Case Assessment as an Organizational Leader

1. Regarding the situation at hand, what should concern the CEO of FtT?

What should concern the CEO the most is finding a solution that will not antagonize other

employees and make them feel that they will be treated in a similar way as Hillary

Showalter. He should find a way of ensuring that the company values are upheld by

every employee regardless of the positions they are holding. To be able to do that then

the company must establish proper policies and enforce them to the letter. Moreover, the

work environment should be conducive in a manner that allows employees to come

forward with their problems without fear of reprisal. By sharing their concerns openly and

honestly the company can be able to modify things appropriately so that employees are

comfortable and remain productive at work.

2. What are the reasonable expectations of employees regarding the

privacy of their communications in the workplace?

Employees should understand that a workplace is a place for work and that their primary

responsibility is to be productive. However, it is good to accept that not all

communications taking place at the workplace are all related to work with employees

engaging in personal communications with fellow employees or other people outside the

workplace environment.

Finding a balance between these two types of communications becomes crucial.

Companies should first strive to come up with appropriate communication policies that

state what is acceptable and what is not acceptable when it comes to the communication

privacy of the employees (Rodriguez, 2016). Companies must stipulate clearly what are

the official communication channels and how employees should conduct themselves

when using the said platforms.

In my view, I believe that employees come with the mentality that what they

communicate in private with their colleagues should be private and it does not matter

what is being communicated which is a wrong mentality and it creates a sort of grey

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 area. But everything lies with the company in terms of what policies they come up with

and which defines everything clearly and understandably.

On the flip side, Rodriguez (2016) argues that the company should also value and respect

employee privacy even when they are carrying out their investigations. For instance, the

company should at least have notified the three employees that they would proceed to

look through their slack accounts that way it would not feel that they have violated their

privacy. Even if the company had a right to do it, they still should inform the employees

before proceeding to view their accounts.

3. Who owns employee communications?

Communication in a company is essential as it can determine whether the company

succeeds or fails. Employee communication squarely lies with the company and its

management as they are the ones who develop and enforce the policies. Communication

within a company should be two ways from the management to the employees and vice

versa and it should be open and be done on appropriate communication channels set by

the company.

Kang & Sung (2017) explain that company must ensure that the company's

communication is up to scratch and that employees can be able to access required

information in a reliable and timely manner and give their feedback and views at the

same time. It is also the duty to the company to develop communication policies that are

sound and in line with the current communication trends within companies. The only role

the employees have is to abide by the policies and give feedback where they feel things

should be changed or modified. Nonetheless, the company still oversees the employee's

communication.

However, it is important to note that the company cannot control what happens when it

comes to private employee communications whether it is between company employees

or those outside the company. But what the company can do is to come up with clear

policies that state how employees should conduct themselves and what they can or

cannot do when communicating in private.

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 4. What speech is protected? What speech is not protected?

Under the first amendment, several speeches are protected, and others are not

protected. Protected speech is those kinds of speech that are within the first amendment

conditions and which are considered not to have any threat of causing violence or

harming other people. Speech that is not protected are those that are said to be

violating the Principles of the Civil rights act of 1964 and other acts together with federal

laws and statutes (Harvard Business School Case Study)

Legal Questions

1. What did FtT's media and technology usage policy allow and what did it

prohibit?

The company gave its employees the right to use company resources for purposes of

doing company-related duties and whose access was based upon appropriate use.

Additionally, the company allowed the employees to access the internet for work-related

duties and for personal use with the latter being subject to limited times as long as it

does not affect an employee's work productivity. However, the policy prohibits employees

from sharing, displaying, or transmitting materials that are construed to have the

potential of causing a hostile work environment including obscene materials,

pornography, and ethnic slurs among other negative actions (Harvard Business School

Case Study)

2. Did FtT advise employees that it had the right to access electronic

communications?

Yes, the company stated clearly in its media and technology usage policy that it had

exclusive rights to access employee electronic communications tools and communication

channels with or without notice or consent as long as it is owned by Fresh to Table. It

further stated that employees should not expect privacy when it comes to access of

information from their company’s communication systems such as emails and

communication channels on the Fresh of Table's network (Harvard Business School Case

Study)

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 Ethical Principles

1. Reflect and discuss how do your values, beliefs, and worldview inform

your examination of the case?

From the case, I can draw several personal values and beliefs. First, I am a person who

values privacy and I always try to distinguish between my personal life and work life. I

am a believer in creating the right communication channels where people can openly

communicate their views and opinion without being overly critical and negative or be

afraid of facing reprisal. Companies must strive to develop communication channels that

will allow employees to come forward and express their concerns as this will minimize

the instances of employees engaging in negative communication amongst themselves

just to slur their colleagues.

However, I am of the view that companies should strive to uphold employee privacy.

They should establish policies that also safeguard employee privacy, and should they

want to access employee information they should first inform employees and seek their

consent.

Lastly, from the case, it is good for companies to develop policies that clearly state what

is acceptable and what is not acceptable and the consequence that would follow when

rules are broken. This way it makes it easy when the company must initiate disciplinary

actions against employees.

Work cited

Kang, M., & Sung, M. (2017). How symmetrical employee communication leads to

employee engagement and positive employee communication behaviors. Journal of

Communication Management.

Rodriguez, L. (2016). Principles that Should Govern the Right of Employers to

Monitor Employee’s Computer Mediated Workplace Communication: Private Sector.

Harvard Business School. 2017 - Fresh to Table Case

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