Protect employees from themselves with these social media guidelines

Regardless of whether social media accounts are being used for professional or personal use, employees must recognize they represent their workplace when they post anything publicly. It is unacceptable to me to say otherwise.

Stories about organizations reacting to employees’ misuse of social media continue to hit mainstream media. This one and this one are two decent examples.

What bothers me about these media reports isn’t so much that the employees in question didn’t use common sense. Seriously – who thinks complaining about your boss (or a potential employer) on Twitter is a good idea? What irks me is that the organizations didn’t do the responsible thing and protect their employees from themselves. If your organization doesn’t educate people on the responsible way to use social media that is publicly available (read: not private), you are giving them permission to decide what’s appropriate themselves.

Some things are best left unsaid (publicly)

Someone once taught me that there are three things you don’t mix with business: religion, sex and politics. I feel the same sensibilities apply to using social media at work. Today, hiring managers make it a priority to search candidates before they are hired. A manager friend once told me this story. He had two ideal candidates for a role, and was finding it tricky to make a final decision. Both candidates were capable, personable and well credentialed. He decided to Google them and see what he could find. The first candidate had very little publicly available beyond their LinkedIn profile. On the other hand, it turns out the second candidate had tweeted a bunch of misogynistic vitriol. Guess which candidate got the offer?

Letting people decide what’s appropriate for themselves – for both personal and professional social profiles – is just bad for business.

Every organization – regardless of size – must have guidelines in place to govern social media usage.

When an organization has clear social media guidelines in place, it does two critical things:

Clearly states what is – and isn’t – appropriate for employees to talk about via social media
Puts your organization in a defensible position to deal with employees when mis-use does arise

Whether you’re a small consultancy, retail operation, political party or large enterprise – you need social media guidelines that are easy to understand and available to every employee. There are literally thousands now available online from many socially-savvy companies like IBM, Cisco and Dell.

Guidelines for you to adapt and use.

With input from cross-functional stakeholders across our company, I created the following social media guidelines. I encourage you to adapt and use them for your organization. They just might save your company from tomorrow’s headlines.

At Softchoice, our goal is to use social media to build deeper relationships within our organization and beyond its borders.Social media tools like blogs, Twitter, Yammer, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn have become a fact of life and a primary means of communication. They’re also a great way to promote the value we provide to our customers – inside and outside the organization.Accordingly, we want everyone using social media in ways that protects our reputation as a first-class business partner, while promoting Softchoice as a progressive, technology-forward organization. The purpose of these guidelines is to establish standards and expectations that allow our people to participate online in an engaging and responsible way.These principles protect the Softchoice brand and the reputations of our vendors, partners and customers while enabling everyone to share and learn from each other. Social media offers new (and sometimes untested) ways of engaging with customers, colleagues and the world at large.So if you choose to participate in social media while an employee of Softchoice, please follow these guiding principles:Be authentic:

Stick to your area of expertise. You will have more to offer customers and more engaging interactions with them if you share what you know.
Include your personality in what you share – it makes you and your posts more interesting.
People are interested in your perspectives, opinions and interesting things you find – not necessarily what you ate for dinner. Before you share, ask yourself: How is what you’re sharing adding value to your customers?
If you plan to tweet or blog about any professional matters (such as the business of Softchoice or other companies, products or services in the same market as Softchoice), you should use the service’s profile/contact details to indicate you are a Softchoice employee.

Be respectful:

Post meaningful, respectful comments—in other words, no spam and no remarks that are off-topic or offensive.
When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it appropriate and polite.

Be responsible:

Unless you have express permission from your Director or VP, please do not use the word “Softchoice” in any identities or properties you create online
It’s a good idea to discuss with your manager if you plan on creating an account to tweet, blog or represent Softchoice in any way. If you have their support, you’ll be more successful.
Perception is reality. What you share reflects on all of us, so use your best judgment to protect Softchoice’s first-class reputation.
Understand that proprietary and/or confidential information should stay that way. Always pause and think before posting. That said, reply to comments in a timely manner, when a response is appropriate.
When (not if) you make a mistake – admit it. Just be honest and quick with your correction.

Ten “No-No’s” of Social Media at Softchoice:

Don’t share proprietary/internal information
No bashing the competition – be diplomatic
Don’t be reactive
Don’t lie or mislead
Don’t excessively mix personal with business
Don’t comment on legal matters
Leave escalations & crisis management to the experts
Don’t be anonymous – Have an identity
Don’t plagiarize
Don’t create or share with the express intent to sell

Ten “Yes-Yeses” of Social Media at Softchoice:

Proceed with authenticity and transparency
Engage your audience with respect
Make your contributions make a difference
Stick to your area of expertise
Use common sense
Be quick to respond to errors
Disagree with tact and humility
Have your facts straight
Use your time effectively
Be creative!

Understand there can be consequences.

By participating in social media while at Softchoice (for personal or professional use), you acknowledge that you can:

Get Softchoice in legal trouble with customers, partners or investors
Cost us the ability to acquire and retain customers
Get fired (And it’s embarrassing to lose your job for something that’s easily avoided)

Do you feel these guidelines are clear? What situations can you imagine that aren’t covered by what’s included? If something is missing, what would you add? Please add it – and your opinion on the post – in the comments below.

About Joel Marans

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