The days of wondering if social media is going to become an issue in the work place are far behind you. If you don’t take swift action now to establish a social media policy that’s fair to all, your company could face some serious social media blowback. This isn’t a problem that’s limited to big business. Any business that has employees needs to adopt a strong social media policy.

The bottom line is that your employees represent your company—even when they’re off duty. Having an effective social media policy not only insulates the company, to some degree, from blow-back, it also gives them grounds for dismissing employees who cause the company problems (including bad publicity) due to their own social media contributions.

Walking the Tightrope

Unfortunately, there’s an up and a down side to creating an explicit social media policy. When used wisely, employee’s social media contributions can actually do a lot of good for businesses. However, the situations we hear about in the media almost exclusively focus on social media gone wrong rather than all the wonderful ways it can be used for the greater good. In other words, the policy is needed, but you should make an effort to not make your social media policies stifling. Social networks, after all, are places where the average person turns to let his or her hair down and unwind.

Get Employee Input When Creating the Policy

Your employees are the perfect source for information about the specifics you should put into place in your company’s social media policy. Find the employees that have the most active social media lifestyles and bring them in to serve as consultants for the policy. This also helps all staff members understand that they aren’t being singled out by management with the social media policy.

Focus on Positive Language

Any policy is easier to take when it’s phrased in a positive way. Focus on what they can do and what you encourage them to do in their social media activities. Request that employees include disclaimers and provide full disclosure that they are, in fact, employed by your company, when they post. Also ask them to let their circle of friends know that they are stating their own opinions and that those opinions do not represent the thoughts or opinions of the company.

Social media policies are, first and foremost, about protecting the image of the company. While it takes all kinds of brilliant minds attached to varying opinions to make your company tick, these diverse thoughts and opinions can cause public relations nightmares for the company without a social media policy in place to harness them. Be fair. Be appropriate. And, be consistent in your enforcement of these social media policies.

Learn more about HR policies and management concepts by talking with the experts at Davis Staffing today!