Do You Need Social Media Policy in Your Company

There has been drastic change in how people communicate since the advent of social media websites. Sharing news, ideas, and almost any type of information is not only easy, but also information can become viral or spread very quickly. Since almost everybody uses social media, it is necessary to demarcate a line that employees should not cross while posting on social media, as work and home life becomes a blur most times. Many instances have been seen of employees posting content that was considered inappropriate for the company, and ultimately these employees lost their jobs. Therefore, having a social media policy is very important, which spells out the guidelines about what employees can post, and what information is considered confidential or inappropriate from the point of view of the company.

Here are some important points to be considered while forming social media policy for a workplace.

First Define Social Mediar
This might seem obvious, but employees need to know, what the company considers social media. The company must not only include popular social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, but also define different types of digital tools used in communicating.

What is Not Allowed?
The main purpose of designing a social media policy is to make employees know the type of information or content that they cannot post of social media. It may not be possible to spell out everything specifically, and therefore guidelines should be given about things that employees should not do or say on social media, which includes - • Revealing confidential information of the business • Posts that could be viewed to be disparaging or derogatory towards clients, customers, or other employees • Information that can cause legal trouble for the business • Content that might subvert efficiency or productivity of employees

Encourage Employees to Post Information that is allowed

Even though there should be strict guidelines about things employees cannot do or post on social media, the company should also encourage employees to post stuff that is allowed. Ultimately, employees are brand ambassadors and they should be motivated to post online for building the reputation and brand of the company. However, spell out the time that can be used during work for posting online.

What happens if the Policy is not followed?
To make sure social media policy is taken seriously and followed diligently by all employees, it is necessary to have punitive or disciplinary actions, and even terminating the employee, when the breach of policy is major. Even though, the company need to inform employees about such punitive measures, it is also equally important to educate employees first about the dangers social media could pose for the company. Employees should be made to understand that information posted on social media is seen by many, it can become viral, and information once posted cannot be erased or taken down easily. By the time, company takes steps to erase inappropriate posts; the damage would already be done. Therefore, having a social media policy for your company not only protects your business, but protects your employees as well.

Involve all Departmentsr
Social media policy should be drafted after consulting all departments. Involving all departments is your best chance at designing a comprehensive policy. Secondly, it is not just the top management that should be involved but also executives and managers of different departments.

Keep it Simple and Conciser
The social media policy should be a huge manual, as that could be quite overwhelming, and hardly anybody will want to read it. Brevity is essential, but at the same time the policy should cover all points, and it should be easily accessible in print and digital formats.