Afraid of you or your employees saying the wrong thing on a social networking site such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook? If you are, you are not alone - most companies are having exactly the same thoughts.
When you start to consider using social media in your company, make sure you have first implemented and communicated a social media policy to everyone concerned. There are two important things to remember when setting one up:
- Make sure your employees know that you have the right to monitor employee use of social media regardless of location (i.e. at work on a company computer or on personal time with a home computer).
- Remind employees that company policies on anti-harassment, ethics and company loyalty extend to all forms of communication (including social media) – both inside and outside the workplace – and that bad mouthing the organisation or colleagues online can lead to consequences at work.
So if you are not sure where to start here is a template that you can use to get started (just remember to replace the word COMPANY with your company name):
If you wish to download a pdf copy of these Social Media Guidelines then click here for a copy: Download Social Media Guidelines
These guidelines apply to (COMPANY) employees or contractors who create or contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of Social Media. Whether you log into Twitter, Wikipedia, MySpace or Facebook pages, or comment on online media stories — these guidelines are for you.
While all (COMPANY) employees are welcome to participate in Social Media, we expect everyone who participates in online commentary to understand and to follow these simple but important guidelines. These rules might sound strict and contain a bit of legal-sounding jargon but please keep in mind that our overall goal is simple: to participate online in a respectful, relevant way that protects our reputation and of course follows the letter and spirit of the law.
1. Be transparent and state that you work at (COMPANY). Your honesty will be noted in the Social Media environment. If you are writing about (COMPANY) or a competitor, use your real name, identify that you work for (COMPANY), and be clear about your role. If you have a vested interest in what you are discussing, be the first to say so.
2. Never represent yourself or (COMPANY) in a false or misleading way. All statements must be true and not misleading; all claims must be substantiated.
3. Post meaningful, respectful comments — in other words, please no spam and no remarks that are off-topic or offensive.
4. Use common sense and common courtesy: for example, it’s best to ask permission to publish or report on conversations that are meant to be private or internal to (COMPANY). Make sure your efforts to be transparent don’t violate (COMPANY)’s privacy, confidentiality, and legal guidelines for external commercial speech.
5. Stick to your area of expertise and do feel free to provide unique, individual perspectives on non-confidential activities at (COMPANY).
6. When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. If you find yourself in a situation online that looks as if it’s becoming antagonistic, do not get overly defensive and do not disengage from the conversation abruptly: feel free to ask the PR Director for advice and/or to disengage from the dialogue in a polite manner that reflects well on (COMPANY).
7. If you want to write about the competition, make sure you behave diplomatically, have the facts straight and that you have the appropriate permissions.
8. Please never comment on anything related to legal matters, litigation, or any parties (COMPANY) may be in litigation with.
9. Never participate in Social Media when the topic being discussed may be considered a crisis situation. Even anonymous comments may be traced back to your or (COMPANY)’s IP address. Refer all Social Media activity around crisis topics to PR and/or Legal Affairs Director.
10. Be smart about protecting yourself, your privacy, and (COMPANY)’s confidential information. What you publish is widely accessible and will be around for a long time, so consider the content carefully. Google has a long memory.
If you wish to download a pdf copy of these Social Media Guidelines then click here for a copy: Download Social Media Guidelines
Obviously these are just guidelines, and if you have specifics that you want to include then you can do that.
This doesn’t just help employers it is also a very good guide as to the expectations of what the employees should be doing within social media.
If your company is just starting out with social media, or you want to better understand how best to use social recruiting as part of your recruitment strategy, then give Sirona Consulting a call today on 01903 206249.
