Does your boss invade your private social space?

Are you considering "unfriending" your boss on a certain social networking site? How comfortable are you allowing your boss into your private space? This Boss' Day (October 16th), we probe experts.

Is a bosses pry, an employee's cry? With socialising becoming the need of the hour; it isn't new for corporate chiefs to take down the proverbial ‘glass door', thereby making themselves available and approachable to their workforce. While this enhances employer-employee ties, does it authorise our employers to stick their oar in their employees' personal matters? One instance of employer intrusion happens when employees today find themselves dealing with their boss' calls even after they're off the clock. "One of the key elements in project and team management is communication, briefings and debriefing meetings.

To allow employees to be effective and get a full-working day effort, the briefings and debrief meetings with the team should be done amongst the first few things of the day, with the latter part being kept for one's own tasks," voices Brian Almeida, MD, Direxions Global Solutions Pvt Ltd. While, Zuber Baig, COO, Chrisp Solutions is of the opinion that, since employers today are open to us indulging in our personal tasks (answering personal calls, engaging in chats, etc) during work hours, we should respect their authority if they call us post our office hours. "A boss will never call unnecessarily or for no legitimate reason. As he/she allows people to be social during working hours, likewise, it is the responsibility of employees also, to answer their boss' calls, even if it is post their work hours," he adds.

Our generation is under a ‘social media spell'. Virtual networking has deluged our channels of communication, thereby making us more accessible than ever before. The hitch lies in the fact that employers today, by the usage of telephonic messengers and social networking, have more access to their employees' personal information than they would bargain for. "Senior professionals in the industry believe that co-worker friendships on various platforms help build job satisfaction, teamwork and productivity, as long as it is within the limits of professional boundaries. However, being overfriendly on such forums might be taken in the negative sense. While social networking sites help in connecting people and breaking the ice; however, caution should be exercised against sharing too much too soon," feels Sanjay Ghanghaw, head talent management, Watson Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd.

Certain bosses' inquisitive nature causes them to get involved in their employee matters pertaining to their marital status, family disputes, financial impediments, or physical condition. "In this question, there seems to be an implication that if a boss were involved in their employees' personal life, it will mar his/her ability for effective and unbiased decision-making," explains G. Ravindran, CEO and MD, SHRM India. Ghanghaw further adds, "Bosses must be careful while inquiring on matters concerning their employees' personal life and should know their boundaries, thereby limiting their discussions to the individual preference, choices, hobbies, etc in order to break the ice and build relationship, but discussions around employees' personal life should be avoided."

It all boils down to one question, ‘where does a boss draw the line? "Employers should appreciate the fact that their employees come to the workplace to get a job done and that is the primary objective," explains Almeida. Hence, where bosses should be cautious about overstepping certain boundaries and becoming too ‘involved', employees should be flexible enough to accommodate some time for their work-related matters even when they're off the business clock. "Life is a two-way street; if the team has the freedom to call the boss, then the boss should have the freedom to call his/her team, post working hours. A boss and employee relationship should be that of self-determination and mutual respect. Thus, when it comes to people-relationship management – nothing is too much. In tomorrow's enterprise, people want to bring more of themselves to the enterprise. The question is - can the enterprise or bosses channelise and leverage that desire," concludes Ravindran.