Workfluencing: The Rise of Employee Content Creation & What It Means for Employers
If you’ve been on social media lately, you’ve probably seen “day in the life” videos. This type of content (usually in video form) is where someone shares a behind-the-scenes look at their daily routine, often showcasing their meals, work, hobbies and personal life.
These videos are popular on many social media platforms and allow viewers to get an “authentic” glimpse of different lifestyles or experiences. A new subset of these videos is people called “workfluencers” who film their typical workday and information about their jobs. Specifically, these types of content creators often share industry insights, career tips, compensation transparency and company perks to help others navigate their careers.
While these videos are meant to be informative and serve as career inspiration for others, they are often publicly available for anyone to see and as a result, present challenges for employers. In this blog post, we highlight important considerations for employers of “workfluencers” or employees sharing this type of behind-the-scenes content.
Privacy, Confidentiality and Consent
One of the biggest concerns with workfluencing is the risk of oversharing, whether intentional or not. Employees may inadvertently reveal confidential company information, client details, or private workplace interactions without consent. Even seemingly harmless content, such as a video showing a computer screen or a whiteboard in the background, could expose sensitive business strategies, upcoming projects, or internal communications.
Additionally, intellectual property risks come into play when employees discuss or showcase proprietary work without proper authorization. For example, sharing details about a yet-to-be-launched product, internal software systems, or creative assets could compromise the company’s competitive advantage. Many businesses have strict policies to protect trade secrets and proprietary information, and workfluencing content might unintentionally violate these protections.
There’s also the issue of third-party privacy—coworkers, clients, or business partners may unknowingly be included in videos, whether through conversations, recorded meetings, or even visual cues like name tags or documents.
Job Duties, Work Environment and Conflicts of Interest
For most employers, employees are required to devote their full time and attention to their work tasks during their working hours and not engage in other activities not required of that position.
Employees who create content during the workday are diverting their attention from their primary job responsibilities, leading to decreased productivity and potential inefficiencies in the workplace. It can also impact workplace culture if other employees see that their colleague is not performing work tasks during their day and publicly posting or filming during the workday.
It’s also possible that employees will embellish or edit their content to promote a specific viewpoint. For example, an employee may share that they worked 15 hours in a day, or went without a lunch break. This could cause reputational damage for the company, or even expose the company to proactive blitzes or inspections from the Ministry of Labour.
Another important factor to consider is that employee content could include references to other topics or products, in addition to their job or workplace. This may unintentionally imply company affiliation or endorsement, even when that isn't the case. This could create brand risks, particularly if the content contains opinions or statements that don't align with company values.
Other Unintended Consequences
As mentioned previously, many workfluencers share information about their career trajectory, including compensation details. While this is an interesting topic, sharing details about the interview process, negotiations, or compensation structures could lead to unintended consequences, particularly under the new amendments to the Competition Act. While this topic is outside the scope of this blog post, these amendments have strengthened enforcement against anti-competitive agreements, which means that discussing salary benchmarks or negotiation tactics in a way that influences market behaviour could raise concerns.
Additionally, revealing such details might affect relationships with clients and competitors, potentially leading to reputational risks or strategic disadvantages.
Best Practices for Employers
Update Workplace Policies: Employers should consider whether their current policies sufficiently address content creation. For example, traditional social media policies may be outdated in the age of workfluencing. Policies should be clear about what constitutes confidential information, when and how employees can use company property, including privacy protocols, including when or if recording or photography in the workplace is permitted/ prohibited. These same policies should also be clear about what the disciplinary consequences are for employees who breach them.
Clarify Expectations: Employers should also establish clear guidelines about content creation, including whether this activity is prohibited both during and outside working hours. For example, employers may require that employees request permission prior to sharing publicly about anything workplace-related. Similarly, to avoid conflicts of interest, employers may request that employees disclose other jobs that they have (which would include content creation) in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
Understand that Each Situation is Unique: It’s important to remember that no two situations are alike. There may be role-specific or industry-specific considerations for sharing work-related content. For example, the guidelines or prohibitions for someone in a finance or legal department would be different than for an employee who manages social media for the employer. Employers should also consider whether and how the use of social media by employees may help with workplace culture or brand alignment.
As workfluencing continues to grow, employers must take a thoughtful approach to managing workplace content creation. While these videos can be engaging and even beneficial in some cases, they also present legal, ethical, and operational challenges. By updating policies, setting clear expectations, and recognizing the unique circumstances of each situation, businesses can strike a balance between encouraging authenticity and protecting company interests. Open communication and proactive guidelines/ policies will help employers and employees navigate this evolving landscape while maintaining professionalism and compliance.
