Is your company prepared to handle a hate speech incident?

Hate speech is one of those things that you recognize when you hear it, but defining it presents a challenge.

Google offers this definition: “abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.” Hopefully, your employees share the opinion that “hate speech” should not be tolerated within the workplace. But what about outside the workplace?

While the line between employees’ private and professional lives is growing ever thinner—technology keeps them connected 24/7 and social media empowers them to be robust brand ambassadors—your employees are still individuals. Companies cannot program their personal behavior or regulate their speech, nor should employers try to constantly police it.

However, in the midst of the Black Lives Matters movement and the heightened discourse around systemic racism, employees’ personal online profiles are becoming an increasing concern for companies, as some social media groups are actively searching for and “calling out” individuals who have posted or responded to offensive hate speech. What was initially an employee’s personal post can quickly escalate into a corporate communication crisis.

Take these four steps to prevent, mitigate or resolve an ugly incident.