SOCIALBEARING

SocialBearing at Work

Better working relationships start with clearer expectations.

Get your Bearing. Then navigate.

Companies hire professionals for their judgment, then expect them to fit a culture whose everyday expectations are rarely spelled out. Values and policies describe the culture. They don't tell anyone what "fit" looks like in a specific situation. Silence can look like alignment when it isn't.

SocialBearing is a private way to measure the behavior in an account against familiar social norms, before deciding what it means.

See it in action ↓How it works →

Same situation. Two accounts. One Framework.

These fictional accounts follow executives at Asterion Cloud. Each person described the situation in their own words, and each account was processed separately through SocialBearing. The observations and classifications shown are the actual results, unedited.

The Office Exemption

Maya Chen, Chief People Officer

Original account

“Six months enforcing Daniel's four-day office policy, rejecting exceptions for childcare and commutes. Then he goes on TV saying the office doesn't suit his personality. Seriously? Three regional leaders immediately asked me how that's fair. I raised it with him, and he said his job is different. Policy stays. So I told HR to keep enforcing it, and we rejected more requests this week. I'm supposed to be responsible for fairness, but apparently not when it comes to Daniel.”

Maya’s private Bearing

  1. 01

    “For six months, I enforced a four-day office policy and rejected requests for exceptions based on childcare or commuting.”

    Norm: Follow Shared Processes

    Shared rules and agreed ways of doing things only work when people follow them.

  2. 02

    “After another person publicly said that the office did not suit their personality and stated that their job was different, I told HR to continue enforcing the policy, and additional exception requests were rejected.”

    Norm: Follow Shared Processes

    Shared rules and agreed ways of doing things only work when people follow them.

Daniel Mercer, Founder and CEO

Original account

“Maya's upset because I don't sit in the office four days a week. Come on. I'm the CEO. I'm with customers and investors, half the time traveling. I said on TV that the office doesn't suit my personality. Probably a dumb way to put it. Maya told me it made the policy harder to enforce. I said my role is different and the policy stays. We need teams together. I'm not going to sit at a desk just to make HR's job easier.”

Daniel’s private Bearing

  1. 01

    “I do not sit in the office four days a week while stating that the policy should remain in place.”

    Norm: Follow Shared Processes

    Shared rules and agreed ways of doing things only work when people follow them.

    Classification:Difference

    More than one reasonable way to see the situation; often a difference in expectations, style, or approach.

The Compassion Town Hall

Maya Chen, Chief People Officer

Original account

“We laid off three thousand people today. My team has been working around the clock. Daniel spoke at the town hall about compassion and accountability, but skipped the employee questions about executive responsibility. My communications director asked whether we should extend the session. I said no—we'd agreed on 45 minutes. Afterward, I approved a generic response saying we'd provide more information later. I keep telling managers to answer difficult questions directly. Today we didn't.”

Maya’s private Bearing

  1. 01

    “I approved a generic response promising more information later instead of providing direct answers to difficult questions, despite repeatedly telling managers to answer such questions directly.”

    Norm: Correctly Share Updates

    People rely on relevant information being shared accurately and at the right time.

    Classification:Friction

    Reported behavior materially departed from an established expectation, agreement, request, commitment, or limit.

  2. 02

    “I declined to extend the session because an agreement had set its length at 45 minutes.”

    Norm: Follow Shared Processes

    Shared rules and agreed ways of doing things only work when people follow them.

  3. 03

    “Another person spoke about compassion and accountability at a town hall but skipped employee questions about executive responsibility.”

    Norm: Join the Conversation

    Conversation works better when people have room to participate.

    Classification:Difference

    More than one reasonable way to see the situation; often a difference in expectations, style, or approach.

  4. 04

    “The team worked around the clock during the period of layoffs.”

    Norm: Balance Work and Rest

    Time and energy have limits, and sustainable ways of working need to account for them.

Daniel Mercer, Founder and CEO

Original account

“Three thousand layoffs. Awful day. I acknowledged we'd overhired and took responsibility at the town hall. Then employees wanted to debate executive accountability in front of the whole company. I said we needed to focus on rebuilding and moved on. What was I supposed to do, fire the leadership team on a livestream? Maya says people felt dismissed. Maybe. But somebody has to move the company forward. I can't spend six months apologizing for a decision that had to be made.”

Daniel’s private Bearing

  1. 01

    “I acknowledged that the company had overhired and took responsibility for that decision at a company-wide meeting.”

    Norm: Take Responsibility

    When our actions affect others, acknowledging what we did and its impact matters.

  2. 02

    “After employees asked to discuss executive accountability in front of the company, I said the focus needed to be on rebuilding and moved on without continuing that discussion.”

    Norm: Join the Conversation

    Conversation works better when people have room to participate.

    Classification:Difference

    More than one reasonable way to see the situation; often a difference in expectations, style, or approach.

See more examples →

How it works

Describe what happened. In your own words, by voice or text.

See the observations. SocialBearing identifies behavior in your account that could reasonably be seen, heard or established, including your own. If they don't reflect what you meant, you can describe it again.

Get a Bearing. Each observation is measured against the same familiar norms. The result may be a Difference, a Friction or a Safety Alert. Sometimes no classification is supported.

Revisit over time. Private Logs and Navigate let people revisit observations across situations and relationships.

Private by design. The original account isn't kept. Employers, managers and administrators can't see anyone's Bearings or Logs. SocialBearing isn't an employee-monitoring system, HR-reporting tool or sentiment dashboard. It doesn't connect different users' accounts or build profiles of people.

How it works →The SocialBearing Framework →Privacy →

Then navigate.

Companies hire professionals for their judgment. SocialBearing leaves it with them.

The employee decides when to take a Bearing, confirms the observations and sees which norm is involved, which isn't always obvious in the moment. What, if anything, comes next is their decision. Some let it go. Some ask for clarification. Some suggest writing down an expectation everyone has been assuming.

SocialBearing gives employees a consistent framework for examining everyday behavior, even when their experiences and expectations differ. The framework is shared. Their Bearings remain private.

Alongside published values and policies, organizations can give everyone the same reference points for everyday situations, without anyone disclosing their experiences. When people share the vocabulary, each can enter a conversation from a clearer starting point, and name an expectation before it becomes a problem.

Get a Bearing →Bring SocialBearing to your workplace →

Free account required during the beta.

Not ready to bring a real situation? Explore your starting point → Six questions, about a minute.

Asterion Cloud and everyone in these examples are fictional. The results show how SocialBearing measures an account. They are not evidence of workplace outcomes.