Do you need a social media policy? Are you concerned about your employee’s use of social media sites or of the use of the Internet for their personal use?
You are not alone.
Many business owners find that they need to create a social media strategy for their employee to follow while at work if only to make clear their expectations and their employees responsibilities. But what should it say? There are several different concepts that you should consider prior to setting up a social media policy
One of the first things the one should consider is how far are do you want to go? Many companies have policies on what employee’s can post about their job on their social media site outside of work. Be clear not to overstep your boundaries, although you are an employer you cannot limit an employee’s personal freedom of speech.
Another item to consider in your social media policy is whether to allow any social media networking or Internet use while your employees are at work. It seems a little silly to allow workers to use social media sites or the Internet while at work when they should be working, but are their work-related advantages to being on social media? For one, when a employee posts a comment about his or her job, that is free advertisement. Will you encourage the use of sites like LinkedIn or business referral sites such as Avvo?
You should also consider adding details in your social media policy about negative comments. If an employee does post a negative comment about his or her job, is there recourse? If so, what?
Who will represent the voice of your company on social media sites and how ill they handle negative comments? It is smart to have a social media policy in place before you run into difficulties so there is a clear course of action.
Social media marketing can be hugely benefitial to a company that takes advantage of new opportunities with a strategic plan that includes putting together a social media policy.
