The RMC Advisors

Fourth Annual TRENDS Symposium – June 3, 2011

Join McKonly & Asbury on Friday, June 3, 2011 for our fourth annual TRENDS symposium focusing on accounting and audit issues for the insurance industry. The session provides 6.5 CPE credits, which includes 1 tax credit and 1 ethics credit. McKonly & Asbury is an approved continuing professional education program sponsor through the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy.

We have an exciting array of speakers and topics planned, based on comments we received from previous participants.

• Legislative Update - Patricia Vance, Pennsylvania State Senator and member of the Pennsylvania Banking & Insurance Committee.
• Insurance Department Update - Stephen Johnson, Deputy Insurance Commissioner, and David DelBiondo, Director, Bureau of Financial Examinations.
• Tax Update – McKonly & Asbury Tax Group
• Business/Professional Ethics – Elaine Nissley, MBA, CISA, PMP, CCSA, CRISC, Principal, McKonly & Asbury Risk Management Services Group.
• Cloud Computing & Social Media: Risks and Controls - Samuel BowerCraft, MIS, CISA, Senior Manager, McKonly & Asbury Risk Management Services Group.
• Reinsurance –Jane Taylor, FCAS, MAAA, JD, Consulting Actuary, Huggins Actuarial Services.
• Safeguarding Confidential Data – John Dormuth, MSIM, CPCU, ARM, Account Executive, McConkey Insurance & Benefits. 

Sponsored by McKonly & Asbury and McConkey Insurance & Benefits, the symposium will take place at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel & Convention Center at 1150 Camp Hill Bypass in Camp Hill, PA on June 3rd!

Agenda and Details

• June 3 (Friday)
• Registration starts at 7:30am
• The seminar will run from 8:00am to no later than 4:00pm. 
• Radisson Penn Harris Hotel & Convention Center (Camp Hill)

The cost to attend is $50, which includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

To register, please contact Erin Hench at ehench@macpas.com or by calling 717-972-5814.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE NEW WATER COOLER

This week I attended a leadership conference, which included a presentation by Tom Hood, Founder and CEO of the Business Learning Institute (BLI). He stated that young people coming into the workforce today have a network of over 1,000 people due to social media.

My first thought was: WOW! Imagine the business development power of these networks if we could get our young people to spread the word about our company. Next, I thought, I wonder what they are saying about our company? Then a colleague spoke up and said they were having issues with young employees bashing their company on Facebook.

Do you remember water coolers, where workers used to hang out and vent their frustrations? You know we all have to vent occasionally no matter how well we like our jobs. Well, guess where our young people are venting? The same place they have vented since high school or college: their social media network. Nowadays, frustrations are not vented within a small network of people in the office, but to a network of potentially thousands.

Later at the same conference, someone commented that their firm’s staff was engaged in client bashing via social media - while connected to the client’s internet! The client was tracking these  conversations and brought it to the firm’s attention. Not good for repeat business!  And knowing these risk, what do you think should be done?

Reduce the Risk

The following is a checklist that I recommend you apply to your company to see if you are taking steps to contain water cooler conversations.

1. Implement a social media policy. Do not implement just a generic policy. Customize the policy to fit your business.
2. Provide annual training on business ethics, including social media dos and don’ts.
3. Monitor social media activity.
4. Have a third party independent review of your social media policy implementation. Do your employees really get the message and are they complying?
5. Implement an anonymous hotline for employees to report non-compliance with your social media policy.

Leverage the Opportunities

It is not just enough to tell your employees what they cannot do related to social media. This strategy leaves a void. Also provide employees positive ways to use social media to promote themselves and their company. It is important that they understand that the message they convey on social media can either limit their career or expand their career. Provide them with examples of positive messages to convey and the information you would like their network to understand. What are the services you provide? How does your company contribute and support the local community?

Feedback

I am interested to hear stories from you on your social media challenges and how you have addressed them.

For more information on this subject, contact Enissley@macpas.com