Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
With technology moving at lightning speed, cities and towns must find a way to keep up with their technologically savvy employees. Employees now access the Internet and e-mail through their cell phones, and many use social and business media sites, sometimes during the workday.
These developments raise numerous issues for municipal employers – issues that were addressed by a range of speakers during the Sept. 16 meeting of the Massachusetts Municipal Management Association in Salem.
Many Internet policies fail to cover emerging issues, making it difficult for employers to police social media use, according to Boston Human Resources Director Vivian Leonard. She urged local officials to take a proactive approach to creating a policy, rather than waiting until a situation arises.
“As leaders you really have an opportunity to define how you’re going to use technology,” she said.
Leonard said there is no one-size-fits-all solution to such an evolving issue. She suggested forming a committee to review the current city or town policy to make sure it’s up-to-date. The committee should include representatives from human resources, labor and the legal department, among others.
Employers, she said, should ask themselves this question: “Does this cover all the areas we could potentially have some liability on?”
When reviewing and developing a policy, it’s important for employers to state that they have the right to monitor their property. Leonard suggested setting up Web filters and time restrictions for Internet usage. She also recommended that employees be required to acknowledge the policy every time they turn on their computer.
The language of the policy should be kept simple, so all can understand – the less legal jargon, the better. She said the consequences of violating the policy should be clearly stated.
Direct communication
Social media, such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, can allow leaders to communicate directly with their constituents, bypassing any third party. Two managers who use blogs said it’s an effective way to get information out, rather than relying on the media to report the information.
The town of West Boylston and the city of Lowell has been using blogs to communicate with their residents and businesses. Both blogs have been receiving positive feedback from readers, who are going online now more then ever to gather important information.
The town of West Boylston uses a blog to communicate about projects, policies, milestones and prominent deaths in the community. Town Administrator Leon Gaumond said he posts items about once a week. In the last two years, he has published about 350 blog posts.
Gaumond said about 10 percent of the town’s households have subscribed to the blog, meaning that they receive posts by e-mail. He said the blog’s readership exploded during the winter ice storm in 2008. With power out for more than a week, citizens turned to the town’s blog, often using “smart phones,” for storm updates.
The blog has a simple design, integrated with the town’s website, including a lake photo. Gaumond said he usually spends no more than five minutes on each blog update, often using material that he or his colleagues have already been working on. Users can see the most recent posts listed on the front page, along with the date and the size of the file.
Gaumond said that in his small community, he does not have the time or staff to monitor and respond to comments, and he doesn’t see the blog as a forum for public debate.
Lowell’s blog, on the other hand, welcomes and responds to comments, although they are approved before they are posted.
Lowell’s blog covers city projects and initiatives. The blog’s goal, according to Donna McIntosh, executive assistant to the city manager, is to promote the city, which is particularly important during an economic downturn.
McIntosh said the blog has about 200 posts and 85,000 visits. When navigating through the blog, users are able to search for different issues, such as economic policies or community development.
McIntosh stressed that consistency is key. There are usually one to two posts a week, with users receiving alerts when a new post goes up.
Social media and hiring
Joseph Bartulis Jr., an attorney with Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple, said the Internet is quickly becoming a major factor in the hiring process.
Social media sites can be useful for gathering background information on candidates, he said, and professional sites such as LinkedIn can be used to fact-check an applicant’s resume. Provocative photos, poor writing skills, references to illegal drug use, and ill feelings about former employers found on social media sites can be red flags. Bartulis said that up to 35 percent of employers do not offer a job to a candidate because of information found on social media sites.
Employers must be careful, however, not to use the information in a way that violates anti-discrimination laws or policies. And they must use social media in a uniform manner. If an employer is going to use the Internet to screen applicants, it must do so for all applicants.
Bartulis recommended having a neutral party conduct any social media searches. He said it’s best to write down what you are looking to verify in the search. He also warned employers not to “friend” potential applicants in order to gain access to private sections of their profile.