A recent post on LinkedIn explains that Netflix let three marketing executives go after it was discovered they were griping on slack, in a private chat from what is indicated. An interesting topic that touches on the blurred line between work and private life, technologies that span both, and general management of staff. Most organizations have employees sign a document that all services that are provided as part of work remain the property of the organization. We may think of Slack as a private conversation between friends but if you’re in the organization’s workspace, you have to understand that your private messages are not truly private, so only put things in writing / in Slack that you would say in public without fear of being fired.
Netflix has a defined culture where that may not be the case. From the main article from The Hollywood Reporter they let the executives go due to a culture clash.
“Their culture is all about transparency and giving feedback,” says one outside observer with knowledge of the situation. “It would make sense that there should be no need for private conversation.”
Private messages in Slack can be convenient for venting, or discussing delicate topics. If those conversations go public, it will create for awkward situations, but assuming in good faith that the conversation wasn’t malicious or destructive, it shouldn’t be a fireable offense. Having private messages in Slack shouldn’t be the offense, it’s the content of those messages.
Ultimately this is about Netflix’s culture and their goals to preserve that culture. It’s probably not a culture that works for everyone, but like the disclosure that is signed about the ownership of content and tools when an employee starts at the company, if this is what the ‘culture’ is all about and is documented, then it does fall on the employees for following the rules.