By John McPhee, Senior Account Executive at Anvil Media
I think we all know by now that social media is here to stay. Yes, it’s true the sites we participate on and the tools we use will all change from time to time, but social media isn’t going anywhere. Looking at these current social media statistics is staggering.
• 4 out of 5 computer users are active in social media
• 13 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute
• Over 3.6 billion photos have been uploaded to Flickr
• 70 million photos are uploaded to Facebook daily
• 19 million tweets per day
Are Companies Monitoring Social Media Usage?
So with all of this social media activity happening, how much of it do you suppose happens at work? Are companies monitoring employee usage? My guess is social media use at work is quite high, and yes, companies are monitoring employee usage. Let’s take a look at a survey conducted by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) to determine how companies are currently monitoring social media use in the workplace. Roughly 65% of companies are doing some sort of employee monitoring while at work, however, the biggest segment uses a “passive system” and will only act when an issue arises. Sounds dangerous to me.
From the survey, 24% of respondents said that an employee has faced disciplinary action due to their activities on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. However, the percentage of disciplinary action in the public sector (33%) was much higher than the private sector (13%).
With all of this activity going on at work, and companies spending time, energy and resources monitoring it, doesn’t it make sense to embrace social media and accept that employees will use it? I’m not talking about lying down and letting employees freely use it as they please, but it makes good business sense to take advantage of this medium while you can, and what better way to do that than to empower your employees to join the conversation?
Set the Stage for New Hires
So where, and when, do you start training employees in social media? How about setting some ground rules, a foundation that every employee can learn, understand and use. Creating a social media training course is one of the best ways to start molding your employees into social media marketing machines. Ideally this training would happen during the new hire orientation process. This way every employee understands from day one that social media use is accepted and encouraged, but there are guidelines that must be followed or disciplinary action will be taken, which could lead to immediate termination if the rules are broken. Employees must be held accountable for their actions, or in this case, the words they write via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, etc.
Get the Old Dogs to Fall in Line
If you do implement social media training in the new hire process, what about your current employees, the old dogs that have been working for the company for years? Maybe they’ve been using social media already, and are used to doing things a certain way? How do you handle this situation? It’s important to let them know that there will now be guidelines, and a training course (could be a couple hour session, doesn’t have to be extravagant) that must be taken by every employee. Let them know you appreciate what they’ve already done within social media, and you’ll continue to encourage them, but in order to protect the company they’ll need to follow specific guidelines. I would suggest you focus on things that they can say, not what they can’t. This puts a little more positivity to the guidelines.
Creating a Social Media Policy
Looking at the explosion in social media use over the past few years, you have to ask yourself “how many companies actually have a social media policy in place?” In a study conducted by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law, 69% of companies said they didn’t have a social media policy in place.
That is shocking to me, especially considering the amount of social media use that happens at work. Aren’t companies concerned of the risk they are taking by not having a formal policy? The biggest reason stated for not having a policy is companies aren’t sure what to include, which 25% of respondents stated.
So you’re a company that has created an employee training program, and are looking to also create a social media policy? Where do you start? Well, that’s easy. Look at what other companies are doing and determine which route you’d like to take. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. Will it be like Dell, very short and sweet? Or will you decide to provide your employees with a full arsenal like the American Red Cross’s social media toolkit? I think the Mayo Clinic did a good job at providing information about what employees can do, versus what they can’t. Even ESPN has a policy, although I see it as a tad overbearing, prohibiting anyone from writing a personal blog containing sports. Kinda broad and all encompassing, don’t you think guys? A personal blog where you can’t write about sports…hmmm. But hey, at least they have one. Now all ESPN employees know exactly what they can, and can’t, do.
The Bottom Line
Knowing that employees are going to use social media, whether it is at work or outside, the bottom line is that all companies should create some sort of social media policy. This will protect the company in any negative situation that involves an employee, social media and some undesirable words. At the same time, I would highly suggest that companies do what they can to reap the benefits that social media can bring, especially from a trained staff. If the entire company has been trained and understands the goals, social media could be an entirely new medium to obtain new customers, or help retain current ones. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a plethora of others, can all be used to your advantage, and in a down economy, these inexpensive (most are free) tools can work wonders.
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John McPhee is a Senior Account Executive for the Portland-based SEM Agency, Anvil Media. He has expertise in all aspects of search engine and social media marketing with extensive experience in the hospitality/travel and environmentally-friendly consumer goods verticals. He has provided guidance for a number of B2B clients as well.
