So, you practice social media? Great, but do you have a policy, too?
It’s time to face the facts. Today, with the prevalence of social media in the corporate world, nearly every business is affected by it in some form. So, here are three reasons why you need a social media policy, thanks an excellent tip sheet by the Professional Staffing Group:
- To determine what communication is appropriate (or not): Social media opens up the door for such issues such as misuse of logos, breach of confidentiality, exposure of trade secrets or generally unfavorable remarks. Corrective action can justified with this type of conduct if it is clearly laid out as prohibited in a social media policy.
- To stay legal: The Federal Trade Commission recently released new guidelines related to truth in advertising online. Basically, those rules reinforce the connection between an employee promoting your product online and your company. If someone buys a product after reading your employee’s recommendation and gets hurt, who do you think is liable. That’s right, your company.
- To hold employees accountable: It’s common for employees to separate their work and home lives. This is fine … most of the time. It becomes an issue when an employee makes a derogatory post about your company or your customers, off the clock. Even though the incident occurred outside of the parameters of the workplace, you can discipline or terminate the employee for such behavior.
