LinkedIn company pages allow businesses to establish a presence on the platform and showcase information about their company to visitors. As part of setting up and managing a company page, admins can add employees to the page to represent their team. However, there may be situations where a company needs to remove an employee from their LinkedIn page, such as if someone leaves the organization. In this article, we’ll look at whether it’s possible to remove employees from a LinkedIn company page and how to do so.
Can You Remove Employees from a LinkedIn Company Page?
Yes, it is possible for admins to remove employees from a LinkedIn company page. LinkedIn provides the ability to add and remove employees as needed to keep your team updated.
However, there are a couple things to keep in mind when removing employees:
- Only admins can remove employees from the company page. Regular employees or former employees cannot remove themselves.
- Removing an employee from the company page does not delete their LinkedIn profile or remove them from your company on LinkedIn entirely. It simply takes them off the public roster on your company page.
- Once removed, employees will no longer show up under the “People” tab of your company page. Their profiles will also no longer be accessible from your company page.
So in summary – yes, admins have the ability to remove employees, but this only takes them off the company page, not LinkedIn overall.
How to Remove an Employee from Your LinkedIn Company Page
If you need to remove an employee from your LinkedIn company page as an admin, here is how to do it:
Step 1: Access Company Page as Admin
First, make sure you are logged into LinkedIn as an admin user for the company page. Then go to your company page and click “Manage” to access the admin tools.
Step 2: Click “People”
In the left sidebar, click on “People” to view employees added to the company page. This shows a list of all current employees on the page.
Step 3: Hover Over the Employee’s Name
Find the name of the employee you want to remove. Hover your mouse over their name and click the “X” icon that appears.
Step 4: Confirm Removal
A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm that you want to remove the employee from the company page. Click “Remove” to confirm.
Step 5: Employee is Removed
The employee’s profile will be immediately removed from the company page. They will no longer show under your list of employees.
And that’s it! The employee is now removed from the public view of your company page, but still has their personal LinkedIn profile and connection to your company through their profile.
Keep in mind you can always add the employee back at any time through the “People” tab as needed.
What Happens When You Remove an Employee?
When you remove an employee from your LinkedIn company page, here are some key things to note:
- The employee’s LinkedIn profile is not affected or deleted. They simply no longer show up on your company page.
- Any content the employee posted to your company page under your company’s name will remain on the page. Their name will still show on this content.
- The employee’s connections, recommendations, and groups are not changed. Their network remains intact.
- Your company will no longer show up under the employee’s “Experience” section on their profile, unless they choose to add it manually.
In summary, removing an employee just takes them off your public company roster. Their personal account and presence on LinkedIn remain unchanged otherwise.
Former Employee Profiles
For former employees, it’s common practice to remove them from your company page once they depart your organization. But you do not need to worry about deleting their personal LinkedIn profile, which allows them to maintain their professional networking and presence.
Reasons to Remove an Employee
Here are some common reasons a company may need to remove an employee from their LinkedIn company page:
The Employee Leaves the Company
When an employee leaves your organization for any reason (quitting, layoff, termination, etc.), it’s appropriate to remove them from your current company page roster. This ensures your page only shows current team members.
The Employee Changes Roles
If an employee moves to a new role in your company that’s not relevant to the departments or positions shown on your page, you may wish to remove them.
Limit Company Page Access
Some companies limit employee access for posting and managing the company page. In this case, you may wish to remove employees from publicly representing your brand on the page.
Renew Company Page
When giving your company page a major overhaul, you may want to remove all employees and rebuild your team roster from scratch.
Employee Request
In some cases, employees may request to be removed from your company page for personal or professional reasons.
Maintaining Company Page Accuracy
Like any public business profile, it’s important to keep your LinkedIn company page updated. Having outdated or inaccurate employee information can damage your brand and misrepresent your business.
Here are some tips for maintaining accuracy:
- Remove ex-employees immediately upon departure from your company.
- Update employee titles and roles as they change.
- Periodically review your list of employees on your page to ensure it’s current.
- Have a clear system and specific admin(s) responsible for updating the company page.
- Place a notice on your careers page that ex-employees will be removed upon departure.
Keeping your company page employees current reflects well on your brand and shows visitors accurate information.
Informing Employees About Removal
To maintain transparency, it’s often a good idea to directly inform employees before removing them from your company page. This avoids catching them off guard.
Some suggestions on informing employees:
- Have a policy that all departing employees will be removed from the company page and social media.
- Tell employees during off-boarding when they are leaving the company.
- Give advanced notice if you need to remove an employee for other reasons.
- Have employees request removal if they wish to no longer represent your brand.
Giving notice helps employees understand that removing them is just part of maintaining an accurate presence, not meant as a personal slight.
Employee Reactions to Removal
While removing an employee is straightforward on the admin side, keep in mind that employees may have personal reactions to being taken off your company page.
Some employee responses may include:
Hurt feelings
Being removed may make some employees feel rejected or hurt, especially if they enjoyed promoting your company. Be sure to frame it as an organizational issue, not a personal one.
Embarrassment
Employees may feel awkward or embarrassed to have their name removed if others notice. Downplay the situation and offer privacy.
Anger
Negative emotions like anger or resentment can surface if an employee feels singled out or punished. Provide a clear rationale for the decision to mitigate this.
Indifference
Many employees won’t be concerned about LinkedIn removal. But informing them is still good practice.
With tact and transparency, you can minimize any difficult employee reactions.
Alternatives to Removing Employees
If you wish to limit an employee’s public exposure on your company page, but don’t want to fully remove them, some alternatives include:
- Making their profile “Private” so only admins can see it under your company roster.
- Removing tagging abilities so they cannot actively post content to your page under your company name.
- Restricting them from representing certain brands, divisions, or locations in your organization.
- Demoting them to a general employment status without job details or descriptions.
These options allow you to scale back an employee’s involvement appropriately instead of fully removing them.
Removing Former Employees on Other Social Media
It’s also important to remove former employees from representing your organization on other social media when they leave your company.
Some guidelines on removing ex-employees from social media:
Similar to LinkedIn, you can remove former employees as page admins on your company’s Facebook page through the admin settings.
If ex-employees managed your company Twitter account, be sure to change the credentials so they no longer have access after departure.
Remove former employees from having posting or managing abilities on your business Instagram account. Change the password if needed.
Company Blogs/Websites
Take down any executive profiles or bios of departed employees on your company blogs or website.
Keeping social media, websites and public platforms updated helps present an accurate view of your current organization and staff.
Conclusion
Removing employees from your LinkedIn company page is a normal and often necessary part of maintaining your organization’s brand presence. While ex-employees may have some personal feelings about being removed, focusing on organizational policies and transparency can make the process straightforward. As long as the removal aligns with your company’s culture and standards, it can help project an accurate, up-to-date view of your business on LinkedIn.
