Social Media Guidelines For Your Company

Does your company have a written Social Media policy?

Social media brings opportunities for people in your company to represent you online, with and without your knowledge.  Having a policy in place is the best way to be proactive in this new use of technology.

Should employees have access to Facebook and Twitter at work?

Yes!  These tools can promote your business and help employees stay on top of the competition.  Employees need to know company policy when using these tools and understand best ways to communicate.

The basic tenants for employees.

In social media, as in other communication here are some suggested guidelines for communications:

• Honesty. Respect company policy and confidentiality no matter position or location.
• Transparency. Identify yourself and any conflict of interest.
• Integrity. Be honest.
• Appropriateness. Discuss relevant topics you know.
• Respect. Do not write despairingly of customer, products and clients.
• Disclosure. Consider what your company would expect to see talked about publicly
• Be constructive. Allow others to offer negative feedback.

Employees must understand that what they write can be viewed publicly.  Twitter, for example, is not private communication and can be searched.  Therefore, employees must consider the ramifications of what they write and not do anything that could embarrass the company.

What are other companies in your industry doing?

The range is vast across all companies.  Policies vary from all-controlling lawyer-written doctrines, to complete laissez-faire.  My advice is to give employees the freedom of expression but with the clear understanding that they represent your company and must respect its confidentiality, both at the office and from home.

Intel’s policy asks employees to add a disclaimer when posting on a non-company blog.  Sun Micro makes it clear that employees take on risk when posting without management approval.  Cisco has an Internet posting specialist who can review posts before they are published.  Hewlett Packard offers a good comment policy.

While all of these examples are good, Cisco’s policy, for example, is not as easy to read.  You may want to consider simplifying things and writing clearly, using headlines for each paragraph, like Sun Micro and Intel.

Another company’s policy worth a look is Zappos.  The company which recently was bought by Amazon for nearly a billion dollars, encourages and trains all employees on using Social Media.  Zappos employees can post on whatever sites they wish, and say what they want, using their genuine voice.  The company believes that their informal and transparent policy has engendered stronger customer loyalty.

Where to start with your Social Media policy.

Review the policies from the four companies I mentioned, then find other examples in your industry.  A good starting point is looking at your existing policies for business conduct and communications.  Then develop your guidelines and train people to create a positive social media experience individuals and for the organization.

What are your thoughts on having a social media policy at your company?  What should and should not be included.