Does your company or business have a social media policy? You should think about having one to prevent potential damage to your company or business when using social media.
These policies will help your employees know what they can do and what they can say on behalf of your company. It also lays out the consequences for breaking them as well. A social media policy is different from your social media guidelines.
So what would you do if you where the Dansko company and one of your employees tried to slip this one past the folks on Twitter directly after a tragedy? It was posted on 18 December 2012. Most folks found this ad insensitive. It probably was not one of Dansko’s best posts. But what would you do it things went really negative and the employee went postal? Do you have a policy in place for such an event?
What happens when an employee posts negative comments about their place of employment, or says something against another individual or company? Are there clear defined consequences for violating your social media policy? Just because someone knows how to use social media does not mean that you do not need to provide social media policies for them to operate within.
A past ruling by the National Labor Relations Board in the USA declared the firing of an employee unlawful for comments that they had made on Facebook. The Board stated that posts are legally protected speech. This ruling had opened the door for some real dialog between the company and employees. This ruling definitely will make a company social media policy a must have. If you do not have policies for your social media usage, you will not have any ground to stand on when it comes to removing employees for their social media posts. You should have employee manuals containing social media policies that employees have to sign off on.
When I worked at a Chrysler dealership years ago, there was a company policy manual that I had to read and abide by. There was no real social media usage when I had started. Now I expect that they will have included a social media section in their employee manual. This is one thing that you need to have for your business before trouble ever comes knocking at your door.
Ford has been into social media marketing from the start of social media. They have developed a good social media policy for their social media usage. It’s a one page document with some very clear language about using social media. You can find Ford’s social media policy here. It is a very good read. Ford did a good job preparing it.
It is a good idea to develop a policy before your company gets too far along in its social media marketing. This policy will help employees understand what is expected of them. I might even save you a trip before a Judge.
Another point to realize is that a social media policy is different from your social media guidelines. A policy tells employees what they can and cannot do. It spells out the consequences for their wrongful actions. A social media guideline spells out how employees can do social media better. A tips and tricks book so to speak. Your business should have both. But it must have a social media policy.
What is your company doing with social media now? Please let me know your thoughts.
Here’s to a great day in business for you 😀
Employees will perform with greater confidence when they know the expected parameters of operation. A good policy can be a great document for success.