You have to trust people
Posted by Joseph Thornley on May 6th, 2008
It should be apparent from the series of posts about Michael McDerment ’s and Saul Colt ’s session at Third Tuesday that Freshbooks is a very social media savvy organization.
Not only does CEO Michael McDerment blog, but at least five other employees also blog. And there will likely be more.
So the obvious question: What will you do if one of your employees messes up and gives out a company secret or does something to hurt the company? Do you try to curb your employees’ blogging?
Michael McDermont: “It comes back to hiring. You’ve got to find people with shared values. And at the end of the day you have to trust people. … That’s the best you can do.”
It strikes me that this is a problem for large organizations which, by their nature, lose the ability to ensure fit between employees and company culture. But having acknowledged that, for organizations that still are of a size where this is practical, McDerment focuses on exactly the right place – management’s hiring decisions and attitudes.
Other clips with Freshbooks’ Michael McDerment and Saul Colt :
A Fresh(books) approach to social media by Dave Fleet
Your next great business idea may be staring you in the face
Freshbooks: Don’t talk about the product. Talk about what it means to people
Freshbook Execs listen and respond to customers
Online media deliver results. But traditional media still add legitimacy
