How do I make sure that staff maintain the company’s reputation on social media?
QHOW do I ensure that staff maintain the company’s reputation in their social media interactions?
AIT’S important that all workplaces have a social media policy. By doing this the company outlines what it expects from staff when they are using company social media platforms as well as their own in relation to their workplace.
In the policy, it’s important that you as the employer outline that while the company will not monitor any of the employee’s personal social media accounts, that employees must not make disparaging remarks about the company which could possibly bring the company’s name into disrepute.
It should also be outlined in the policy that employees must not disclose any information regarding the company, or any confidential information relating to the business of the company, whether on their own social media sites or the company’s.
All staff should be aware of who has been authorised to use the company social media platforms and that if any employee is in doubt about what they are planning to post, that they should consult a manager.
Any other employees should be informed that they cannot reference the company unless they have specifically been given permission to speak on behalf of the company.
As the employer it’s important to state that you may require staff to remove certain postings if they are deemed to be in breach of company policies, whether this is on the company’s social media or personal social media.
Employees may be under the impression that if a company or colleague is not named that this would not constitute a breach of the policy, but if it is evident that the comment relates to the workplace then this may be found as a breach of the policy. Bear in mind that the intention of the policy is not to restrict the sharing of information, but to ensure that team members and the company are shown respect.
Considering this, employees should check with the relevant people before distributing or posting any photos or information, therefore aiming to promote a safe and productive workplace that shows respect to colleagues.
If any complaint is made or if any remarks made come to the attention of management from clients, suppliers, colleagues, etc, the company will reserve the right to implement disciplinary proceedings in line with the company disciplinary procedures once they have the correct policies in place.
In this case, if an employee is found to have published or disseminated information regarding the company, a fellow employee, a client, etc, on completion of a disciplinary investigation they may face disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
If an employee is leaving the company, their rights to access the social media account will cease. This should be outlined in the policy. It’s best practice for passwords to be changed at a time when someone is leaving the company.
It is also important to have an IT and internet policy in place which includes correct usage of email and the internet.
Employees must be reminded that when sending any form of written correspondence they should be careful what they write — remember email and written correspondence are a written record and can be duplicated at will.
They should use normal capitalisation and punctuation. Typing a message in all capital letters may be interpreted incorrectly.
They should check grammar and spelling, and not forget that emails and other forms of correspondence should maintain the high standards expected by the company.
The social media, IT and internet policies should also include a monitoring policy.
The company should outline the reasons for monitoring employees, while also outlining the importance of an individual’s privacy.
Principle reasons for this include detecting any harassment or inappropriate behaviour by employees, ensuring compliance with contracts of employment and relevant policies including health and safety, and bullying and harassment.