Does your company have a Social Media Policy?

A few days ago a Congressman filed a resolution calling for the regulation of social media activity in government offices. Congressman Romero Quimbo (2nd District, Marikina) filed House Bill 184 last Wednesday which proposes that government agencies should regulate social media so as not to affect the productivity of their employees. Some tech pundits and internet marketing practitioners raised a howl about this but I am inclined to side with the position of Congressman Quimbo. Note that REGULATION is not the same as BANNING social networking activities in the office. Too much of anything can be bad for anyone, especially with social networking sites.

If not properly used, social networking sites can be the black hole of productivity. These sites were designed for users to stay for long periods of time. There are so many things you can do that can literally keep you glued to the monitor for hours. There are social games, updating feeds, uploading photos, watching videos, and all other media consumption activities. Companies, regardless if they are government agencies or not, should come up with social media policies for their offices and employees so that there are standards, guidelines, and parameters that everyone can adhere to and follow. The absence of policy will just invite disaster.

Policy Examples
Here are some ideas on how offices can regulate the usage of social networking sites for their employees:

• Scheduled Access: This is probably one of the best regulation methods. Open access to social networking sites only during break times of the office. Discuss how to do this with your IT Head. If you don’t have an IT Department, then consider hiring a part time IT Consultant to set this up for you.
• Limited Access: Some departments can really utilize social networking sites to help their core functions. Marketing, Sales, and Customer Support can use Facebook, Twitter, and other SNS to close deals, push programs, and build strong customer relationships. Make sure though that the departments requesting for open access should have a deliberate and written social media strategy. Don’t just open it for the sake of opening it. Ask for their plan.
• Perks: I heard that several call centers are using SNS access as a form of reward for good performance. While I’m not so sure about this particular method, it looks like it’s a viable option. Basically allow employees in good standing to use SNS whenever they want as long as their performance level meets a certain standard.
• Content Policy: Also make sure that you include in your policy clauses about what your employees can and can’t disclose to the public. There have been several cases already of employees leaking sensitive information like marketing plans and product testing data via social networking sites. Don’t leave everything to chance. Make a solid policy that will take this into account.

When I was in Level Up, our CEO, Jane Walker, asked us bloggers (GM Tristan, me, and Codamon) to draft a social media policy for the company. Kiven led the charge for this and I think everything worked out pretty well.

Regulation doesn’t mean banning and it’s definitely not curbing freedom of expression. It’s just safeguarding the interest of the company and in the case of House Bill 184, it’s just safeguarding the interest of the tax payers — us.