Shelley Sawers, wife of the new head of the British Secret Intelligence Service MI6, opened a Facebook account and posted photographs of her family, the location of their home and the identities of several close family friends and associates.

Her husband must’ve been pretty surprised to learn his wife had posted such personal information (as well as pictures of him in his swim trunks) on a social networking site, given that MI6 employees are bound by strict secrecy guidelines.

Mrs. Sawers’ family will most-likely need to be moved and her children may now need extra protection.

The move was not only an embarrassment for her husband, but the British government, which just announced its new “strategy for cyber security,” a cross-government program to address the UK’s cyber security issues.

You may not be head of the Secret Intelligence Service, but how important do you think it is to keep personal information or pictures off social networking sites?

Most are spending more time on social networking sites and less money on job boards like CareerBuilder and Monster, according to a recent survey by Jobvite, a recruiting software provider.

Of the 440 HR pros who responded, 72% said their company will invest more in recruiting through social networks this year. Meanwhile, more than half expect to spend less on job boards.

What online tools are getting the most use? The most popular social networks for recruiters and HR pros:

• Linkedin (used by 80% of those who responded)
• Twitter (42%)
• Facebook (36%)
• Jobster (17%)
• Myspace (13%).

Other traditional, low-cost methods are getting more attention in this economy as well — for example, 68% of companies said they plan to increase the use of employee referrals.

Judge B. Carlton Terry, Jr., of North Carolina was recently reprimanded by the state’s Judicial Standards Commission for “friending” a lawyer on Facebook.

At some point during a pending child custody case, Terry found Charles Shieck, the lawyer representing the defendant, on the site and added him to his list of friends.

The two “friends” posted messages about the case to each other, the Lexington Dispatch reports. Comments included a discussion about proving whether the plaintiff had been having an affair and Terry’s statement that he had “two good parents to choose from.”

Eventually, Terry was disqualified from the case and a new trial was granted. He was then reprimanded by the state — interacting with counsel during a pending trial violates the state’s judicial code of conduct.

Regular, old-fashioned networking.

A recent survey by AfterCollege.com asked recent graduates to pick the job-searching methods they found to be most effective. The top two options were searching job boards and applying directly through a company’s Web site, followed by various types of networking, such as:

• talking to someone who works at an employer of interest
• attending a job fair, and
• talking to friends or family members.

Other preferred methods include asking professors for help, looking at ads in a newspaper and attending information sessions at a school.

Last on the list: using social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, with only 11% of users finding them to be effective job searching tools.

What does it mean? While companies have been able to find employees through social networking sites, like any recruiting tools, they need to be used in conjunction with other strategies. Focusing too much on one avenue, especially a brand new one, limits the audience you can reach.

More than half (53%) of employees say their managers shouldn’t be able to view what they put on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, according to a recent survey by Deloitte. For workers 18-34 years old, that number jumps to 63%.

But most managers disagree — 60% say they deserve to know what their reports do online. The main reason: Monitoring and protecting the company’s reputation. Social networking gives users a chance to make details of their lives public — and work is a heavily discussed topic. Browse any Facebook profile or Twitter account, and odds are you’ll find something about the person’s job.

Managers might have a real cause for concern: One-third of employees admit that they never consider how their employer will be affected when they post material online. Almost 75% admit that social networking sites make employers more vulnerable to damaged reputations.

What do you think — do supervisors have the right to check out employees’ online personalities? Do managers at your company search for folks on the Web? Let us know in the comments section below.

Regular, old-fashioned networking.

A recent survey by AfterCollege.com asked recent graduates to pick the job-searching methods they found to be most effective. The top two options were searching job boards and applying directly through a company’s Web site, followed by various types of networking, such as:

• talking to someone who works at an employer of interest
• attending a job fair, and
• talking to friends or family members.

Other preferred methods include asking professors for help, looking at ads in a newspaper and attending information sessions at a school.

Last on the list: using social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, with only 11% of users finding them to be effective job searching tools.

What does it mean? While companies have been able to find employees through social networking sites, like any recruiting tools, they need to be used in conjunction with other strategies. Focusing too much on one avenue, especially a brand new one, limits the audience you can reach.

That’s the question a Swiss insurance company recently had to answer.

A woman working for Nationale Suisse went home early because of a migraine. She told her boss she needed to lie down in the dark, away from a computer screen.

That’s why the manager was surprised to see that she was editing her Facebook profile that afternoon. The woman was fired for lying about needing to get away from her computer.

Many managers would do the same thing. But the story isn’t quite that simple. First of all, the employee did admit to logging into Facebook after she went home — but she said she did so on her iPhone, which didn’t exacerbate her symptoms the way a computer screen would.

Also, she attests the company unfairly spied on her by checking on her profile while she was out. The company claims a co-worker stumbled across it and let the boss know.

Either way, the woman says she’s not suing to get her job back — in fact, she wouldn’t take the job back if it was offered to her. “My trust in this employer is gone,” she told the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten.

Was the company fair when it fired her? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.

Employees who frequently talk face-to-face are more productive than those who rely on e-mail, phone calls, Facebook and other electronic means, according to a recent report by researchers at MIT and New York University.

Participants in the study were equipped with devices called “sociometers,” small badges that track wearers’ movements, record their voices and detect when they’re standing near someone else wearing the device. In other words, they measured how often the employees interacted with each other in person.

The result: Employees who had face-to-face conversations throughout the day were more productive.

A similar study by the same research team was released in December, with the same results: Employees at an IT company who had regular in-person meetings were 30% more productive than those who didn’t.

The reasons are two-fold, researchers say. First, talking face-to-face helps groups solve problems faster than when they try to brainstorm other ways.

Second, face-to-face support networks increase general morale and job satisfaction, which are key to maintaining productivity.

The lesson for managers: Though technology has made it possible for employees to work together without ever seeing each other, it’s good to encourage in-person collaboration.

Dan Leone worked at the ticket gate at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. Having grown up in Philadelphia, Leone considered himself a fan of team as well as one of its employees.

He worked at the stadium for six years — until he posted an online comment criticizing one of the team’s off-season roster moves.

On his Facebook page, Leone wrote that he was “[expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver” — referring to the popular safety Brian Dawkins, who the team failed to re-sign after he became a free agent — “Dam Eagles R Retarted.”

Two days after that message was added to his profile, Leone’s boss fired him over the phone, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Leone says he’s apologized to management several times, but as of now, his termination still stands.

What do you think? Should all employees be fired if they’re caught publicly badmouthing their employers? Or was Leone’s comment unrelated to his job performance? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.

Are your managers looking for a way to catch employees who play hooky and lie about it? Here’s the latest strategy:

Wait for them to brag about it online.

Last year, 33% of employees admitted to lying about an absence, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.

You can expect more of the same this year. And, fortunately for managers (and anyone who likes a good laugh), some of those employees will be stupid enough to leave incriminating evidence posted online where anyone can see it.

Here are some real-life stories of managers who caught liars red-handed with a little Web surfing:

1. A picture’s worth a thousand words

Kevin Colvin, an intern at Anglo Irish Bank’s North American headquarters, e-mailed his boss to tell him he’d miss work the next day because of a family emergency.

The following morning, the manager looked the intern’s Facebook page and found a picture taken at a Halloween party the night before. The snapshot was of Colvin dressed in a fairy costume, complete with a wand, skirt and glitter make-up.

What did the manager do? He replied to the intern’s e-mail, attached the incriminating and embarrassing photo — and sent a copy to everyone else in the office.

2. The wrong way to get a week’s vacation

Jenn Hoffman tells MSN.com a story about an employee she managed who claimed to have caught the flu while visiting her family and needed a week to recover before traveling home.

However, Hoffman logged on to Myspace and found this message from the employee to all of her contacts: “Back from Michigan. Called in sick to work ALL WEEK. Who wants to party???!!”

The company gave her a lot more than the week off. She was fired.

3. It’s a valid medical reason, right?

Kyle Doyle, a 21-year-old call center employee from Australia, decided to call out sick after a particularly rough night of drinking.

A young employee skipping work because of a hang-over is probably nothing new — but Doyle went a step further and used Facebook to reveal the reason for his absence. His profile that day read: “not going to work, f*** it i’m still trashed SICKIE WOO.”

His employer found the page and HR e-mailed Doyle asking for a doctor’s note — and attached a screen shot of his accidental confession.

What good stories do you have about employees who’ve been caught playing hooky? Share them in the comments section below.