Remember that embarrassing moment?

Apologies for the delay, however, Blogger now seems to be back in working order, so here we are again with another Discuss HR.  The excellent guest spot by Wendy Mason touched upon a very topical point about the transition from public to private sector.  This week regular columnist Jill Hart-Sanderson discuss another, potentially even more relevant topic, namely the use and misuse of social media in the work place. (Ed Scrivener)

Remember that drunken embarrassing moment?

Remember that drunken, embarrassing moment when you were 19 that someone captured on camera? Well your friends might, and they may think it’s hilarious to post it on their Facebook page and tag you. Which means the photo will then appear on your Facebook profile page. Now is that something you want your important business contacts to see?

More and more organisations recognise that social networking is changing the way in which people do business. Love them or hate them, the rise and rise of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter cannot be ignored. Companies can no longer afford to blanket-ban any kind of social networking interaction: by embracing it they can engage with their customers in a way never possible in the past as well as build the trust of their employees.

So what can HR teams do to support their organisations during this era of rapid change? One of the first steps should be to check there are clear guidelines and expectations and that they are effectively communicated by managers to their teams.  Once it’s been established who should be using networking sites and for what purpose, communications should be consistent with the overall values of the company.

In most cases it would be impossible to ‘vet’ all blogs, comments and tweets, therefore the individual employees must know that they are ultimately responsible for the content they publish online, whether on a social site or any other form of user-generated media. They should: be mindful that what they publish will be public for a long time; be reminded to protect their privacy; and make sure they understand a site's terms of service.

Here’s what a guideline for employees might include:

·         Is it in the right tone and does it reflect our company values and beliefs?

·         Would you be happy for any of our current or potential customers to read it?

·         Make it your own: include your name and be clear whether you are speaking for yourself or on behalf of the organisation (if on behalf of the organisation, get agreement to the content)

·         Remember customer confidentiality is essential unless the customer has made it clear they’re happy for the content to appear

·         Respect copyright, data protection and financial disclosure laws

·         Never discuss our or anyone else’s business performance or other sensitive matters publicly

·         Don't publish anything that might allow inferences to be drawn that could embarrass or damage a customer or colleague

·         Respect your audience and show proper consideration for others' privacy and for topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory, such as politics and religion

·         Ensure your profile and related content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself with colleagues and customers

·         Don't pick fights; be the first to correct your own mistakes

·         Once you start a discussion/blog follow the comments and reply when appropriate; remember comments may be left months after your initial post

·         Regard what you post as a document: sense-check and proof-read it

·         Keep your profile up to date and consistent with the rest of your team

·         Remember you’re reaching an international audience

·         Try to add value, provide worthwhile information and perspective

·         Clearly understand the site’s privacy settings and use them to protect the business as well as yourself

Profiles are also something that will need to be considered if you are drawing up guidance for your organisation. They need to have personality, but be aware the details are in the public domain and could be linked to the business.

Social media can be fantastic tools, but organisations need to be clear about how they’re to be used and help all employees appreciate the pitfalls and benefits of this global phenomenon.

What’s your organisation’s social networking policy? Has it been clearly communicated to all employees? What impact has it had?

For further reading, including legal implications when using social media have a look at this CIPD webpage

About the author

Jill loves working with the team at Rambutan helping people to think, lead and communicate brilliantly in order to achieve business, team or personal goals. Before joining the Rambutan bunch, Jill was part of the HR Consultancy Team at University College London. Her previous management experience in both the public and private sector means she has seen how great HR support can make a real difference to individual managers and organisations as a whole

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be published on Thursday 2^nd June and will be written by HR recruitment specialist Ed Scrivener.