Evolving a rewarding social media policy is an intimidating task for most business executives.
Social media is today dominating virtually every aspect of marketing and business communications. Employers have to explain unambiguously what is permissible when it comes to employees’ use of social channels during work hours.
Strangely, some business houses continue to ban the use of social media by employees during the office hours. But this attitude may be getting increasingly untenable – particularly with more and more people using social channels as their main Web platform. The enterprise social networks are beginning to proliferate at a rapid pace.
Recently, Facebook rolled out Facebook At Work, which is essentially Facebook for the workplace and is tailored to connect business owners/employees who may or may not be friends otherwise.
The day is not far off when social media becomes a way of life at work. Marketing and PR executives can help to build customer relationships and enhance their value to their employers.
Hence, make sure your company’s social media policy is free from ambiguity and can be easily communicated.
Try to avoid jargons when crafting your social media policy. Writing an effective social media policy requires clarity of thought. Sometimes companies attempt to provide clarity by using specific technical terms that are not understood by their employees. Jargon and complex syntax should be replaced with simple words.
Providing examples is a foolproof way of enlightening the employees. Also, remember that a rule or policy doesn’t make sense unless it’s placed in proper context. Providing simple examples of specific rules may give greater clarity to the reader.
Do not be too rigid, as most employees will resent excessive discipline
Structure the policy in a way that is readable and easily implementable. Drafting a plan that has convoluted sentences impairs readability. Hidden clauses may be in violation of federal laws.
Never make the policy guidelines very lengthy, as at times an organization wants to make sure it has covered every conceivable scenario in their policy. This is impractical and end up confusing the readers. Adopt the best practices and policies for developing and implementing corporate blogging policies.
Nurture a corporate culture of openness. Listen to and respect the opinions of your employees, customers, and other stakeholders when developing the social media policy.
You must learn to trust your employees for developing relationships with customers.