How to Create Simple Social Media Rules for Employees, Tim Hughes

This article by Everyonesocial starts with the following useful paragraph

"Nearly 90% of companies use social media for business, but only half of the workers say their companies have social media rules for employees, according to a Pew Research poll.

With almost 4 billion people using social media worldwide though, it’s increasingly important for companies to have an official social policy.

In fact, employment lawyer Daniel Handman says “Social media policies are now just as necessary for employers as discrimination, leave, and vacation policies.”

Social media in the workplace is here to stay, so businesses must establish social media guidelines for employees that not only encourage workers to post, but also empower them to be company ambassadors."

Health and safety, inclusion, discrimination etc ..... and social media

I have argued for years that all employees need to be taught social media skills, throughout the years we are taught how to put a ladders, why we shouldn't have vertical relationships (have relationships between bosses and employees). In other words, what are taught by businesses what is good behaviour and what is bad behaviour.

A friend of mine works for a company that does not allow use of social media on the offcial laptops, she says, that people just use their mobiles. She tells me that the company blocks social media usage for two reasons.

1. Management say ..... "I don't want my employees wasting their time on social" as she says, there is nothing stopping you wasting your time all day on social using your mobile. She thinks this is more to do with trust issues between the management and the staff, which impacts on their Glass door reviews and retention problems.

2. The second is that marketing want to be in control of the message. Which is kind, of, the same as the above. My friend, says they are still able to walk into meetings with customers and say whatever she wants, she drives a $50,000 company car and nobody cares and she has sign off to spend $1 million, all without any control. But she cannot go onto social media. Strange isn't?

Back to the article

Why You Need Social Media Rules for Employees

The numerous benefits of social media in the workplace have inspired companies to not only embrace social media but even implement employee advocacy solutions.

Today, businesses understand that social media is more of an advantage than a liability.

But while workers at all levels of an organization should be encouraged to post and share about their employer, companies should still have social media rules for employees in place.

Here’s why.

Makes employees more likely to post.

We know that our buyers are on social media and we know they are looking for insight and be educated, so why are you not providing what your prospects and customers want? I'm sure if I asked you about your products, you would tell me you have done extensive research and development and are talking to your customers all the time.

Now, I'm not talking pushing out corporate content and brochures, research shows that nobody wants this, and in fact, in the modern world, this is detrimental to your business. Why? Because this makes your company look old fashioned and not a tall buyer centric.

In a recent blog by Catherine Coale she mentions the Edelman Trust report.

Who’s voice is most important when building trust for your brand?

The Edelman trust report is a Trust Barometer which asks “If you heard information about a company from each person, how credible would that information be?”

This barometer lists the most trusted sources by rank.

Who matters most?

Catherine circled the roles that apply most to our her company Telstra Purple world:

Company Technical Expert
A Person Like Yourself
A Regular Employee

In 2019, A Person Like Yourself & A Regular Employee were the highest climbers in the Trust chart.

In both years – all 3 roles are more trusted than the CEO or the Board.

As Catherine says "The message is loud and clear – activate your employee voices if you want people to trust your brand."

Why social media training protects your company

It seems disingenuous, but by training your employees on social, this places marketing, front and central in control. None of your employees having a crafty look on social on mobile. You can control the message, the tone, the key words you are tuning for for. In fact, we can see that banning employees does not work, the genie is out of the bottle and in fact, this places your business at risk. The way forward, has to be for marketing to grab social media with both hands and embrace it.

What "rules" about social media do you need to put in place?

Back to the everyonesocial article

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Nearly 90% of companies use social media for business, but only half of the workers say their companies have social media rules for employees, according to a Pew Research poll. With almost 4 billion people using social media worldwide though, it’s increasingly important for companies to have an official social policy. In fact, employment lawyer Daniel Handman says “Social media policies are now just as necessary for employers as discrimination, leave, and vacation policies.” Social media in the workplace is here to stay, so businesses must establish social media guidelines for employees that not only encourage workers to post, but also empower them to be company ambassadors.

https://everyonesocial.com/blog/social-media-rules/?_hsmi=126492226&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9NNeBsnuyt--rPc-np1RgJUWvZhYbRZD1I6Xx3gz3tkYJK4kOgBDRmUWKlsZ9T_KXaIalhz6HpeeFo5vERwZQmJ3eHyw&utm_content=126492224