I’m always very suspicious of people who join organizations and suddenly start posting about achievements of the organization or vouching for its credibility online via there on personal social media handles. This is a dichotomy which I’m unable to resolve for reasons I can hopefully articulate.
Part of this is because this seems opportunistic behaviour. Most employees today are corporate mercenaries who will switch for the even a slightly better opportunity. And yes, I say this as someone who works in HR – I also do not see anything particularly wrong with that. There is of course a subconscious eyebrow-raise I do (as do most people) when they see someone who has switched multiple organizations in a short period of time (job-hoppers as they are termed) but it is something I’m actively trying to guard against. The nature of the job contract is to ply your trade for a team as long as it is mutually beneficial. To then move on should invoke no hard feelings or judgement. Someone who works for an organization all his or her life is a rarity and should not deserve any brownie points. I quite liked the seed of this analogy which I first read in a book called ‘The Alliance’ by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn.
Having said that, it goes without saying that while you’re on that team you should be all-in, regardless of what period of time it is for. To be a thorough Organization Citizen as one would expect in all other forums. And therefore social media posting – if it is deemed to be a critical part of the job as many jobs may today – should be fine and acceptable and not raise hackles? Think of it as representing the organization in a pre-placement talk or a conference.
I think the conflation lies in using your ‘personal’ brand to push an ‘orgainzation’ brand when it is apparent to anyone that your association is utilitarian at best and tenuous at worst. To be a mouthpiece of the organization is then similar to influencers peddling products, not respecting the sanctity of your personal network by sharing and pushing messages which are possibly inauthentic. We all toe the lines of our organizations when we need to – this is true for political party spokespersons to employees at the lowest rung. But it was always assumed that personally, within our own private circles we’d be more honest and open. And the loss of this seems disingenuous.
Possible exceptions where I think I do perceive the organization citizenship to be legitimate is where it is earned or where the association is more than just the employee-employer one. If you’re the founder of a firm for example. Or you’ve worked for a lonng time and it is believable that you have actually ‘drunk the kool-aid’ of that company. Or if there’s a personal bond the organization has repaid which is stronger than the regular job contract you owe – e.g. helping employees out in times of personal distress for e.g. as we have seen with Covid-19 related downsizing and redundancies.
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