Employees in almost every field of work use social media on a regular basis—often from their office computers or from their own mobile devices on company time. Effectively regulating social networking can help many businesses prevent secrets from being leaked and company information from becoming public. However, balancing employees’ needs and rights with that need for secrecy can be challenging for many companies.
Clear Policies Prevent Misunderstandings
When you write your social media policy, be sure that you cover all of the important details. Express them in clear language and make sure that the policy is easy for everyone in the company to understand. You should include:
- The company’s policy on whether or not social media can be used at work on corporate devices, including during break times or down time.
- Whether or not it is acceptable to use social media on personal devices during work hours.
- What information is acceptable to post on social media sites outside of work hours regarding company information
- How company representatives are expected to behave on social networking sites.
Acknowledge Monitoring
If you’re monitoring your employees’ social media usage when they’re at work, be sure that they know about it. This not only helps prevent misunderstandings, but it also helps guide employees to more responsible behaviors because they know they’re being monitored. If your employees’ social media usage will be tracked, include it as part of the policy.
Build Positive Company Image Through Training
Because nearly everyone these days has access to Facebook, Instagram and other popular social platforms, you’ll find that all of your employees have a need for security awareness training. This will help them to understand your social networking policies and be more dedicated to displaying a positive image about the business without accidentally leaking anything that might be considered to be private information.
Enforce Regularly
If you have a social media policy that is only irregularly enforced, it can create more issues later. This means that there must be consequences for failing to abide by the terms of the social media policy. If an existing policy is seen to be outdated, it needs to be updated, not ignored!
Your social media policy is the best way to maintain employee and customer confidentiality whether they’re posting from work or posting from home after the work day is done. Confidentiality laws still apply when the work day is done. By enforcing these policies across your business, you can be sure that your company will be appropriately represented across social media.
