4. Numbers don’t matter. The I-have-more-friends-than-you approach is not what LinkedIn is about. 5. Give a favor, take a favor. Don’t hesitate to help someone in your network with a question or problemthey might be having. Use the Q&A section to your advantage by offering advice to those seeking it — they’ll likely return the favor. ■


HR and the new healthcare reform


including coverage for dependents until they turn 26 and the prohibition of lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits. Formany employers, this


S


means increased costs, plan restructuring and increased communication with employees. Christopher Donigan,


corporate vice president of human resources for B. Braun Medical, Inc., headquartered in Bethlehem, Pa., said his company will see a “dramatic” increase in cost. For example, this year’s open enrollment brought in three times the number of dependents because of the age increase to 26, and because a parent with a family plan can add another dependent without increasing the premium. Donigan said they’d followed


discussions of the bill, preparing tomake changes. “We’ve done a lot of work


ahead of the bill getting passed,” Donigan said. “We were watching [it go] through the legislature.” Employees at Donigan’s


company did not absorb all of the cost increase, he said. They saw slightly higher premiums, but themain change was the introduction of a deductible and co-insurance. The company significantly


ome provisions of the healthcare reformbill enter full swing in 2011,


increased communication with its employees during the introduction of the changes, including face-to-facemeetings, newsletters and webinars. “We believe it was very


helpful, and I would say generally employees were understanding,” Donigan said. “We can’t increase coverage and have it not increase cost.” In addition to plan


restructuring, the company will add health centers in its larger offices where employees can see a doctor at no cost, Donigan


said. It will also up the number of health screenings and help employeesmanage chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. Beingmore invested in employees’ overall health and well-being is a trend among employers, and Donigan said that while the effects won’t be immediate, the companymay see cost savings as early as 2012. “Doing things going forward


to help on the wellness side will pay dividends in the long run,” Donigan said. ■


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