The use of social media has exploded in the last few years and it’s clear that it isn’t going away anytime soon. While it may have started as a way for people to connect socially online, it’s now a big part of business as well. But this huge growth in social networking and media sites presents yet another management problem - how can employers ensure their employees are focusing on their jobs and not spending all day in the office checking their status updates and finding old college buddies online? To address this problem, employers need to look at it from 3 angles - technology, policy and management.
Technology
Many companies use filtering programs to block websites with inappropriate content, such as pornography and gambling sites. The temptation may exist to simply block social media sites in the same way. However, because social media sites are now such a part of business life, blocking access to those sites can inhibit the employer’s ability to use social media in achieving business goals. And with mobile device applications of many of these sites, blocking them on the company’s server doesn’t necessarily solve the problem because employees can whip out their cell phone and PDA’s and surf the web to their heart’s content. Leaving the issue to your Technology department to solve isn’t an option either because the issues involved in social media usage include privacy, confidentiality, appropriate communication, productivity and time management, all of which are management issues that need to be addressed. The Technology department can help, however, by providing data on usage if a problem should arise, but accessing this kind of reporting should only be done as a last resort.
Policy
Since the problem of social media abuse during work hours time can’t be solved solely from a technological standpoint, employers need to look at implementing policies on acceptable use. Even if an employer is not using social media in the conduct of everyday business, a policy should be put in place to address personal use by employees. Policies that already exist may address some of the issues, such as policies on codes of conduct, privacy, anti-harassment and discrimination, and confidentiality. Employees should be aware that these policies extend to their use of social media, whether in the workplace or during non-working hours, and that comments on social media platforms that are discriminatory or harassing towards co-workers or clients, or that reveal confidential and proprietary company information will be considered policy violations and appropriate corrective action will be taken.
In addition to existing policies that may already be in place, employers should include a policy statement that outlines the company’s approach to social media. This policy should specify the sites or tools covered, who is permitted to use them and for what purposes, restrictions on use for personal reasons (i.e., only during lunch and break times), and the consequences of policy violations, which might include written warnings or blocking access for that employee. As with any new policy, employees should sign an acknowledgement that they received a copy of the policy and they understand it. Due to the ever-evolving nature of social media, these policies should be reviewed and updated at least annually. Employers may also want to consider implementing a policy statement on the server that requires a user to re-acknowledge their understanding of the policy. This shouldn’t pop up every day, but once every 60 or 90 days to reaffirm understanding.
Management
When it comes to addressing social media abuse in the workplace, employers need to focus on discovering and managing the actual performance problems that may be a result. Turning off an employee’s access to Facebook or Twitter and writing up the employee for personal use during work time may solve the abuse problem, but what led you to turn off that access in the first place? What are the performance problems that are occurring? Is the employee not meeting deadlines? Has productivity slipped? Are customer service or quality ratings dropping off? Rather than ranting and raving at an employee for spending too much time on a social media site, address the specific performance problems head on and deal with them. Social media abuse may be the cause of the problems, but focus instead on the performance results and the improvements that need to be made. And if the employee wants to spend their work days surfing the web and not doing their job, they can do that on their computer at home while waiting for their unemployment check to show up in the mail.
