Corporate E-Learning

People love to stay connected, so it’s no wonder that social media sites continue to grow in popularity. However, with social media sites going mobile and are open 24 hours a day, people can often forget where to draw the line, especially at work. Companies should examine how this media is affecting them and how they can implement ways to move forward with technology without letting it interfere with productivity.

Social media is actually a combination of terms: media means communications and social means interactive and personal. It is commonly associated with digital forms of communication since it allows more interaction from a larger audience. Sites that use social media differ from regular web sites in that while they offer you information, they also allow you to interact with them, whether it’s to leave a comment or sharing a common interest. Social media performs like a two-way street of communication – it allows you to receive information while giving you the chance to communicate back.

When building a social media policy for the company, there are several aspects and guidelines to consider. In order to prevent situations that can put the company at risk, companies create a policy that outlines what is and is not acceptable us of social media in the workplace. Some basic rules should be established first to give the policy some structure. Determine what the policy wants to accomplish and what can be done to make that happen. Once the basics have been established, you can move toward the specific points of the plan and form a policy that will benefit everyone involved.

Creating a social media policy can be considered a work of art since it is often hard to explain at first and takes several attempts to reach what you want to accomplish. Once a policy has a definite structure and frames steps and instructions to follow, it can expand to define how the policy can be implemented, including employee education, postings guidelines, and what to do if a problem arises. Include specific details and directions for employees to ensure they know what the rules will be.

Social media is constantly changing and being updated, so your social media policy should keep up. Any policy or regulation should be periodically reviewed and revised to keep up with the changing faces of social media and to ensure it is up to date ’with the times’. Policies or guidelines that are outdated or are no longer relevant can cause confusion among employees, so it is important that they are reviewed and altered as needed.

Although social media can be a great way for people to communicate, it can be bad for business if employees are posting unsecure content or are not careful about what they share with others. Many employees forget that they are representing the company when they post something, which can lead to information leaks or communication errors. It is important to establish security guidelines that can help keep the company’s information secure and protected, while keeping the employee protected as well.

Now that you have the structure of your social media policy and generally know what you want to accomplish, how do you put it into words? How do you decide on the Do’s and Don’ts for your employees? Any policy should address what the employee should take away after reading the policy, while keeping the mood positive by attempting to focus more on what the employee can do, rather than a list of things they can’t do.

Rules are set in place to help guide employee what is and is not acceptable to share via social media. Sometimes employees forget they are at work or forget they are representing their jobs when they post online, which can lead to inappropriate posts or information leaks. Sometimes basic rules needs to be established to remind employees that when they are using social media at work.

People love to communicate and stay in touch with each other in different ways. Social media allows people to stay connected when they are apart and allows for everyone to share their opinions and fun events in their life. When using social media at work, employees are able to stay in touch with clients and allow customers to post feedback and information for the company to see. It allows employees to seek new ideas and inspirations by reaching out and sharing with other people online.

While using social media at work can be beneficial to employees, it can also have negative consequences if used incorrectly or without thought. Employees can make inappropriate posts online that are traced back to the company, lead people to argue, bully, or misuse company information. Many companies may not filter their employees’ internet usage, but if social media isn’t monitored or regulated in some way at work, it can cause more problems for the company down the line.

Your customers are the greatest source of feedback and comments that your company will have. They provide honest and unbiased feedback while giving you more ideas about what they want to see and buy. Customers love to share your brand with other people and social media allows them to do that. If you make the customer happy and allow them to share their opinions online, your customer base will not only grow but will remain loyal.

Although this workshop is coming to a close, we hope that your journey to learn about social media is just beginning. Please take a moment to review and update your action plan. This will be a key tool to guide your progress in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. We wish you the best of luck on the rest of your travels!