‘The kids are alert’: Generation Y responses to employer use and monitoring of social networking sites

Date01 March 2017
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12085
Published date01 March 2017
64 New Technology, Work and Employment © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
New Technology, Work and Employment 32:1
ISSN 1468-005X
‘The kids are alert’: Generation Y responses
to employer use and monitoring of social
networking sites
Scott A. Hurrell, Dora Scholarios and James Richards
Employer monitoring of employees’ and job applicants’ social net-
working site (SNS) data is widespread and growing, but remains
ethically, legally and efficaciously controversial. Examining this
emergent source of tension in the employment relationship, this
paper explores how Generation Y employees experience and per-
ceive employer use and monitoring of SNSs, and whether employer-
related concerns influenced their online behaviour. A survey of 385
employed students revealed widespread SNS engagement amongst
respondents, with many experiencing some form of employer SNS
use. Employer SNS use was, however, generally perceived nega-
tively. Negativity took the form of procedural justice violations
based on issues such as invasion of privacy. Nevertheless, many
students displayed alertness through actively managing online
profiles which, in turn, marginally yet significantly increased their
justice perceptions. The study has ethical and practical implica-
tions for employer monitoring and use of SNSs, as well as con-
tributing to our understanding of young people’s online behaviour.
Keywords: social media, conflict, employment, employer mon-
itoring, Generation Y, procedural justice, recruitment and selec-
tion, social networking sites.
Introduction
Employers increasingly make use of social networking sites (SNSs), such as Facebook
or LinkedIn, to attract and screen job candidates, manage current employees, and even
Scott A. Hurrell (scott.hurrell@glasgow.ac.uk) is a Senior Lecturer in HRM and Organisational Behaviour
in the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK. His research interests include the use of
social media in employment; skills and work organization; labour market issues; recruitment, selection
and socialization; and a particular interest in work in the interactive service sector. He has published in
leading international journals including Human Relations, Journal of Service Research, and Human Resource
Management Journal. He is currently on the Editorial Board of Employee Relations.
Dora Scholarios (d.scholarios@strath.ac.uk) is Professor of Work Psychology at University of
Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, Scotland. Her research interests include HRM, employee
health and wellbeing, recruitment and selection, and job quality, especially university graduates’
career transitions into quality employment. She is one of the Editors- in- Chief of the Human Resource
Management Journal.
James Richards (j.richards@hw.ac.uk) is an Associate Professor in Human Resource Management in the
Department of Business Management, Heriot- Watt University, Edinburgh, UK and an academic member
of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. James has published research in human resource
management journals, edited book collections and consultancy- based reports. James’ research interests
are grounded in industrial sociology and employment relations. His early research projects looked at
employee use of social media for misbehaviour and resistance. His more recent research looks at hidden
disabilities in the workplace, and he is currently working on a range of in- work poverty projects.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Employer use and monitoring of SNSs 65
discipline or fire employees for information posted on private SNSs (Smith and Kidder,
2010; Broughton et al., 2011). This article explores the reactions of young workers to
employer use and monitoring of SNSs.
Our approach builds on current knowledge in two respects. First, the article contrib-
utes empirical evidence supporting the notion of SNSs as a potentially new source of
conflict in the employment relationship. McDonald and Thompson’s (2016) recent re-
view of SNSs in employment presents several areas of tension created by employer at-
tempts to profile potential employees and monitor current employees. Our study
explores such tensions, considering whether individuals feel fairly treated by employers
and how they may respond in their use of SNSs. Fair treatment can be understood as the
satisfaction or violation of a set of specific procedural justice rules relating to employer
practices (Gilliland, 1993). For SNSs, justice rules may include whether employer prac-
tices invade privacy or allow employee voice (McDonald and Thompson, 2016).
Second, research tends to emphasise the benefits for employers to attract and retain
employees, mostly from Generation Y (Tenwick, 2008; Martin et al., 2009). Less atten-
tion is paid to the effects on applicants or employees who are subject to these practices.
Critics warn against the use of unreliable information posted on SNSs (Doherty, 2010)
and the ethical implications of employer incursions into private lives (Clark and
Roberts, 2010). This article builds on these critical perspectives by empirically explor-
ing not only individual experiences and perceptions of employer practice, but also
their reactions, thereby considering the two- way dynamics involved in employers’
and individuals’ use of SNSs in employment contexts. The paper does not make direct
comparisons of the behaviour of Generation Y employees with other generations and
therefore does not offer a controlled test of differences across groups. Nevertheless, it
provides an example of behaviour within a Generation Y sample, which remains
highly pertinent given this group’s relationship with social media technologies.
Relevant literature draws from a wide range of research aimed at theorising ‘new’
new technologies (Howcroft and Taylor, 2014). We begin with a consideration of the
characteristics of Generation Y and their relevance for the research. We also summarise
research on employer monitoring of SNSs; the perceived procedural justice of manage-
ment practices; and the potential for conflict arising from employer and employee use
of SNSs. The review allows us to propose three research questions, which are, in short:
(1) To what extent do Generation Y employees report employer use and monitoring of
publicly available SNSs in relation to recruitment, selection screening, and manage-
ment of current employees; (2) What are the procedural justice perceptions of
Generation Y job applicants/employees with respect to employers’ use of SNSs and (3)
To what extent and how are Generation Y applicants/employees active agents in man-
aging their SNS activities, and does any such management affect their procedural jus-
tice perceptions? The aim was to explore workers’ experiences and perceptions of
employers’ SNS use, and their adaptation to employer practice, as an illustration of
potential emergent conflict in the employment relationship.
The empirical data are drawn from a survey of Business/Management undergradu-
ate students currently or recently in employment. The findings suggest that many
‘kids are alert’ to the potential injustices that may emerge from employer use of SNSs,
and demonstrate this alertness through agency in managing their SNSs with employ-
ers in mind. We discuss the implications of these findings for employer use of SNSs
and the possible impact that such practices may have on employees and the employ-
ment relationship.
The case of Generation Y
Generation Y is generally described as born from approximately 1980 to 2000 (Cennamo
and Gardner, 2008). Research has established a range of work- related characteristics
for this group. For instance, compared to other birth cohorts, Generation Y employees
have been seen as more motivated by extrinsic rewards (Krahn and Galambos, 2014),
technology (Hershatter and Epstein, 2010) and work- life balance (Ng et al., 2010). Of

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT