How should employers and HR pros handle employee LinkedIn recommendation requests? I received this great question the other day, and I wanted to answer publicly because she’s definitely not the only one curious about the topic. Here we go:

What is the recommended position for HR employees to take when other employees ask them to endorse them on LinkedIn (or other social networking recommendations)? I know I am old school, but it seems like an awkward position to be in as an HR professional.

Looking forward to your insights on this,

Naomi

• There’s no way you can do it for all employees, so don’t set a precedent with one of them. Tell ’em no.
• I might endorse a fellow HR coworker, but not someone outside my department. There’s just not enough close work experience to go on for other employees.
• If it feels weird to you, don’t do it. There is no reason to feel pressured to do something like this.
• Some of the scary lawyer types might tell you that it’s a bad idea to recommend someone, because if you have to terminate them a month later, they have this glowing recommendation to use against you.
• I’d try to find out their reasoning. Are they asking everyone, or just you? If they just want to look good (and I don’t know any other reason for LinkedIn recommendations), then it really isn’t your job to do that for them.
• I guess if you’re in a small company, you could do recommendations for anyone who asks, but I would limit it to their position and dates of employment (blame it on a policy) and that will probably turn them off from the idea.
• For the record, I have no LinkedIn recommendations, but I have a dozen people who would recommend me to you in a heartbeat. They’re not all that useful. :-)

Anyone else have ideas? And while you’re pondering, I’d love to connect with you on LinkedIn!