Why should a company have social media policies and training? The policies and training will -
- help emphasize the importance of using company resources and time wisely,
- help protect employer and employee reputations; and,
- help protect confidential information and the company’s trade secrets.
In the Human Resources Guide to Social Media Risks, Jesse Torres mentions 4 out of 5 companies with 100+ employees put social media in their 2011 budgets, but neglected to put a policy in place. The exposure and risks are staggering since 91% of employees have smart phones. Employees spend time on social media at work. Some of this time is work-related while other is for personal reasons. Social “Not”working is the phrase coined to describe the time lost by employees checking the various social networking sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and LinkedIn. In addition, employees are very casual and impulsive about what they post online. Bottom line, there is a need for social media policies and training to help mitigate the risks for both the employer and the employees.
Social media policies and training must not ban employees from using social media, but instead teach employees how to use in the best interest of both the employee and employer. We see example after example of employees fired over what they post –
- a Starbuck’s barista for her rant on MySpace,
- a teacher for her Facebook post calling her students germ bags; and,
- two Domino’s employees for a YouTube video that showed them contaminating the pizza ingredients.
For a Free HR Assessment contact:
Monica Z. Austin, MBA, SPHR
The Hopkins Group, LLC
Human Resources Business Solutions
214-537-7524
http://www.linkedin.com/in/monicazaustin
http://twitter.com/monicazaustin
maustin@hopkinshr.com
The Hopkins Group, LLC
Human Resources Business Solutions
214-537-7524
http://www.linkedin.com/in/monicazaustin
http://twitter.com/monicazaustin
maustin@hopkinshr.com
Monica,
ReplyDeleteI think the most important HR consideration is exactly as you phrased "Individuals are extremely spontaneous about what they post, so now is the time to educate employees on how to play it safe in this new frontier."
Without the appropriate training history is showing that our employees are not always making the best choices. These Career Altering Decisions are effecting not only careers, but also organizational reputations and brand equity.
Every organization with something to lose (every organization) needs to ensure that they are taking appropriate risk mitigation actions. And along the way, they'll find social media as a great marketing and branding tool.
Great article.
Jesse Torres
http://socialmediabanking.blogspot.com
Thank you. Your book is very enlightening. A "must have" for every HR professional.
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