Searching for Balance: Companies Struggle to Develop Social Media Policies

Social media has entered the workplace. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter have all hit the mainstream, becoming integral components to marketing campaigns and PR strategy. Suddenly faced with an onslaught of new communication tools, companies small and large are left wondering how best to manage the changing communication habits of their employees, while still protecting corporate interests.

In an attempt to save proprietary information, these policies run from the enlightened to the restrictive. The more liberal policies rely on an honor system. Others are tracked by management. The very strict policies, often enforced through technological controls and web monitoring, can even hinder employee job performance.

"Our web monitoring is set-up to block MySpace, Facebook and Twitter," said a PR pro from one of the world's largest premium hotel chains. "Those are all tools I would like to use to maintain relationships with reporters." When blocked, the page gives an e-mail address to contact, should there be a legitimate business need to access any of these sites. Even though he has sent several requests outlining what he plans to do, he has yet to receive a response.

His company's actions aren't unique. In fact the practice is so widespread, top PR blogger Shel Holtz has set up a site, StopBlocking.org, as a resource for those looking to find alternatives to blocking, and also to support those affected by blanket actions. He also tries to debunk the myth that social media leads to the loss of proprietary information.

Because social media tools like blogging and Twitter make it easy for employees to tell the world about their job and what they are doing, many companies are worried that employees will unwittingly share information not ready for outside eyes. This fear is especially relevant to publicly-traded companies who are held to the strict standards laid out by the SEC.

Joel Postman, principle at Socialized, helps large companies like HP and Sun create social media initiatives. Joel thinks effective social media policies can help alleviate fears about leaked information.

"A good social media policy will create a better informed group of social media users at the company, who will better represent the company and will not subject it to undue risk from things like inappropriate disclosure of financial information and proprietary company information, or unfair business or competitive practices," Joel said in an email interview.

"It is an extension of the agency's standards of business conduct and reminds people that they represent the agency in everything they do, and should always act in good faith on behalf of the agency and its clients. Employees are entitled to have a private life, and private use of social media, but when they are talking about anything that might relate to the agency's business, or when it is clear they are affiliated with the agency, this should be considered when blogging, posting comments, using social networks, etc."

But companies should not make their policies too restrictive. "An overly burdensome social media policy will limit participation in social media programs, discourage new participants, slow the communications process, and add cost (for things like reviews and rewrites)," Joel warns. "Ultimately, the wrong social media policy could so limit the effectiveness of the company's social media programs as to make them not worth doing."

How should companies go about building an effective internal social media policy? Joel offers these three tips:

• Develop a comprehensive policy that extends to all employees and all use of social media and social networks whenever there is potential for employees to be seen as company representatives.
• Engage with all appropriate departments within the company, such as legal, finance and marketing, when developing the policy, but do not allow their influence to result in an overly restrictive policy.
• Be emphatic about the need for social media users to behave ethically, legally, and in the best interests of the company, its customers, employees, shareholders, and business partners.

Just as they once did with email, companies will also need to train their employees on social media etiquette.  Two companies, Dell Computing and Sun Microsystems, have good examples of policies that strike a right balance.  Sun's set of guidelines include "Be interesting, but be honest" and "Think about the consequences." Dell's online communications policy is based on standards set by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.  It highlights transparency and accuracy.

Richard Binhammer (aka RichardatDELL on Twitter), Senior Manager, Strategic Corporate Communications, Social Media and Corporate Reputation Management at Dell, adds that good social media strategy "not only humanizes the company, but helps establish a more meaningful relationship between company and customer."

Ultimately, good policies rely on trust. "Employees should be treated with trust," says Shel.  "Trust builds commitment, which leads to engagement."

Christopher Lynn loves video and social media strategy. With clients from the social networking, mobile, online advertising and consumer tech industries, Chris works at SHIFT Communications' San Francisco office, and blogs at SocialTNT.