Social media is everywhere – we spend on average in excess of 2 hours a day, every day on social media. But your employee’s personal social media account shouldn’t impact on your business, right?
Wrong! No matter how distanced your employee’s social media profiles may seem to be, someone will be able to link that person to your company – their friends know where they work; ex-colleagues know where they have moved to; they post a picture wearing their work uniform or ID badge; they share posts from your company page.
So how do you protect your business, whilst allowing your employees the freedom to use their own social media as they desire?
A simple three-word answer – Social Media Policy covering some key things:
- Make sure employees know that their posts can reflect on the company and what you consider confidential information
- Spell out what is and isn’t appropriate for employees to post about the company, and which social media channels are acceptable
- Include plenty of “dos” to help employees understand how they can contribute to the company’s goals when using social media on your behalf
- Who the company’s contact is for social media questions
- Remind employees to be polite and agreeable
- Use real life examples to educate employees on what good and bad social media can do