Connecting the Dots / An Agency Blog

Social media is unavoidable for anyone with a desk job and a finger (at least a little bit) on the pulse of things. Let’s face it, for those of us connected, sooner or later you’re going to get the distraction and head over to Facebook. For some employers, time equates 100% to money and every minute wasted is a dollar lost – an unfortunate but realistic factor of capitalism. But for many on the employee side, powering through the day can be a challenge when the social sphere is only a click away.

So how do corporations keep things under control and ensure their people aren’t burning away the day 140 characters at a time? Is it effective to cut the cord of social media altogether? Is this a realistic approach? Is it possible to retain staff with a policy that limits or eliminates access to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and all other social media platforms? For Engine Digital, social media interaction is a part of our business and our studio is entrenched in all its forms, but for more than 54% of companies social media is off limits, blocked by IT. According to a recent survey released by Robert Half Technology, of the remaining organizations that don’t block social network sites, about 19% make specific allowances for business purposes only and about 16% even go so far as to allow for personal use.

I was recently asked to comment on the topic for a Vancouver Sun article by Gillian Shaw (@gillianshaw).

For employees, Robert Half Technology offers the following advice:

• Know what’s allowed
• Use caution
• Keep it professional
• Stay positive
• Polish your image
• Monitor yourself

However, before IT drops the hammer on employee use, Marketing and Operations first need to decide how social media can be leveraged across the company and applied to their unique line of business. This of course means having a comprehensive idea of what social media can accomplish – and this is where your digital agency comes in. From there, it’s a matter of determining the objectives, developing the guidelines, and deciding what departments are best suited to utilize a comprehensive social media strategy. Clearly it’s not this simple, but start with Twitter for Customer Service, LinkedIn for Sales, and Facebook for Marketing.

Interestingly, even as organizations lock down access, smart phones are continually growing in popularity and access to platforms like Facebook can be gained outside of the employers networks. Perhaps this skirts the issue of security, but not productivity.

Shel Holtz makes some interesting arguments on the subject.

For organizations just getting started, or considering a smarter approach to addressing the changing wave that social media has brought in, SocialMediaGovernance.com has amassed a list of over 100 corporate social media policies.

In addition, LaurelPapworth.com provides a fairly comprehensive list of Behavioral and Etiquette guidelines and the fundamentals of a smart social media policy.

Keeping staff busy is clearly important to the bottom line of any organization. Ensuring staff are happy while productive is a balancing act. Each organization needs to determine how to create that balance based on their business model. There certainly isn’t a single approach. The most important factor is to not write-off this relatively new communication channel without first assessing the potentially positive impact it can make on the business. Consider the opportunities first and create the guidelines based on those findings.

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