Millions of people around the world are members of at least one social network on the internet. They have a permanent online presence where they create profiles, share photos, share their thoughts with friends and spend hours just catching up with what friends are doing with their life. As a business owner you might have nightmarish visions of your employees wasting hours on Facebook and Twitter etc. While most employers are willing to close an eye to the occasional quick browse and update, they are more concerned about those who abuse the system.
Social media is the use of web based and mobile technologies for social interaction and includes Linked in, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter amongst many others.
Social media can be great!
They can be useful in widening the business’ circle of contacts and advertising for free; they can help your business remain in touch with customers and are very useful for social networking; Costs are low, the only cost being to maintain the official website; In recruitment it is a useful tool for finding and attracting talent. Some businesses do encourage the use of social networks to expand their employee’s business contacts.
But there can be big issues!
1. The main concern for organizations is not social networking sites per se but the people using them. Computer users’ actions are often based on impulse and not genuine awareness of what they are doing.
2. Productivity is the main problem employers have with social media and the distractions it causes. When unacceptable amounts of time are being spent on these sites it is costly and lowers morale if employers are not disciplining the employees over using them for this waste of time.
3. Although updates to social networking sites may not take up huge amounts of bandwidth, the availability of video links posted on these sites (or links taking users to sites like YouTube) creates problems for IT administrators. There is a cost to Internet browsing, especially where high levels of bandwidth are required.
4. A comment made by an employee on social media or their actions on a social network might breach their duties to preserve confidentiality or faithfully serve their employer. For example,
(a) a UK case involved a recruitment consultant who copied client e-mail addresses, resigned and then used Linked-In to invite them to be part of his network. He did this so he could solicit them for his own business. The Court agreed that e-mail addresses were confidential; even though once the clients accepted his invitation they ceased to be confidential. By collating them for use post-employment, the employee was breaching his duty to faithfully serve his employer, and he ought to be restrained from taking advantage of his wrongdoing.
(b) Recently, FWA dealt with a case where an employee published a blog on MySpace disparaging his employer's investigation into sexual harassment and e-mail misuse. FWA ruled that the publication justified his dismissal because it was publicly accessible through a Google search and attacked the integrity of the management of the employer. This could easily be you, or me or someone we know!
So how do your small businesses remain relevant but also protect your risk?
You need to be pro-active in protecting yourself and assess whether the risk of allowing your employees to use social networking sites at work is acceptable or not. As we see it, you have four options:-
1. Block the internet
2. Allow employees to use the internet but manage what sites they can look at
3. Restrict access – allow access at lunch, before work hours and after work hours or block certain sites
4. Let them go for it carte blanche, trust that they won’t do anything they shouldn’t.
Could any of these apply at your place?
What ever you decide, there are some things you must do:
1. Educate staff on what social media is and what they are permitted and not permitted to put on there. Often employees don’t fully understand what they can and can’t share on these sites. Educating them on proper use is key and also ensuring they understand the security issues that can result in what they do online
2. Set internet usage policies – have all employees sign policies related to the use of internet at work, access to social networking sites and what they are allowed to do while employees at your business
3. Monitoring of all web activity is important and employees should be aware that their actions on the internet and in email are being monitored and that failure to adhere to company policy can result in disciplinary action and / or dismissal
Social media marketing can help small businesses boost sales and is useful for sharing information with a broad audience. As technology develops more and more, it is important for businesses to take advantage of all of the new things being offered that will help them to grow the business. The advances in social media are so fast paced, it is important to stay connected on a regular basis so new opportunities are not missed.
However it is essential to have a social media policy in place that works for your business. The one thing that is certain is that social media is here to stay. It can be a beneficial tool but can also cause problems for businesses. As we see more lawsuits arising from social media and employees we are certain to see companies using more scrutiny and policies in relation to social media in the workplace.
Inspire Success is all about implementing practical solutions that help create high performing workplaces which are customer focussed and free of conflict - no matter what size your business is. We work with you to decide whether the right solution for you is DIY, or if you need a bit more help. Contact Rae Phillips at Inspire Success for further information raephillips@inspire-success.com