Social Media Policy Program
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY PROGRAM
Bring our Social Media Policy Development Program to your business!
Call today 937-902-4857 Lunch & Learn, Executive Training, and more.
Social Media is here to stay. No matter what the size of your organization, how your management and employees represent themselves online will, eventually, affect your public image. Every organization today should have a social media policy as part of their Human Resources training. Gery L. Deer, CEO of GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd., has helped to craft and train management and employees on the importance of social media policy and how their online behavior can affect their company and careers. Now we are offering a 1-hour program as a staff meeting or lunch and learn presentation to help your employees to have a more productive online experience.
In this one-hour program we will discuss:
• What is Social Media?
• Policy Brief
• Policy Scope
• Policy Elements
• Social Media Activity and Free Speech
• Employee Guidelines and Disciplinary Consequences
• Representing the Organization
• Philosophy of Oversight
Special Highlights, Topics Available ONLY through GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd.
What is Social Media?
When we think of Social Media, generally that means Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and so on. But Social Media also includes YouTube, blogs, personal websites, websites for side hustles and public communications regarding personal interests such as charities and religious or political groups. How far does your policy extend? We will present other areas of online activity that can affect your organization while sometimes not considered typical social media platforms.
Philosophy of Oversight
How restrictive is your online policy? How loose is it? There are organizations with stifling social media policies that require them to register their account information with human resources so it can be “monitored.” Should it go that far? You will have to decide. Are you prepared to devote resources to that level of scrutiny into the personal lives of your employees? Keep in mind, your employees have a choice – go along with your policy or quit. Is it worth losing good people just to “Big Brother” them online? We moderate this topic as a floor discussion so management and employees can communicate their concerns in an open forum.
PROGRAM FORMAT
Our programs can be done as a comprehensive Social Media Policy training or we can offer various sections as independent presentations.
A) Policy Briefing – This is typically a staff briefing or “lunch and learn” program designed as a high-level overview of Social Media Policy in general. Giving you an understanding of what all is covered by the policies and how to begin development of your own.
B) Development Workshop – In this program, our CEO, Gery L. Deer, will come in and work with your human resources and management to craft your social media policy. Then we will draft the guidelines and publish them in a document that can be distributed to the entire company staff.
EXAMPLE CONTENT
Policy brief & purpose
Our social media company policy provides a framework for using social media. Social media is a place where people exchange information, opinions, and experiences to learn, develop and have fun. Whether employees are handling a corporate account or use one of their own, they should remain productive. This policy provides practical advice to avoid issues that might arise by careless use of social media in the workplace.
Scope
We expect all our employees to follow this policy.
Policy elements
“Social media” refers to a variety of online communities like blogs, social networks, chat rooms, and forums. This policy covers all of them. We consider two different elements: using personal social media at work and representing our company through social media.
Using personal social media
We allow employees to access their personal accounts at work. But, we expect them to act responsibly and ensure their productivity isn’t affected. Using social media excessively while at work can reduce efficiency and concentration. Whether employees are using their accounts for business or personal purposes, they may easily get sidetracked by the vast amount of available content.
We advise our employees to:
• Use their common sense. If employees neglect their job duties to spend time on social media, their decline in productivity will show on their performance reviews.
• Ensure others know that personal account or statements don’t represent our company. Employees shouldn’t state or imply that their personal opinions and content are authorized or endorsed by our company. We advise using a disclaimer such as “opinions are my own” to avoid misunderstandings.
• Avoid sharing intellectual property like trademarks on a personal account without approval. Confidentiality policies and laws always apply.
• Avoid any defamatory, offensive or derogatory content. It may be considered as a violation of our company’s anti-harassment policy if directed towards colleagues, clients or partners.
Representing our company
Some employees represent our company by handling corporate social media accounts or speak on our company’s behalf. We expect them to act carefully and responsibly to protect our company’s image and reputation. Employees should:
• Be respectful, polite and patient, when engaging in conversations on our company’s behalf. They should be extra careful when making declarations or promises towards customers and stakeholders
• Avoid speaking on matters outside their field of expertise when possible. Everyone should be careful not to answer questions or make statements that fall under somebody else’s responsibility
• Follow our confidentiality policy and data protection policy and observe laws on copyright, trademarks, plagiarism and fair use
• Inform our [PR/Marketing department] when they’re about to share any major-impact content
• Avoid deleting or ignoring comments for no reason. They should listen and reply to criticism.
• Never post discriminatory, offensive or libelous content and commentary
• Correct or remove any misleading or false content as quickly as possible
Disciplinary Consequences
We’ll monitor all social media postings on our corporate account.
We may have to take disciplinary action leading up to and including termination if employees do not follow this policy’s guidelines. Examples of non-conformity with the employee social media policy include but are not limited to:
• Disregarding job responsibilities and deadlines to use social media
• Disclosing confidential information through personal or corporate accounts
• Directing offensive comments towards other members of the online community
If you would like a copy of the basic presentation, please fill out the form below:
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