Despite the rise in the use of social media, results from a recent survey of workplace ethics reveal that many executives still haven't formulated official policies to govern how their employees can use online social networking or how their companies can best leverage these tools while, at the same time, mitigating potential damage to their brands.

Results from the 2009 Deloitte LLP Ethics and Workplace Survey, released on May 28, highlight the potential reputational risk organizations face when employees use online social networks. The proliferation of online social networks is not only changing how people communicate but is "rapidly blurring the lines between professional and private lives," said Sharon Allen, Deloitte's chairman of the board.

The survey included 500 business executives from a range of industries and 2,008 employed adults living in private households in the continental U.S. Only 27% of executives said their executive team regularly discusses how to best leverage social networks to their advantage while mitigating risks, yet 74% of employees said it's easy to damage a company's reputation on social media.

Over the past few months, there have been more reports of company executives and employees being fined thousands and even millions of dollars because of posts they made to online social networks.

Nearly a third of the companies (30%) surveyed said they include social networking in their business and operations strategy, and 23% use social networking for recruiting.

The results also uncovered a disconnect between executives and employees over the use of social networks. For example, 53% of employees surveyed said they think that their social networking pages are none of an employer's business, while 60% of the executives said they have the right to know and monitor how employees portray themselves and their organizations online.

Even with clearly defined policies and protocols, 61% of employees said they would not change their online activities even if their employers were monitoring those activities. Allen suggested that business leaders emphasize their organization's culture, values, and ethics in the policies they create and take the opportunity to "encourage good decision making in virtual social networking environments."

Recruiting and Social Networking: The AIM Group's latest annual report on recruitment advertising reports that networking sites bring in more quality candidates. A majority of firms (53%) surveyed said they are spending less on traditional search sources and rate networking sites as effective. The AIM Group said the results of its survey of HR professionals indicate that social networks may "eclipse the value of internal referral programs" that have been the leading recruitment tool in effectiveness and value over the past several years. (Source: AIRS)

Multilingual Job Candidates: Euro London Appointments, a multilingual recruitment consultancy firm, reports a boost in demand for job candidates with exotic language skills, especially within the finance and sales sectors. With the economic downturn, companies are positioning to expand in new and alternative markets. As a result, Arabic, Gujerati, Polish, Czech, Cantonese, and Korean are gaining in demand, even as Dutch, German, Japanese, and Russian remain popular. Experienced multilingual candidates in compliance, sales, relationship management, digital media, and online gaming are in greater demand in Europe and Asia. (See Euro London Appointments for more details of 2009 European hiring trends)

Executive Hiring: Results of Claymore Partners' 2009 Talent Market Executive survey of over 240 executives released in May shows that executive hiring is starting to pick up again. Only 19% of firms surveyed said they expect significant hiring reductions during the remainder of 2009. The sectors doing the most hiring are healthcare/pharmaceuticals, health insurance, securities brokerage, and consulting firms. Executive hiring continues to decline in investment and retail banking, investment management, consumer finance/payments, and life and property casualty insurance. Functional areas experiencing increased hiring are risk management/compliance and sales. Executive hiring reductions are expected in product development and operations. (Source: Claymore Partners)

Telemedicine: Many Americans are unaware that the massive stimulus plan passed earlier this year includes billions of dollars for telemedicine. Among its benefits, telemedicine can cut healthcare costs for employers, better serve remote patients with limited access to care, and help patients manage chronic illnesses. Telemedicine also represents a growth area for technology entrepreneurs and job seekers. (Source: WorkforceWeek, June 2, 2009)