Is social media—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube—a fad or the wave of the future? From a company policy perspective, the answer to that question doesn’t matter. The fact is that you need a social media policy that clearly defines what your employees may and may not say about your operation on social media sites—and you need it today, not next week or next year.
A social media policy is not the same as your on-the-job internet use policy. It’s not enough to control access to certain sites while employees are at work; you need guidelines for what employees can—and can’t—say about the company whenever and wherever they are online. In the past, workers who had a bad day would go home and grumble about it to their families or to their buddies over drinks after work; today, they’re far more likely to vent on the internet, and what they say could damage your company.
Points your social media policy should address include:
• On which sites and under what circumstances employees can identify themselves as employees of your company. Online business networking has value and should be encouraged, but if employees are involved in activities outside the workplace that may be considered divisive (such as hot political and social topics), you may not want to risk alienating customers by being publicly identified with those issues. Don’t try to keep employees from expressing their opinions; just make it clear that they are not to connect the company to those opinions or actions.
• Protecting confidential and proprietary information. It may sound like a no-brainer, but your policy should specifically include a prohibition against revealing confidential information on social media sites.
• Prohibit disparaging the company, its employees and suppliers, and its current, previous, or prospective customers. Social media sites are a popular place for people to vent, but your employees need to know that if they’ve had a bad day and they’re ticked off at the company, their boss, or a customer, they can’t put it up on Facebook, Twitter, or any other site in any way that would identify the company, the customer, or the individuals involved.
Have your policy reviewed by an attorney to make sure it doesn’t violate employees’ free speech rights or other applicable laws or regulations. Provide employees with a copy of your policy and have them acknowledge in writing that they have received and understand it. Finally, enforce the policy consistently without exception.
Jacquelyn's latest book is Christian Business Almanac: The Ultimate Daily Guide for Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneurs and Leaders.
She is the author of the nonfiction books Simple Facts About Self-Publishing (Second Edition), Words to Work By: 31 devotions for the workplace based on the Book of Proverbs and Finding Joy in the Morning: You can make it through the night as well as the novel Choices (A Joyful Cup Story). With her husband, she is the co-creator of several coloring books for adults and the novelty My Book About series.
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Jackie-
Very good tips regarding Social Media Policy. I agree all companies should implement a policy immediately!
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