While social media is not especially new anymore (its first forms appearing in 1997), its sophistication, popularity and reach has grown at an astonishing rate over the years. We’ve moved from sharing our worlds through simple textual status updates, to showing it in all its glory via snappy, short videos.
Many Employers still have a love-hate relationship with social media. Many see the benefits of it – how it can improve their branding and image, and how it can increase their sales. But on the other side of the coin, many Employers are wary of the potential issues it can bring, such as a decrease in productivity when Employees are spending large amounts of time on social media, or even damage to an Employer’s reputation if Employees are using it to share information that is inaccurate or not fact based, or to make comments that are offensive in nature.
Social media is a tool that can be used to enhance an organisation, but also misused to take down an organisation. So what can an Employer do to enjoy all of the benefits and none of the pitfalls?
Resolve Any Negative Drivers
While many Employees use social media at work as a way of taking a mental break or to keep up with friends and family, some turn to social media out of boredom, not feeling challenged and general job dissatisfaction (social media is also a handy place for job hunting!). When and where social media is used privately needs to be considered and reflected in the company Social Media Policy (more on that later), but how does an Employer use this knowledge?
This can present opportunities to Employers, for potentially improving matters:
- Look at how Employees’ roles and responsibilities are designed, and how well they align with their strengths and abilities;
- Look into how clearly expectations are communicated to Employees;
- Look at how Employee performance is managed;
- Consider whether there are development opportunities available for Employees; and
- Investigate whether Employees are being paid competitively, and with respect to their workloads and achievements.
Educate Employees on Online Behaviour
When someone posts something on social media, there will always be an intellectual data footprint. Posts can be deleted after the fact, but there will always remain a cached (stored data) record . Think of hastily deleted celebrity tweets that still somehow make headline news! Educate Employees on being mindful of what they post, should its content constitute something they may regret later (i.e.: Would they want their loved ones to see their post on the front page of a newspaper or on a billboard?)
Even though every Employee is entitled to a private life outside of work, occasionally an Employee may behave in a manner that the Employer feels may reflect badly on the organisation. An Employee could have personal views they choose to express online that are deemed discriminatory and therefore offensive to colleagues or clients. Worse still, if an Employee is posting in this manner while speaking on behalf of the organisation (i.e; a company social media account), this not only leaves them open to disciplinary proceedings, but the organisation may come under public fire if it is believed the Employee posted with the Employer’s approval or encouragement.
Set Guidelines and Create a Social Media Policy
Employers should issue guidance as to how to use social media when at work. This should accompany a Social Media Policy.
Guidelines communicate the culture and set the overall tone for the organisation. They make it clear as to whether they embrace social media wholeheartedly, and wish to work together with Employees to enhance the organisation’s standing, or whether it is something that is strongly regulated and restricted.
A Social Media Policy sets out the rules and expectations for Employees’ use of social media while at work, whether on behalf of the organisation or for personal use. It should also clearly state the consequences Employees can expect for violating them.
With social media and the importance of online etiquette still being relatively new to our society, many of us have gone through life without any training as to the best ways to use social media and communicate online. A well-crafted Social Media Policy gives the added advantage of educating Employees on this front, both for work activities and for use in their personal lives.
Safeguard Against Social Media ‘Accidents’
While there are cases of Employees using social media to deliberately harm their Employers, there are also cases where the damage caused is entirely unintentional.
Posting an office photo while confidential information is on a PC screen nearby. Mentioning the first name of a child who did this really funny thing at the day-care centre where they work. Sharing a fun selfie taken in a warehouse with colleagues, inadvertently showing a brand new product in the background that’s yet to be formally announced and released. These are examples of actions that can and have taken place on social media that had no malicious intent, but still backfired for the Employees and Employers concerned.
The onus is on Employers to educate Employees as to what confidential information is, what can be deemed as a violation of privacy, and how even the mentioning of a name that makes a person or company easily identifiable, can result in repercussions for everyone concerned.
Conclusion
With the Internet dictating our daily lives, it would be impractical to call for an all-out ban on the use of social media in most workplaces. But at the same time, it would be reckless to let everyone loose on forms of communication that have been known to make or break a person or organisation overnight, even when it is down to simple misunderstanding.
As with so many things, it is about getting the balance right. Take advantage of the benefits, investigate and resolve difficulties, and educate, guide and work together with Employees to create a workplace social media culture that happily serves everyone.
Struggling with managing Social Media at work? We’d be happy to help.