1) How should employers handle situations where employees are expressing negative opinions of the company via social media?
Social networking is an online platform that focuses on coordinating the the formation of social relations among people with like interest("Social networking,").Each user is represented by their profile and have opportunity to share and exchange information with members of similar interest.
Here are some guidelines for handling social responsibility:
Exercise Confidentiality
Ensure that information that is confidential to the organization is not shared. Determine what information is confidential and establish policy around it. Make sure everyone involved knows and is brief regarding this policy.Companies like Best Buy have used social media to address privacy concerns(Eridon, 2011).
Productivity Clause
A productivity clause must be in place in an effort to actively monitor emplyee usage of social media in the workplace. How social media affects workplace productivity is a huge concern for organizations that are so highly co dependent on a systematic approach.
Common Sense Clause
Keep it very simple for employees by just encouraging them to use common sense. Often times a simple approach to evaluating content and social responsibility leads to an impactful adherence to this kind of clause.It's a simple concept but the most important when deciding which content to post.
2) As an employer, how would you create a social media that policy that balances both employee rights and company interests, or would you simply choose to prohibit social media use on company time? If you choose the latter, please explain why.
Establish an Engagement Plan
Establishing an engagement plan with employees leads to not only a stronger brand image but ensures active engagement between the organization and its public. Walmart sets the bar with its vast amount of active Twitter follows who happen to be employees(Eridon,2001).Walmart uses Twitter as a means to engage their consumers through their strong base of employees.
Share of voice
Every organization must determine its share of voice in advance to avoid common sense mistakes(Eridon, 2011). Deciding who is going to share what within the organization is very important because it controls the tone and perception of the organization.It functions as damage control in a tragic situation.
By establishing the above strategy with in an organization will allow an organization to control and monitor social media use without hindering "freedom of expression" of the employees. I feel that removing the right of employees to use or engage on social media would have an opposite effect. Creating a platform of engagement for employees to help strengthen and not damage the public image of the brand reinforces team work and liberty within the organization.
Eridon, C. (2011, December 14). 5 noteworthy examples of corporate social media policies. Retrieved from http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/29441/5-Noteworthy-Examples-of-Corporate-Social-Media-Policies.aspx
Social networking. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mashable.com/category/social-networking/
Hi Kenya,
ReplyDeleteNice job on your response. I think you did a really good job in outlining the guidelines for sharing company information and for acting on behalf of the company on social media. However, how would your policy handle discussions that are within these guidelines. For example, how would address social media expressions by an employee that paints the company in a negative light? What kinds of discussions or discipline would be necessary to ensure that the company public image isn't damaged by a disgruntled employee?
Hi Kenya,
ReplyDeleteThe ideas behind the common sense clause and deciding who will share what are interesting to me. I can see how the common sense-based approach could work in many cases, but it seems to leave a fair amount of room for gray area. However, I do think that determining what is and is not confidential can help to some extent. Also, do you have any ideas for how to enforce a productivity clause? I understand the reasons for implementing one, but they generally seem difficult to enforce. I think organizations should trust employees to limit their time on social media without outside guidelines, but productivity clauses could potentially be effective, depending on how they’re structured.
As for an engagement plan and share of voice, I think there should be one or two people responsible for developing and executing social media strategy. However, the organization should also offer optional workshops to teach employees how to communicate the brand message on their personal social media accounts. Some employees may want to create personal social media profiles—or start blogs—to discuss their experiences working for the company, and management may help employees (and the brand as a whole) by providing relevant training.
Kenya,
ReplyDeleteI feel that the common sense clause is a risky move. As an HR professional and being someone who revises handbooks, I would not advise placing a common sense clause in a handbook. This is too vague and is not clear enough to protect the company. Being specific and providing examples is always best practice.
Jackie