Ethics case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics case - Essay Example Tarek should also consider the fact that Hind has taken measures to improve the quality of pizza and that blind taste tests have rendered Holiday Inn made pizza to be at least of the same quality as the quality of pizzas made by two major pizza delivery competitors in Amman. Another fact that needs to be considered is that the strategy of installing a pizza oven in the kitchen in the past did bring modest improvement in the room service business, and the only step that could be taken after considering the departing guests’ responses was to improve the quality, which when tried did not improve the business. These facts strongly justify the establishment of a separate pizza-making facility with a separate identity. However, Hind’s proposal that this should be kept a secret is subject to critical analysis. The ethical issues in the case are hidden truth about the identity of Napoli Pizza. Clients are being made to believe that it is a separate pizza-making facility that apparently has no connection with Holiday Inn. This is evident from the fact that separate Napoli Pizza brochures and special Napoli Pizza boxes are being requested for each guest room in addition to Napoli Pizza hats and jackets for the room service personnel that would be assigned the task of delivering the pizzas to the clients. The fact that their prefix would be other than that of Holiday Inn speaks of Hind’s attempt to hide the pizza’s connection with Holiday Inn. For a restaurant to maintain its high reputation, brand image, and customer loyalty, it is imperative that it stays honest with the clients and does the business in a transparent way. A potential risk in the proposal is that Holiday Inn’s image might be jeopardized in the clients’ eyes if they find out the truth and there are possibilities for this; firstly, the phone calls made at the number mentioned on the Napoli Pizza brochures will be attended at

Arthur Millers A View From the Bridge Essay Example for Free

Arthur Millers A View From the Bridge Essay Masculinity is a prevalent theme in Arthur Millers A View From The Bridge. The four leading male characters in the play; Eddie, Rodolpho, Marco and Alfieri; each play different roles and different types of men. Miller has represented men and masculinity in an unforgiving light in the play. It appears that it is men that confuse and create problems in the characters lives. Each characters actions are effected by the conflicting forces of determinism, where every event and situation is the inevitable result of its preceding states of affairs; and freewill. It could be said that the male characters in A View From The Bridge are not acting, but being acted upon. The main character in A View From The Bridge is Eddie. He is forty years of age, slightly overweight and is described as husky. The huskiness used in the description refers to both Eddies roughness and his strong, burly build. His age suggests experience, another masculine quality. Eddies appearance reflects his attitude, strong and intimidating. In trying to prove his masculinity, Eddie is the focus of many conversations, as he feels that he must dominate the conversation. Eddies speech is very direct, with blunt wording. He constantly uses contractions and drops the last letter off words, such as in the phrase I didnt say nothin'. Eddies language is not sophisticated in any sense. This is because Eddie spent his time working instead of getting a proper education. Eddie also comes from a working class family, which would mean that his education is limited. The conglomeration of these factors conveys Eddie to be even more masculine. It is very clear that Miller has constructed Eddie to represent the epitome of masculinity; however the character has a propensity to be acted upon rather than acted. Although Eddie is portrayed as a very masculine character, the turmoil in his mind is evident to the reader. Within himself he is trying to control his feelings, or act. Instead, it appears that the happenings around him control Eddies actions. When Eddie allows Rodolpho and Marco to stay, he is acting, as he is making the decision as the patriarchal member of the Carbone family. He has the choice of whether to accept them or not. He acts out of freewill. The best example Eddie being acted upon is when he calls Immigration about Marco and Rodolpho. At this point in the play, Eddie thinks that he has no other options. He is struggling to control his  feelings for Catherine, which on its own is an example of being acted upon. Although Eddie knows that these incestuous feelings are not acceptable, he cannot help but feel this way. Catherines developing relationship with Rodolpho is clearly testing Eddies endurance. Eddie also feels that Rodolpho is a bad influence on Catherine, as Eddie can no longer control her as he used to. Realistically, this is because Catherine is growing up more than Rodolphos influence. However, Eddie feels that the only solution is to get rid of Rodolpho. By doing this, Eddie hopes that everything will return to its original state, with him being the patriarch. Consequently, Eddie calls Immigration. It can clearly be seen that Eddie is not acting, as eliminating Rodolpho is something that is inevitable if Eddie wishes for things to return to their initial state. Rodolphos appearance in A View From The Bridge is one that is far more feminine and gentle than that of the other characters. He is described as a slim platinum blond with a nice face. His gentle features are considered womanly, and so he is not considered to be masculine. Rodolphos age can be estimated to be in the mid-twenties. This denotes a lack of life experience, another indicator towards femininity rather than masculinity. Miller has constructed Rodolpho as a much less masculine character than Eddie so as to juxtapose the two characters. Unlike Eddie, Rodolpho is a more rational character. He is more cautious in what he says. Due to this discretion, Rodolphos speech is very limited in A View From The Bridge. However, his rational behaviour does not stop Rodolpho from being more acted upon than acted. Even though Rodolpho tries to refrain from causing too much of a disturbance in America, he is visibly maddening Eddie by showing affection towards Catherine. However, Rodolpho cannot control his feelings. He stands up for his right to have a relationship with Catherine and, regardless of what Eddie does or says, Rodolpho still has these feelings for Catherine. Rodolpho does not choose to be attracted to Catherine, it simply happened. The concept that Catherine and Rodolpho both care for each other is not a matter of choice or freewill, it is clearly determinism. For this reason, Rodolpho is more acted upon than acting in A View From The Bridge. Marco is described in A View From The Bridge as a thirty-two year old square built peasant. His square build implies strength and an intimidating physique, which evokes an air of masculinity. His age puts him between Eddie and Rodolpho. Throughout the play, Marco is played as quiet, yet thoughtful. His dialogue is minimal, until the final sequence where the conflict between him and Eddie erupts. Although his dialogue is entirely different to that of Eddie, the pair are both seen as masculine characters. This is because Marco is confident with himself, and does not feel it is necessary to talk or dominate the conversation. In doing so, his confidence shines through as being masculine. Again, Marco is a character that appears, in most cases, to be more acted upon than acting. Marcos strong and silent persona allows him to understand and recognise elements in the characters more so than Eddie and Rodolpho. He sees Eddies challenging nature towards Rodolpho and challenges Eddie back. In this sense, Marcos actions are acted. He understands what is happening and uses his own freewill to make a decision of what to do. However, the final sequences are clearly an indication of how Marco is more acted upon than acting. When Marco spits in Eddies face, it is the culmination of Eddies attitude and actions that cause him to do so. After trusting Eddie, Marco has been proverbially stabbed in the back. However, Marcos reaction was eminent. Eddies ongoing dislike of both Marco and Rodolpho would eventually arrive at a confrontation. Marcos reaction was clearly determinism it was the inevitable result of its preceding states of affairs. In this way, the character of Marco is more acted upon than acting. Similarly, when Marco kills Eddie, it is inevitable. If not for Eddies death, the play would be going nowhere. Eddies sanity is questionable towards the end of A View From The Bridge. If Eddie were to survive the stabbing, there would be no closure for any of the characters. When Eddie pulls the knife out and attempts to stab Marco, it is clear that he is not thinking rationally. Marco then acts in self defence when he stabs Eddie. He knows that one of them will die in the struggle, and sees that his killing of Eddie is the only way he will come out alive. For this reason, Marco acts not out of freewill, but stabs Eddie as there is no other way for the battle to end. Hence, Marco is more  acted upon than acting. However, this attribute is not shared by all of the male characters in A View From The Bridge. The final male character in A View From The Bridge is Alfieri. Alfieri is the oldest of the characters, described as being in his fifties, turning grey and portly. His age implies much life experience, as does his generously proportioned physique. His appearance is also one of a higher class than the rest of the characters. Alfieri speaks with distinction. Unlike Marco and Eddie, who feel the need to express their masculinity, Alfieri is confident in himself, and so needs not demonstrate this through his language. For this reason, Alfieri remains to be a masculine character even though his language is very poetic and eloquent. For example, when consulting Eddie and Marco, he says To promise not to kill, is not dishonourable. As well as showing Alfieris intelligence, the statement gives his words a scale of importance. Alfieris masculinity shines through in his instructing and superior manner. Unlike the rest of the male characters in A View From The Bridge, it is felt that Alfieri is not being acted upon, but is acting. As Alfieri is not directly involved in the convoluted relationships that take place in the apartment, he has the advantage of having a less emotional reaction to the occurrences. Alfieri also has the advantage of being able to think about things rationally before offering an opinion. When attempting to guide Eddie in his turmoil, Alfieri informs him that he can take no legal action. In doing so, Alfieri is acting out of freewill. Nothing is forcing him to tell Eddie this. Theoretically, Alfieri could ignore the legal aspect and tell Eddie to take his chances. Instead, Alfieri offers his own advice, to let her go. Although Alfieris instinct to seek resolution may be seen as more acted upon than acting, his pressure in guiding Eddie to do the right thing, or lack thereof, is freewill, as Alfieri made the choice in not forcing Eddie to stop acting in the manner that he was. For this reason, Alfieri is acting more than he is acted upon. Although each of the male characters in Millers play A View From The Bridge represents a different role and different type of man, each of their actions can be seen as either an act of freewill or an act of determinism. In many  instances, it appears that there is no other way for the incident to occur. At other times, the characters make choices, exercising their freewill. As Eddie, Rodolpho and Marco are all emotionally involved in the relationships in the play; their actions tend to be acts of determinism. All three are trapped in gender roles, not wanting to appear weak. As Alfieri is more of an onlooker in the play, his actions are a result of freewill. Confident with his masculinity, he is able to decide what to do, not be forced into doing something. For this reason, the male characters in A View From The Bridge can be said to be predominantly more acted upon than acting.

Causes Of The Genocide In Bosnia

Causes Of The Genocide In Bosnia In 1980, the president Josip Tito of Yugoslavia died. After the loss of their president, Yugoslavia had political and economic chaos. Slobodan Milosevic became the leader of Serbia in 1987. He was a strong Serb nationalist and encouraged his beliefs in Serbia and in other republics with large Serb communities. The Serbs in Bosnia were not happy feeling like they were now part of Milosevics Greater Serbia. The Yugoslavian Army mostly had Serbs. Radovan Karadzic led Serbs who built their own Republica Srpska in the East, while a Bosnian Serb army was in control of the other  ¾ of the country, driving out most of the Bosnian Croats. Then the European Union tried to help both sides, and failed. The U.N. didnt want to get involved, but helped a little by providing some troop convoys for humanitarian aid. They later decided to help more by providing six safe areas. The Serbs invaded five of the six safe areas and ethnically cleansed them. The Background: Bosnia is one of the several small countries that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia, a multicultural country created after World War One. Yugoslavia was composed of ethnic and religious groups that had been historical rivals, including the Serbs (Orthodox Christians), Croats (Catholics) and ethnic Albanians (Muslims). During World War Two, Yugoslavia was invaded by Nazi Germany and was separated. Following Germanys defeat, Tito reunified Yugoslavia by merging many countries. Tito, a Communist, was a strong leader who maintained ties with the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War, playing one superpower against the other while obtaining financial assistance and other aid from both. After his death in 1980 and without his strong leadership, Yugoslavia quickly plunged into political and economic chaos. Organizers: In the late 1980s, a new leader by the name of Slobodan Milosevic came to power in Yugoslavia. He used religious hatred to control the people by sparking old tensions between the Serbians and Muslims. He took advantage of complaints from the Orthodox Catholic Serbs by taking control of the country Kosovo, where the Serbs were the minority. Milosevic then turned his focus to Croatia, a country with 12 percent Serbs. With the assistance of Serbian guerrillas, Milosevic invaded the small country under the pretenses of protecting the Serbs. Milosevics motives for this genocide were strongly based on retaliation. Many Serbian citizens had been subject to genocide during World War Two and they finally had a chance to get even with their enemies. After 13 years at power, the Yugoslavian nations revolted and a national strike followed. Milosevic was tried on the following counts in 2002: genocide; complicity in genocide; deportation; murder; persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds; inhumane acts/forcible transfer; extermination; imprisonment; torture; willful killing; unlawful confinement; willfully causing great suffering; unlawful deportation or transfer; extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; cruel treatment; plunder of public or private property; attacks on civilians; destruction or willful damage done to historic monuments and institutions dedicated to education or religion; unlawful attacks on civilian objects. Mi losevic died on March 11, 2006, at the U.N. war crimes tribunal detention center. Victims: In the Bosnian genocide, hundreds of thousands of people were victimized. About 80% of these people were Bosnian Muslims. After The Yugoslav Republic of Bosnia declared its independence, Bosnian Serbs along with the Yugoslav army attacked the Bosnian and Croatian civilians. Between 1992 and 1995, Serbia decided to ethnically cleanse the Bosnian land by removing all Bosnian Muslims systematically. Many were forced into concentration camps. The Muslims were tortured, starved, and eventually murdered. Over the war, about one million Bosnian Muslims were forced out of their homes. In 1993, the Security Council in the United Nation had Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Goradze, and other Muslim territories in safe areas that were protected by United Nation peacekeepers. At a safe area in Srebrenica, Serbs held a very large massacre. Many of the Muslims escaped the fighting by running away. The men that were able to fight were kept behind and killed. The elderly, women, and children were taken to a Muslim controlled territory on busses. Once the massacre ended, the bodies were moved by bulldozers by the Serbs in attempts to conceal the evidence. World Response: As a result, U.S. President George Bush chose not to get involved militarily, instead recognizing the independence of Slovenia and Croatia. In April 1992, the U.S. and European community recognized Bosnias independence. Even though media showed the secret camps, mass killings, and destruction of historic architecture in Bosnia, the world community remained mostly indifferent. The United Nations finally responded by imposing economic sanctions on Serbia and the U.N. also deployed its troops to protect the distribution of food and medicine to dispossessed Muslims, however, the U.N. strictly told troops not to interfere with military against the Serbs. Through 1993, the U.S. and European Community still hadnt taken any military action until August 30, 1995. On this day, The U.S. led a massive NATO bombing campaign in response to the killings. Aftermath: Top of Form Peace negotiations were held in Dayton, Ohio, and an agreement was signed in December 1995. Bosnia is now divided into a Croat-Muslim Federation and Republika Srpska. A NATO peace-keeping Implementation Force of 60,000 was deployed; it was later replaced by a NATO Stabilization Force. The war in Bosnia led deaths of tens of thousands men and boys that left the country without enough workers to keep their economy stable. Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims who make up the Federation of Croats and Muslins are not getting along because of their political and economic differences. There is a rotating presidency of a Bosnian Croat, Bosnian Serb, and a Bosnian Muslim every three years that many experts consider to be dangerous. The ethnic differences between Muslims, Croats, and Serbs are still keeping the nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina from being one, because they all want more governmental control over the other. The effects of the Bosnian Genocide still float in the background for this troubled country. Because there is still ethnic disturbance in Bosnia, there is fear that genocide could occur once more in the torn country. By now, over 200,000 Muslim civilians have been systematically murdered. More than 20,000 are missing and feared dead, while 2,000,000 have become refugees.

Why Do Gamers Buy the Video Games They Buy? Essay -- Video Game Sales

Video games might have started out as a very small market. But today, this market has grown even bigger than the movie or music industry. Each year, millions and millions games fly off store shelves. Grand Theft Auto V broke sales records of the fastest selling entertainment property ever. While this game and others such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Assassin’s Creed sell millions of copies every year, other games don’t sell so well and just sit in store shelves. So, why do gamers rush out to stores to buy some games and pass by others? The answer is not so simple as â€Å"good games sell and bad games don’t.† If this were the case, then a game like Persona 4, a critically acclaimed game, would have sold millions of units. While Call of Duty that gets mixed reviews from its fans each year, sells millions of units each year. There are many factors that go into the buying decisions of a gamer. Advertising, gaming reviews, and trends/popularity(how well k nown a game is and trends by popular people) all affect the buying decisions of gamers. Advertising is a main factor in determining whether a game sells or not, as it determines if gamers know if the game exists or not, as well as piquing consumer interest in a game to go buy it. You can make a great game that receives glorious review from all the critics, but still not have it sell. If no one knows about your game, it won’t sell. This is just the basic surface of what advertising is for. Now that consumers know about the product, how does the advertisement encourage them to buy it? An academic study by Hermann Ebbinghaus, one of the first men to study how the human brain works, ran a test to see what parts of advertisements people remember best. His findings have shown how adver... ...ian.com. Guardian News and Media, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. flappy-bird-ebay-app-store>. LIU, HUA-JUNG, and YIH-CHEARNG SHIUE. "INFLUENCE OF FACEBOOK GAME PLAYERS' BEHAVIOR ON FLOW AND PURCHASE INTENTION. ." Social Behavior & Personality 42.1 (2012): 125-133. Umass Lowell Online Databases. Web. 24 Apr 2014. Micheal, Pacther. "How Much Do the Programmers Make?." . Game Trailers, 10 May 2014. Web. 10 May 2014. . Pewdiepie, . FLAPPY BIRD - DONT PLAY THIS GAME! . 2014. Video. YoutubeWeb. 24 Apr 2014. .

Recording, analysing and using HR information Essay

It is beneficial for a business to collect a variety of data to gain an understating of its performance to satisfy compliance legislation. However the information collected needs to be useful, relevant and selective. Raw data collected can be converted into useful information. It is important for human resources (HR) to collect data to meet legal requirements, keep necessary contact details of employees, records all contractual arrangements and to provide supporting information in the event of a claim that may be made against an organisation. It also supports an organisation when making decisions. Data can be collected in two different types of formats within an organisation. These are quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative is data collected numerically which allows for data to be measured and calculated. Quantitative is a descriptive method of collecting data. This type of data can be observed but not measured. These two different types of data support HR practices in a number of different ways, such as, showing patterns of absence relating to employees, highlighting any learning and development requirements that an individual may require, trends’ in staff turnover and key performance indicators. Customer feedback can also be obtained to allow a business to improve it services and costs can also be easily monitored. HR data can be stored by a number of different methods each having advantages and disadvantages. Data can be stored electronically and non-electronically. Storing data electronically can be beneficial as it is easy to access, can be shared easily and takes up less space. Online HR systems are available to employees where data and information can be added and updated by an individual and also can be accessed by one or more people such as line managers. This is useful for appraisals and monitoring performance. Storing data electronically through databases is also more secure than manual documents. Sorting data manually such as diaries, word processing documents and paper based surveys also has its benefits as it can be more cost effective to a business and cannot be easily lost where electronic data could be. Also employees require less training to store and organise manual data. There is an array of different UK legislations currently enforced relating to data and legislation is in place to enforce correct storing, recording and accessibility of data. One of these UK legislations are The Data Protection Act, The information commissioner has produced a code of conduct relating to the data protection act. This applies to personal data held and the legitimate grounds for this being held, which information is classed as sensitive and cannot be gathered without explicit permission. Another type of current UK legislation is the Human Rights act. This confers the right of respect of privacy on individuals and provides for employees in the public sector to take legal actions against their employer of they consider their rights infringed.

Social Media Advocacy How to Develop a Successful Program For Your Brand

Social Media Advocacy How to Develop a Successful Program For Your Brand Social media employee advocacy. It’s a buzzword that has been floating around marketing teams for the past couple of years. While these types programs can be dramatically effective for a plethora of different reasons, including†¦ Brand awareness Sales connections Building company trust teams are still hesitant to adapt them  because†¦ There is risk of posting inappropriate content They are afraid the team won’t want to participate They already have enough work on their plate Whether you’ve started a program with your team and it’s turned into a chaotic mess, or you’re simply not sure how to start, you’ll learn about the resources and tools you need to turn your own employees into your biggest brand advocates. How To Develop A Successful Social Media Advocacy Program That Will Increase Brand AwarenessFirst Things First: Get Your Free Social Media Employee Advocacy Startup Package Before we start, make sure you download our Social Media Employee Advocacy Startup Package. When you download it, you’ll get: An pre-set email template to help you ask your co-workers to join the program A PowerPoint deck to help introduce and train your new employee advocates A brainstorming worksheet that advocates can use to determine their online voice A worksheet that your employees can use to remind themselves of when they need to send social messages That’s right, we did all the work for you. You’re welcome. What Is Social Media Employee Advocacy? A social media employee advocacy program allows you to use your employee’s vast social networks to help promote your company or brand. These employees are called "social employees" or "employee advocates." There are a lot of definitions of social employees, but the definition  that captures it best is from The Social Employee  by Mark and Cheryl Burgess: â€Å"Social Employees can utilize social media tools to act as authentic brand ambassadors in order to cultivate unique relationships with individuals where the end goal isn’t simply a purchase action but a dynamic exchange of ideas.† It’s a long definition, I know. But, the definition above captures both what a social employee is, and their purpose within your organization. It’s also important to note before we continue that when we refer to social media employee advocacy platforms, we’re talking about Twitter and LinkedIn. Let’s continue, shall we? What is social media employee advocacy (and is it right for your brand)?10 Steps To Starting Your Own Employee Advocacy Program Now that you know what an employee advocacy program is we’re going to move on to how to start your own program. The following steps will walk you through how to convince your team to join you, and the process you need to follow in order to get your program off on the right foot. Step 1: Identify Strong Candidates for Your Employee Advocacy Program Whether you’ve started your program and it flopped, or you’re just trying to get your feet off the ground, having the right people on your team is crucial to the initial success of your program. Therefore, check off the following before you  start: Pick a group of 10 people who you think would be good initial adopters of the program Narrow that list down to five Send the introductory email to those five people Depending on the size of your organization, the number of your initial adoptors may vary. We would recommend starting off with five, and growing the program from there. Five may seem like a small number, but there’s a lot of work that goes into setting up this program. Start small, you can always grow. Not to mention, you could run into a too many cooks in the kitchen type of problem. Don’t create that problem for yourself, trust me on this one. Now, I know what you’re thinking. What qualities should I be looking for the initial adopters of my employee advocacy social media program? A potential employee advocate should check off at least three of the following: Eager to learn Social media savvy Passionate about their job Great writing skills Has a wide knowledge base about the company Is already active on LinkedIn, Twitter, or both Is actually excited about the program and the potential it can bring to their department These are just a few of the qualities you will want to look for in your new social media employee advocacy program participants. Remember, you want to narrow it down to the best of the best so your program has a great jumping off point. A quick warning before you start your list. Do not, under any circumstances, force an employee to be a part of your employee advocacy program. No one likes being forced to do anything. It's like forcing a 4 year old to eat anything that's green. It's not gonna happen. If you force your employees to become your brand advocates, your program becomes in-genuine, and your potential consumers will see that coming from a mile away. So how do you approach your employees so that’ll they come and hear you out? Grab your free email template that complements  this post to customize and send to potential employee advocates. Feel free to personalize it to each person you’re sending it too. It may take a bit more time, but the personal touch really helps. Or you could just copy and paste the email from the social media employee advocacy kit. To Do: Make a list ten employees who you believe would be a good fit for your program Narrow the list down to five Send initial introduction email (Grab it from the kit that complements this post) Step 2: Introduce The Employee Advocacy Program To Your Team Why do you need to introduce the program to your employees? Well, first of all, you need to ask them if they want to participate.  Check out that email template from above to help get your started. Secondly, think about their schedule. They’re probably already swamped with a giant list of things to do. Imagine if your boss came to you and said, "Hey, I need you to spend about 3 hours a week tweeting about our company." You’d probably say no. Who wants extra work? No one. Being an employee advocate is not an easy task. It’s one that requires dedication and time. Most importantly, it’s a task that needs to be taken on voluntarily. So how do you convince your employees to take on extra work? Incentivize it. How do you convince your employees to take on extra work? Incentive it.I'm gonna get personal here for a second. When someone puts a competitive twist on things I’m immediately hooked. I have to win. I want to come out on top. Obviously, I'm pretty competitive person. Maybe your employees are the same way, and if so you can capitalize on that. Whether it’s a bonus, fun retreats, or even company swag, having a way for your employees to get rewarded will help them be more open to the possibility of participating in the program. So you've got everyone in the room. Now what? A presentation, maybe? You don't have time to create that. Don’t worry, we did that for you. Download it here. To Do: Download the PowerPoint slide deck from the social media employee advocacy starter kit Brainstorm ways to incentivize your employee advocacy program Get clearance from upper management for those incentives Schedule a meeting with your select five employees to go through presentation Step 3: Determine The Voice Of The Employees Who Will Be Participating In The Program If your employee advocates sound like a corporate robot, that’s what your consumer/customer fan base is going to think of them as. That’s not a good thing. Your employees need to bring their unique voice and perspective in order to breathe fresh life into your content. So how do you do this? Bring your employees to the  table. Schedule a short meeting, 15 minutes maximum to brainstorm and finalize an employee voice. You could even just swing by their desk when they have a minute or two to spare. Remember you want these meetings to be effortless and easy. The less this program interferes with their daily schedule the better. Once you’re in your meeting ask the following two questions and have them record their answers on the one-pager that is in the attached kit. What are five personality traits that make you great at your job? What are five personality traits that are not you? Once they have those written down have them pick their top three. Those become the voice of the employee online. An example is below. For a sales manager (let’s call him Bill), his list could look like: Confident but not arrogant Silly but not unprofessional Informative but not pushy Here's how to help your team develop their social media voice:Still stuck? Let me use myself as an example. I created my professional Twitter profile during my senior year of college because I wanted my potential new employers to know that: I was knowledgeable about social media and knew how to use it. I wanted to stand out among other applicants and find additional ways to showcase my personality. So when it came to creating my voice I had to answer the following three questions: Who am I and what is my personality like? Am I passive in my opinions or unafraid to state them clearly? If a potential employer or professional took thirty seconds to look at my profile what would they think about me? Have your employees try and think along the same mindset. Remember, don’t give them the answers. This is all about them. Have them fill out the worksheet in the kit that complements this blog post, and attach it to a desk, cubicle wall, or wherever they will see it often. This will act as a gentle reminder in case they get stuck on what to post. To Do: Print out voice brainstorming worksheet from kit Schedule a short meeting with participating employees or drop by there desk Brainstorm what their voice will be Finalize voice structure and record on worksheet Step 4: Create A Username  Convention When most companies start their social media employee advocacy program, they’ll usually identify their employees with a naming convention. Usually this means incorporating the company name into the Twitter handle somehow. It is important to note that once you pick a naming convention,  you stick with it. Once you pick a company-wide social media naming convention, stick with it.For example, our friends at Onsharp, a digital marketing and website development company in our home state of North Dakota, has an active social employee program. The handles for each of their employees is @Onsharpname. They cover a wide variety of topics, and are also able to show off their company culture. This not only helps increase their overall credibility,  but if you have a potential employee looking into the company, they have a chance to see genuine interactions that happen within the team. But it’s not just small businesses using username conventions. Discovery  Benefits is making a huge mark on the insurance industry. We recently interviewed their marketing manager,  Abby Boggs-Johnson,  for our Actionable  Marketing Podcast. In it,  Abby mentions how her sales team has started a series of social media employee advocacy profiles that are helping them connect to their customer base. By creating these unique connections between the sales team and their customers, Discovery Benefits is able to showcase genuine interactions which can allow people to build trust  in the company. Like Onsharp, Discovery Benefits has a naming convention @DBIname. It would be easy to say, â€Å"Well, these are smaller companies.†Ã‚  What about big Fortune 500s? Have they tried a social media employee advocacy program? Actually, some Fortune 500s were a few of the earliest adopters. One of them was Adobe. Adobe’s program still exists but unlike Discovery Benefits and Onsharp, Adobe doesn’t have a naming convention. Most of their employees have the @Adobe programming they work for listed in their handle. Why would Adobe forgo a naming convention? The company is huge,  and because there are so many different official Adobe product accounts, it would be impossible to keep one single convention among  all the different products. So if you’re a smaller company with one main Twitter account,  you should have a naming convention.  But if you’re marketing for a major corporation with multiple official Twitter accounts,  use your bio to identify which major company profile you are associated with. But Breonna, how do I create my naming convention? Don’t worry, I have you covered. Here's how to create a naming convention for your social media employee advocacy program:Below is a list of ten naming conventions. Pick one that you think will work best for your company. Some names will be too long. Remember, Twitter has a character limit for it’s usernames, so don’t be afraid if you have to use initials or abbreviations. @CompanyName @Company_Name @CompanyAcroynmName @CompanyInitialsName @Name_CompanyName @NameCompanyName @NameAtCompany @NameFromCompany @NameFrom_Company Company handle in bio To Do: Go through naming convention list Choose a convention and make sure it fits under Twitter’s 15 character handles Step 5: Create Consistent  Profile and Cover Photo Images One of the great ways that you can help distinguish your social media employee advocates is to have a matching profile style image and cover photo. Not only does this help distinguish your actual social employees online, it gives it a nice, clean, polished and professional look to your social accounts. Profile images should be: Headshot style- shoulders and above Contain the same background Any editing style applied to the headshot photo should be the same throughout Here are a couple examples from our team. This is Chris St. Amant, UI/UX Desginer: And Tyler Brazier, Software Engineer: Like the profile images, cover photos should be: Clean and informative Inviting The same throughout all profiles They should look like this: Or this: Everything is clean and consistent. Just the way we like it. It’s important to note that once the standard is set for the profiles, it needs to be followed throughout every single one of them. Why is this consistency  important? It helps users and your customers find your profiles. It also acts as a minor defense system against people who may try to impersonate the account. Once you’ve got your headshots and cover images created,  you can move on to account set up. To Do: Meet with graphic designer and document headshot and cover photo requirements Schedule time for employees to have headshots taken Review headshots and cover photos for final approval Step 6: Set Up Your Social Accounts Now that you’ve got your team on board and their voice has been determined, you’re ready for the fun part. Setting up your profiles. Whether your team is working with Twitter, LinkedIn or both, how you set up the accounts is incredibly important. For some people, this will be the first interaction they ever have with one of your employees. You want your bios to be short and sweet, as well as original. Everyone talks about how they love coffee and traveling. Challenge your employee advocates to think outside the box with another brainstorm session. Have them write down or think about the following: What does their online voice sound like? How can their bio reflect that? They may love coffee and traveling but what is something unique about them? What position do they hold within the company? Do they have a hobby, favorite book series etc, that they will sometimes tweet about? Have them think about some of these questions so they can incorporate them to make a unique bio for their profiles. For example, my professional Twitter bio looks like this: In it, I talk about my field of experience, my passion for theatre, my current position, my alma mater and for good measure I throw in a bit about my Harry Potter obsession. This simple bio does a few things: It establishes my area of expertise and the repertoire I tweet about. It adds personality. Not only do you know that I’m a Content Writer for , you also know that I love theatre and Harry Potter, among other things. This can help establish a connection to a potential client or customer. It makes me approachable. You know,  without a doubt, there is a real human behind that profile. This can make approaching me with a question about our product easier than approaching a company account. Some of you may have noticed there’s something missing in my bio. Can you see it yet? I don’t have a disclaimer in my online bio. Many people will tell you that your professional social accounts need a disclaimer that runs something along the lines of: Opinions are my own Retweet does not = endorsement Many people will add these disclaimers to their social bios in order to protect themselves and the company they work for. It seemed like a simple solution that would protect the employee in case they tweeted something that their employer disagreed with. It’s also thought that adding this disclaimer would protect the employer from public backlash if an employee tweeted something inappropriate. I’m sorry to say that these phrases will rarely protect either the employee or their employer  from backlash if something inappropriate is posted on social media. What can protect me, you might be thinking to yourself? Honestly, nothing but solid common sense. And on that happy note, we’ll continue into step 7. To Do: Brainstorm traits for your employee bios Edit and finalize bios. Add to social profile Step 7: Determine Your Posting Rules If I had to tell you to take away one vitally important piece of information away from this blog  post,  it would be that if you decide to develop your own social media employee advocacy program, determine your posting rules before you start. It may seem like a nonsense task. Why would I have the team take time to write everything down? Because, while great, social media can turn on you within seconds if you or a team member sends the wrong tweet  or message. It doesn’t take much to remember some of the biggest blunders that a company has made on social media. United, Cracker Barrel,  or Pepsi  ringing a bell at all? The internet can be a merciless place, and will never forget anything you posted. Yes, even if you delete it. Social media can turn on you in seconds if you send the wrong tweet or message.Having established rules in place can help you avoid those costly mishaps and give you the peace of mind that content being sent by your team is appropriate, timely and most importantly, connects with your customer base in ways your normal advertising won’t. With that in mind here is an example list of posting do’s that your team can start with and expand on: Post about company milestones Post/Retweet great reviews from other customers Have a blog? Have your employees tweet links back to new content Hosting an event? Have your advocates help promote it? The same goes when you’re attending an event or conference. Make your presence known by tweeting about it If you have fun office traditions, like our #BratwurstBlowout, tweet about it to show off your culture Hiring? Having your advocates post about new positions is a great way to help recruit people to your team Launching a new product or have some big news coming out? Extend the reach of your launch by having employees tweet to If your company is industry specific, have employees share new news or industry trends This is just a starting list. As your program continues to grow, your list will change and grow as your employees find their niche.