Are You What You Tweet?

A few months ago, Fair Work Commission (FWC) in Victoria, Australia ordered a company to pay compensation to one of its ex-employees who had been dismissed on the grounds of inappropriate workplace behaviour. While the company insisted that the said employee used objectionable language on social media, the Commission observed that such language was commonplace at his workplace, and also that he was unaware of the company policies on social media usage. While organisations ensure that there is a social media policy in place, the aspect of educating its employees, and issues related to their personal spaces are left wide open.

- Anamika Sinha and Narayanan Arunachalam

Raman Gonaggal, the Founder of Quantum Change Ltd. was concerned when Jayesh Mathur, a member of his team and lead data analyst, sought an appointment to meet him along with a few team members. When Raman had subtly enquired, "What is it regarding?" Jayesh had responded by stating that it concerned the team being upset with the behaviour of a new comer- Rajat Ganguli - and therefore, the team wanted him to intervene. Raman remembered Rajat as the young statistician who had been hired only six months ago. Raman was aware that Rajat had issues related to team inclusion, in spite of every support from the HR Manager. His behaviour was disrespectful, with knee jerk reactions. Raman had so far ignored his actions, considering him to be too young, and, this job being his first exposure to the corporate world, he was struggling to find and define his space in the system. Raman believed that he would adjust and learn. As he was on the call with Jayesh, he observed from the glass wall of his cabin that a few members had gathered around Jayesh, and, instantly sensed the seriousness of the matter. Since Raman was not expecting any client call for another hour, and also with the team members seemingly angry and agitated, he decided to meet them immediately, before things got out of hand.

Quantum Change Ltd. was a founder-driven, data analytics company that enabled agile marketing and consumer analytics through a real-time attribution and optimisation technology. Established by Raman, a graduate from IISc Bangalore, the company specialized in fastest ROI time to its customers, which was less than four weeks. The company hired dedicated business analysts, data scientists, developers, designers, engineers and researchers who had graduated from the best management, engineering and statistics schools. In all, the firm had about 150 employees and generated a revenue of about thirty crores.