Why your company needs a social media policy — and how to get started
While social media blunders can be embarrassing, there are more reasons a company should have a social media policy than to just avoid the embarrassment. In today's fast-paced world of technological innovation with practically every employee on social media, some on social media during work time and some with work that consists of posting on social media for their employer, employeers are now faced with dishing out disciplinary actions for tweets, posts and photos made on employee’s personal accounts.
In some cases, people are rejected or have job offers revoked prior to their employment even beginning. These types of challenges for employers will not be going away anytime soon. This is why business owners — large and small — should know the answer to "Do I need a social media policy for my employees?" is always "Yes."
A thoughtful, comprehensive social media policy is a great way to not only clearly communicate expectations to employees about what is and is not acceptable, but it also ensures organizations are able to manage the image of their brand effectively. Employee messages — even when posted from personal accounts — can impact consumer perception.
But how does a company go about creating a well-crafted social media policy that protects both the employer and the employee? Developing a social media policy is not a job best done alone. It's best to get company stakeholders from various teams — IT, public relations and human resources — involved in the process. This is important because the use of social media never only impacts one or even just two departments. It impacts people and technology on a number of fronts.
Having the right people in the room the first time around can help avoid blunders that could have prevented with input from the right people.
Researching policies of similar organizations can help an employer get started with their own policy. Find companies with similar company culture that have great examples of proactive, well-organized social media policies. Then with a company’s own set of needs it will be easier to setup a policy.
There are a lot of variables at play in the world of social media, which can result in an employer creating a large social media policy that is either too vague or too small in scope. Consider breaking down "one big policy" into categorized, smaller policies.
Facebook use policy
Twitter use policy
Personal blog policy
Personal social media account code of conduct
Employee conduct code for use of employer computers and Internet
Employee conduct code for online company representation
Conduct code for use of official brand social media channels
Breaking down a policy into manageable chunks has two major benefits. First, businesses will have an easier time identifying any gaps. Second, a segmented set of clearly-titled policies will make it easier for employees to understand what conduct is acceptable. Moreover, it will be easier for them to proactively answer their own questions, as they arise, at a later date.
Before distributing a policy or set of policies to employees, having it reviewed and approved by an internal legal team or third-party legal service is critical. This is because some public social media activity that may seem reasonably inappropriate — and thus understandably prohibited — might be protected under the National Labor Relations Act. For example, Section 7 of the NLRA allows employees to discuss wages and other employment conditions, regardless of the medium of platform — even in a public forum on the Internet. There are also constitutional issues to consider, such as free speech.
Having some form of proper legal representation review a policy before it goes into effect can mitigate future legal troubles down the road. This is especially true given the ever-evolving nature of social media technology. Innovation, though exciting, often breeds new hurdles in the eyes of the law. So it's best to bring in experts, as employers may or may not be aware of what those hurdles are.
When presenting new policies to employees, employers need to take a few steps to make sure communication around the policy is clear:
Communicate when new policies are introduced, as they shouldn't be used to surprise an employee after an offense has already been committed.
Outline expectations around reviewing policies, as well as deadlines for any signed documentation that may be required.
Announce any changes or updates to internal policies, being specific about what changes were made. Employees shouldn't be left to figure out what language has changed, especially since social media policies can be long and complex.
Invite questions, concerns and suggestions from employees. An open feedback loop can often mean the difference between avoiding an issue before it happens and dealing with questions after the fact.
Communication of a policy is just as important as the policy itself. A company taking the proper steps to communicate new and revised policies at each step not only increases the likelihood of compliance, but it also makes employees partners in the process.