Staff working at competitor sites

What would you do if a staff member on your forum was also staffing on a competitor forum? Would you be okay with it? Would you care at all? What do you think?

 

As long as the staff member in question remains unbiased and it doesn't cause any conflict with the other website, I think it's fine. Basically, if you would never know they're working somewhere else until they told you (not because they're hiding it but because there are just no signs of it), it doesn't seem like it's hurting anyone to me.

 

Wish some admins saw it that way. Lost a staff position because of that before...

*Via my HTC EvO 4G*

 

If a staff member was going to become staff at another forum, would you want them to let you know first? or Would you not care at all though?

 

The first question we much ask our self is why that staff member decided to take on a position on another forum. If it's because your forum is lacking something, then you better start looking at applying new changes to prevent that. If a staff member is doing this as a "helping hand", then it wouldn't matter in the first place.

For these very reasons, I would like to have known what the reason behind all of this was. Commonly, we find that a staff member would apply to a different forum because they were offered a better/more promising position there.

 

Um, in the case I was referring to it was to lend a helping hand. Not only was I let go, so were a few others. It shouldn't matter, if you are still active and helping site a if you are a part of site b.

 

I didn't really think about that, but now that I do think it about, it makes sense. Thanks for the response!

 

I had a moderator begin working on a competitor's forum. I felt it was necessary to remove him from staff because of the conflict of interest. There's nothing I can do about participation on the competition, but a staff member can't be loyal to both.

It's a competition and the idea is to have the best content and the most members. If you start a discussion about a good topic on one forum, it is not a good idea to start a similar discussion on another forum. If you're just a member, then it's all fair and good. But if you're staff, you should be promoting your forum by starting discussions and encouraging others to participate. That is impossible to do on 2 competing forums.

The moderator I "fired" continued to participate on my forum and was able to understand why I had to remove him from staff. The other forum lost popularity and is now all but dead. Several months ago I asked my former moderator to stop moderating on that forum and come back as a lead moderator and he is doing an even better job for me now.

Jim

 

I'm sorry, but you are so wrong there.


*Via my HTC EvO 4G*

 

Yeah but think about it. It's kind of like somebody working at Staples, but buying everything at Office Depot. It's a slap in the face to Staples, right?

 

I don't believe I am wrong, or I wouldn't have said it. However, if you feel it is possible for a staff member to be loyal to your forum while working as a staff member of another, competing forum, please explain. Just saying I am wrong is not very convincing.

It's hard for me to fathom a staff member being able to do the best job possible for me while performing similar duties for a competitor. His or her job for me would require them to do far more than just managing members. Their job would include... well, here's a copy of "The Job Description" for my forum:

That is a lot of responsibility for a staffer. If they were to take on similar duties at another forum, it would take away from their job and loyalty to my forum. It's a competition. You can't be a coach on both teams competing against each other. You can't sell cars for 2 competing dealerships. You can't win new readers of a newspaper, magazine or website if you are providing content to a competitor. Every little bit you give to the competitor is what you should be giving to only one.

R'gards,

Jim

 

I don't see a problem with it. In fact, unless you're paying them decent wages to be 'staff' at your forum, I don't see how requiring them to be 'exclusive' shows them any respect at all.

 

Please excuse the delay in getting back to you, I needed to get to a full computer so I can type it all out. My Phone would not do in this situation...

I am going to respond with some of the qoutes in this thread...

SalvageX nailed it. If a person can be a effective member of your staff without causing any conflict, why not?

Nope. Let me ask you this: If you work at staples but office depot is cheaper, where would you buy? Honest now...
In the world of forums, it is diffrent as you can support two forums/stores at the same time. What if you have more orders then staples can fill? Is it wrong to ask for the rest at office depot?

Well put!

And that underlined part is the crux of the issue right there. You expect your staff to sell your site. While your staff should promote your site, requiring them to be exclusive is not a MUST. Staff can be efective without being exclusive. Which is the very point I am arguing and the very point I think you are wrong...

You said it best.

I know this post is a little unorganized, sorry about that. I hope I made my point...

 

If you don't understand the conflict between 2 same-niche forums, then you don't understand the concept of "competition."

That's not just disloyalty, it's sabotaging the success of the forum/store you work at. We're talking about what makes any website great - on the surface, that's content, behind the scenes it's management. If you are a staff member and give your valuable content and management skills to another forum in the same niche, you are cheating the forum you work for out of the competitive edge. You cannot possibly give 100% to either forum if you are a staffer on both.

Got a problem with what is available at the forum? Then work as a team to provide better quality, more content and a more desirable forum.

Well put??? Again, no concept of competition. It's a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. Any helping hand as a staff member on a competing site is a conflict of interest. You don't help the other guy win.

I don't require exclusivity. Most of my staff participate on other forums in my niche. But they should not work as staff. Maybe you misunderstood that part.

A very small percentage of forums pay their staff. None in my niche pay their staff. However, my staff do get gifts from manufacturers and I also give them tokens of my appreciation in the form of t-shirts, hats and mugs and I help them with logos, business cards and marketing (which can be quite costly, so there is value). But again, there may be some misunderstanding about the term "exclusive." My staff are not allowed to be staff on a competitor's website unless they give up their staff position on my site.

My staff can participate all they want on another forum. They just can't work there. Paid or not, it's part of their job to help my forum become the best. If that's too much to ask of an individual, then there are others willing to take on the responsibility. The job requires loyalty and dedication. That's not synonymous with being staff at the competitor.

Jim

 

I am seeing both sides of the argument here, and I'm split down the middle in terms of whether or not a moderator working on two similar sites is acceptable or not.

One thing that I believe is perhaps the largest factor in determining this is: How much of a role does the moderator hold on your site? The answer to this question is what will determine if it is suitable for that moderator/staff-member to work on a similar site.

If the moderator's job description consists of mere content organization and forum moderation (enforcing rules, moving threads, merging posts, etc.), I feel that it is perfectly within acceptability for them to perform the same tasks (or even more) somewhere else. Their job is essentially objective and very matter-of-fact.

However, if the moderator is expected to play a much larger role than the general moderator, with perhaps more administrative tasks like helping build the forum's membership; helping design, promote and manage forum contests; serving as a cornerstone of the membership's sense of community; amongst other critical forum-management tasks... then I believe their focus should be maintained on one and only one forum. They can't possibly be equally passionate about two very similar sites; they will always be partial to one, and as such, should choose one to stick with.

If I was put in the situation of a moderator of mine (one of the higher-level moderators with a role crucial to the forum's operation) volunteering on another forum, I'd really have to determine whether their new-found position is having an impact on their performance on my site, and if it is, ask them to resign from one of the two moderator positions.

This issue cannot be universally agreed upon, because different forums establish varying roles and expectations for their moderators. A moderator on Mordy's site may only be responsible for enforcing the rules, while a moderator on eJM's site is heavily responsible for content development on the forum, for example. In the first case, the moderator's exclusivity is less important than it is in eJM's case.

 

I agree with this... Why cant you? A good moderator in fact, SHOULD be able to put bias aside, or he shouldn't be a moderator...

 

I allow my staff to work on other similar sites as mine, all I ask is they don't discuss what goes on in the staff rooms with anyone else.
Sometimes it's good to have a staff member that is part of other forums like yours. It means they should know the topic very well. If you think about it, they would have more ground to cover which can lead to a more experienced staff member.

 

For us, we don't care unless they are an admin at another site, or we find that the other site would cause a conflict on the code of conduct we are expected to adhere to (official fanclub stuff) because we feel that someone who is adhering to the code as expected should not work at a site that does NOT adhere to the code. weird answer, ja

 

Personally, if I'm not paying the staff member, it doesn't matter. They are volunteering their time to help me out because they share a passion about my sites content. Now I don't agree with posting the same post on both boards (I'm sure the other board admin would agree), but really, it shouldn't matter.

If you are that worried about competition, you aren't running a forum as a hobby, or a way to express your passions, you are running it like a business. And if you have the intent to run a business, you should expect lack of loyalty when the pay stubs don't add up.

 

I have worked on lots of forums at the same time ... without any bias or conflict of interest ... am well known within the hobbies / areas i use.

i think its down to having the right people and right attitude ... just my 2 pennies worth

@manx

Ps ... agree with @Joshuad above ... if staff are not been paid ... and giving up their own time ... then it should not be a issue at all.