A recent article at ComputerWorld makes the case that companies need to have clearly delineated social media policies not just for company accounts but also for those of individual employees.
The author begins by alleging that most companies’ policies in this regard are outdated, inadequate, or don’t exist at all. He goes on to provide a rough sketch of what his version of adequacy is. While there is room for debate about the accuracy or necessity of that vision, the overall topic is very much relevant to corporate social media.
I’ve previously discussed how a local social media company can have an impact on client companies that goes beyond the straightforward design of an online marketing strategy. Internal social media policies are another aspect of that, and thus they are something for you to discuss with your own local social media company if you’re interested in getting the full value of its expertise.
By having a frank discussion with that local social media company on this topic, you can help to work through essential but non-obvious questions about public relations, human resources, and employee morale.
In this day and age, the possibility exists for every employee to represent your brand in their day-to-day life on social media, or to bring ignominy on the company as a result of something they’ve posted to their personal account. It behooves every company with a social media presence to consider how strict or lax they want to be about enforcing standards of behavior or speech when an employee is outside of the workplace but still visible to employers, colleagues, and the public at large.
