Selling Privacy, Social media and Cyberbullying at work

At least 40 alleged crimes by people using social media sites have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC in the last four months reported in the London Evening Standard  6th February.

Some cases  such as those that involving the threat of violence or a deliberate harrassment campaign were likely to be "fairly straight forward" and require prosecution. But he wanted to limit prosctions  in other cases because of the "chilling effect" on free speech which would result from an" overly enthusiastic"  approachig in bring charges.
His consultation will continue until next month .

Twitter and facebook have been asked for their views but he also wants the public to contact the Crown prosecution Service CPS with thir opininions on the subject. See CPS site and video on socia media  http://www.cps.gov.uk/



Cyberbullying is not just restricted to the activities of the school bully it seems. The bad behaviour has crept into the adult sphere of the workplace.

The 7th instalment in AVG’s Digital Diaries series includes responses from 4,000 adults in ten countries in relation to cyberbullying in the workplace. It maks interesting reading for both salespeople and sales managers.


10% of us has discovered secret on line conversations about us

What is said on line rarely stays on line.

Nearly one on ten has had a manager use information against them or a colleague which has been found on a social media site and 14% have had embarrassing photos or videos taken at a work event uploaded on to social media. This is as high as 19% in Spain .



 A small number of all adults (6 %) even found themselves subjected to unwanted romantic advances through on line media, and in the US this number rose to one in ten of all adults.



Of those that agreed social media has eroded their privacy at work, 24% now avoid posting on social networks that have caused them privacy concerns, while 23% limit their posts.

53% are more careful about what they post

23% have felt pressured into accepting a social media friend request from a colleague.



However we are not always the victim!

71 % of UK employees have considered criticising a colleague behind their back using digital communication such as email, instant messaging and social media.



An independent HR consultant Jenny Ungless says “ While you can’t control what people say about you on line, you can control the ‘ammunition’ they have against you.

Being more care about your posts on social networks or ensuring your privacy settings protect your personal information are just a few steps you can take”

Other key findings include:

• Different Forms of cyberbullying: Four out of five (82%) adults believe that sending unpleasant or defamatory remarks to or about a colleague using digital communications constitutes cyberbullying (93 % in UK and New Zealand). Other forms of cyberbullying include posting negative comments on a social media site about a colleague’s appearance at a work event (79 %) and criticising a colleague behind their back through email, instant messaging, social media or SMS (69 %).

• Incriminating or embarrassing activity on line: Nearly one in ten (9%) adults has had a manager use information against them or a colleague which has been found on a social media site. This is highest in the US (13 %) and Czech Republic (12 %).

• Cyberbullying driving workplace confrontations: Cyberbullying can easily spill over into heated debates in the workplace with more than half (51 %) of adults admitting they would confront colleagues in person if they felt they were the victim of cyberbullying. This is as high as 65 % in Germany, 56 % in France and 54 % in the Czech Republic. One in 10 (11 %) would retaliate to cyberbullying through digital communication.

• Cyberbullying policies: A quarter of adults (25 %) are not protected from cyberbullying as workplaces do not cover this within existing policies. Only 37 % of all adults know of a comprehensive policy, which covers cyberbullying, in the workplace. This is highest in Australia (57 %) and the UK (51 %) and lowest in France (20 %) and Germany (23 %).

• Social media responsibility: Half of all adults (50%) believe their company is responsible for the on line behaviour of employees during work hours if they are using their personal social media accounts. Sentiment is felt strongest in Canada (63 %) and the US (61 %) while only 27 % of Germans agree with this. Outside of work hours, only 16 %of all adults agree that companies are responsible for employees’ on line behaviour.

The report suggests that stricter enforcement of social media standards for social media netiquette is required. The implications don’t just stop with employees.

 Clearly employers such as sales and marketing managers who are responsible for their company’s social media presence need to engage with this issue.

 Until we all are clear about what is acceptable an what is unacceptable so far as on line behaviour is concerned, sales managers will need to take the time to  first to educate their team before establishing and enforcing policies so privacy in the work place can be protected  and the benefits of social media that we all enjoy and the free speech that the Director of Public Prosecutions is concerned about are not sacrificed.

Related Links :

Let's create a better internet

Crown Presecution Service http://www.cps.gov.uk/

Social media to improve your selling

CNBC report on the AVG study

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100421935/AVG_Technologies_Study_Reveals_Social_Media_Stokes_Workplace_Privacy_Fears

AVG Diaries

www.avgdigitaldiaries.com

Selling and Remote Working BYOD

In a study by Regus in 2012 72% of firms said that higher productivity was a direct result of flexible working practices. The desk based sales workplace is no longer always a cubicle, a hot desk or even a permanent desk. Companies and their IT companies need to adapt accordingly.

More and more sales organisations have embraced remote working. But there are inevitably concerns both from technical and cost management  view points over security concerns.

AVG in 2011 found that £3.37 million worth of damage was inflicted on small firms by cybercriminals  . AVG expect expect the figure will rise significantly for 2012 /13.

For example the Cloud computing company Dropbox last year encountered a number of serious  security issues  that may deter larger companies from using it. A number of password and usernames were stolen  from other websites and used to sign in into a small number of Dropbox accounts according to a report in City A.M. Feb 1^st .  

Advantages + for employer of Remote working

·         Competitive edge when seeking to attract/recuit new staff

·         Even increased staff loyalty

·         Reduced levels of absenteeism

Advantages +employees of remote working

           - Want and expect BYOD

- Technological advancesgive them a competititve edge in working.

IT departments are likely to be  pressured to set up and enable infrastructure from the increased use and demand for remote working. Cloud computing might help overcoming infrastructure shortages particulalry in

1.       Accessing data in real time

2.       Accessing data from multiple devices

Security concerns

1.       Network intrusion and infection

2.       Data theft and loss

Visual of security threats Trojans, worms, viruses,  hacking, malicious codes are on the rise according to BT

Security mitigation measures can include :  firewall management, intrusion detection, virus detection, spam prevention, disaster recovery, remote device deactivation

Security needs to  more sophisticated. Not only who and what is coming into the enterprise but also location and context.

Less of a concern because of their own stringent robust securitymeasures are remote meeting services e.g   Webex, Adobe Connect Adobe connect , GoTo meeting GoTo meeting

More affordable options are available through using  Skype ,  Facetime video conferencing  , communication tools like Flowdock Flowdock

It is easy to see the attraction of file hosting systems  like cloud computing such as Dropbox with its free 2Gb storage  which enables employees to access files anywhere in the world and keeps files on all computers up to date.

With this increase is remote working come additional challenges for sales team managers but that is a topic for another post.

Related Links

How will selling tackle the rise of Bring Your Own device (BYOD )?

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/how-will-selling-tackle-boyd-up.htm l

Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/

Webex http://www.webex.co.uk/

Adobe Connect http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/adobeconnect.html

 GoTo meeting http://www.gotomeeting.co.uk/fec/

Skype http://beta.skype.com/en/

Facetime video conferencing http://www.apple.com/uk/mac/facetime/

Flowdock https://www.flowdock.com/

8 core trends in Customer Experience for 2013

The Customer Experience

At the last TACK conference we had the pleasure of hearing one of the country's experts in the Customer Experience , Gillian James from TMI UK.



Gilliam James of TMI  in full flow

 I took some notes of her brilliant presentation and have made some reflections of my own to what Gillian brought to us .

Take a look at an Apple store and although it will still have Harry Selfridge’s edict about let the customer 'touch' and 'experience the stock' unlike the  Edwardian store they have done away with the cash till.

The thinking being “ Why do we need a checkout ? A checkout adds no value”

We have returned to a world where we are allowing the customer to buy emotionally. It’s all about 'love' as Gillian of TMI says.

Well that may be fine for retail but what’s that got to do with B2B?

Here are some thoughts:-

·       Relationships are even more important in B2B because as often as not we are charging a price premium.

·       The commercial world is blurring distinctions between customer, consumers. There is a an invisible connectivity going on.

·       Our company’s need to be less ‘corporate’  and appeal to people more.

·       Clients are demanding a full end to end experience. How Amazon delivers and services complaints is as important as just having the stock at a price.

·       Business has more stakeholders and they have much more knowledge

·       Business is more competitive.

·       Customers are looking increasingly for thought leadership.

Apple don’t benchmark against others in their own industry but rather compared against Four seasons and their Genius bar.

The devil is in the detail.

Evening unwrapping the packaging is designed as an experience.

There has been a move away from pay wall , charging for licencing to taste and see for free. Look at the approaches of Software companies such as Mail Chimp, Base camp etc.



Typical spectrum of responses to recession

Recession and the new normal has also seen changes in markets  such as grocery. According to Kantar Worldpanel (30^th Jan 2013)

The high end quality Waitrose growth of 8 %  4.6% market share and the lower end  value  LIDL 10%  growth market share 2.7% have done best recently and the bigger boys not so well e.g. TESCO still 30.4% market share in the last three months but a growth of only  3.3%.

Gillian gave us 8 trends to look out for in 2013 /4


I have changed her model into an octagon so let's see how the trends roll !



















1. Rise in Community

Have you noticed how stores are changing. There are becoming a space within the neighbourhood. Not only a store for whatever but a coffee shop.

This estate agent make is front of house
 look like a wine bar or restaurant

 

This estate agent has made their office
 front look like a drawing room

2. Importance of Peers

Some of us could spend 2 1/2 hours planning a trip but much of the time is now reading reviews by peers and following their recommendations.
Crowd sourcing is also to be seen other industries

In finance there is now over £0.25 BILLION lent in unsecured loans  in this way.


3. Co-creation

Customers are now involved in the creation of product. For example airline KLM got customer to suggest sandwich fillings for flights.

Sainsbury responded to a letter from a child quote wrote in asking why their Tiger bread was so called when it looked like the coat of a giraffe. The subsequently renamed it Giraffe bread ( formally known as Tiger bread)


4. By People

Customers want to relate and by related to by people even at web site. They want to feel they are dealing with a human being. We need to move away from impersonal corporate speak.




5. Transparency

Customers are demanding straight forward transparency. So MacDonald's now declare how many calories in a their burgers.
They expect Coffee stores to contribute to Corporation tax.
They dislike complicated tariff pricing for phones, texts etc.





6. Newism

We all like new !



7. Kindness- my cuppa tea

Random acts of kindness work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/worldbiz

Random acts of kindness can help businesses grow in surprising ways.

On the above link Peter Day talks with one woman who explains how the generosity of others has made all the difference to her company. Henrietta Lovell, the Rare Tea Lady, started her firm just before becoming seriously ill.
Through the kindness of strangers she has managed to return to health and run a prosperous company. She is now a great advocate for spreading the idea that kind gestures are an important force in the way we conduct our personal and professional lives.

8. Imagination

Use your customer’s imagination. The big idea that will revolutionise your market space is already in your customers’ minds. All you need to do is empathise — see the world and imagine the future through your customers’ eyes.



Related Links:
TMI   http:/www.tmi.co.uk/

BYOD How will Selling tackle BOYD up behaviour of Salespeople?

How will Selling tackle BOYD up behaviour of Salespeople?

Bring your own device (BYOD) is helping sales teams increasingly.  To attract the talent they need to prosper increasingly graduates and early career folk will select an employer on its flexible working arrangements and the freedom to connect to work away from the conventional sales office base.

Sales organisations that permit employees to use their own tablet or phone to work remotely will not only attract new and diverse talent but will also gain from less space more cloud usage and therefore less costs.

BOYD  and remote working also provide employees with a great sense of freedom and independence. This can result in salespeople who are more engaged in their work and could well help with staff retention. They can often feel more emotionally connected with what they do and thus give the business a competitive edge.

Security Concerns

Many believe that distributed working poses a clear and present risk to data protection.

Others argue that if the correct  procedures and processes are put in place corporate security can be stronger. In the future employees need to ta responsibility for adhering to procedures and policies.

Businesses will need to overcome the IT complexity that comes with flexible and remote working. Governance and controls will have to be intensified.

The mobile connected salesperson is already here. Sales management will need to embrace it. Technology’s main advantage to Sales is its ability to create freedom in the workplace, breaking   down internal barriers and allowing salespeople to cooperate more effectively and efficiently.

Yesterday some in the UK commemorated the ending of England’s civil war in 1649 with the execution of King Charles 1 who believed in the divine right of kings.

One of his ancestors a Saxon called Canute 1016-1035 allegedly  showed his fawning courtiers that some powers ( like the Divine right of Kings)are not in the power of the executive. He demonstrated that the ocean’s tides did not respond to his commands.

Likewise today’s executive will not be able to stop the tide of BOYD and remote mobile sales teams?

Selling workplace learning , Learning and Skills -Learning Technology Exhibtion 2013

Sally Moore of  TACK International demonstrates
 a new fun literature piece from TACK.
TACK launched their new LMS at the show
 Stand 297 West Hall

Day Two of the show.

Met lots of old mates and made new friends as well

Second day was as busy as the first

Well done to all at Learning Skills Show and thanks to Natasha at the Organiser's office










Some photos from Day Two of the Show

Left: Reed Learning stand had a Lichtenstein appearance in keeping
with the exhibition in London at Tate Modern
Right : Magician Sean Heydon sheydon@aol.com

No. 2 How to attract visitors to your exhibition stand :Magician Sean Short video clip of Sean doing quick tricks

Colin Hurst , Pinnacle Performance based communication skills

Alex Robertson , Director of Sales C.B .Learning

Bookaxis.com part of C.B.learning



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Some photos of the expo on day one of Learning and Skills Show 2013 Olympia 2 London
Learning and Skills Show 2013

Very busy day. If you are visiting on Wednesday29 I suggest you use the West Hall entrance round the back. It less of a scrum and has a cloakroom for Coats etc.

The Beaconsfield Kensington Olympia is also close by for lunch if you want to go off site but nearby and want a 'nice pint'.







Plenty of fun and good humour to catch
and entertain the eye and draw one into the expo stands.
Mr Qube got top marks for working in restricted movement costume.
I hope he does not have to run the London Marathon!

No 1.How to attract visitors to your exhibition stand: Animal Characters always amuse Who can resist this purple bear character

 

No.3 How to attract visitors to your exhibition stand Mr Qube Look no arms ! Short Video clip of Mr Qube



Good to catch up with Dave Rowan, Actor,
 Script write and events manager at People deliver change

Left: Video Arts CEO Martin Addison gave a great session on
Learning for the You Tube generation Right:  
http://www.differentdynamics.com
Great eye catcher
Madame Tussaud like bendy mirrors- Leaders come in
 all shapes and sizes including short photographers!

 In his 'Rethinking the future' Alvin Toffler advocated

 “ The illiterate of the 21^st century will not be those who cannot read or write but those who cannot learn , unlearn and relearn”

Acquiring new selling skills knowledge or skill set is usually achieved through formal instruction whether through instructor led or e-learning.

For example

When learning selling skills for the first time, in induction and foundation level sales programmes

or

When wanting to learn more  those more experienced salespeople realise their need to refresh and update their selling skills in the VUCA world ( Volatile, Uncertain, complex and Ambiguous)

Performance support on the other hand is increasingly considered  through application and maintenance of the sales knowledge to date.

For example:

When sales learners are trying to remember or apply learning in skills in for example in long time lined projects and account management relationships encountered some while after a 'course' or infrequently used skills, e.g. Prospecting if that has had a lower priority, networking events or working an exhibition stand, Big scale pitch presentation to large audiences.

Performance support and maintenance  may also be called upon when things change e.g. Change in legislation, economic conditions, change of personnel in procurement relationships , take overs , mergers or acquisitions  in Procurement.

Similarly support may be  required when something goes wrong e.g. Complaints, delays, product failure or mismatched expectations.

One of the ways to unlearn, relearn and learn new stuff is to go to  The Learning and skills and learning Technologies show now in its fourteenth year at Olympia.

 It's  the opportunity to view technology supported workplace learning all in one place.

With more than 120 free seminars, over 230 exhibitors, the   London’s Olympia 2 exhibition centre showcases the latest learning technologies, innovation and best practise .

Learning professionals have access  to join the free Learning and Skills Group on line L&D community at www.learningandskillsgroup.com.  

The Learning and Skills Group, an international community comprises of 6,000 learning and development professionals interested in organisational learning and learning technology.

Membership provides access to on line resources and events, collaborative tools and knowledge sharing opportunities - and enables one to interact with other conference delegates and L&D professionals throughout the year.

In addition, the Learning and Skills Group Members Area at the event is a place for members to meet in person and is  a great chance to explore the topics and issues most important to them.

Tack International are to be found at stand 297


http://www.differentdynamics.com