Social Media

It’s no news flash that social media has gone from cutting edge to mainstream. However, some employers are slow to respond with new policies and practices on the use of social networking. How does your organization stack up? And, by the way, there is no one size fits all program for this one! Here’s a few statistics just in case you’ve been out of touch:

• Facebook signs up 600,000 new users daily
• 33% visit social media sites to engage in product research before buying
• 26% of respondents changed their minds about purchasing a product after reading about it on a social media site
• 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions

We conduct Professional Workplace Conduct programs on a regular basis and the number one topic is social media with questions from employees including “where’s the line between personal and business in the social medical world”. “Does my employer have the right to take action against employees because they have posted a sexist, racist, or other offensive message?”

This ever-changing world of social media is an opportunity for business leaders to lead by example. Leaders should model the behavior they would like to see employees take with an emphasis on responsible use. Social technologies including blogs, social networks and Twitter are communications tools. A company’s social media approach should integrate and work with existing communications channels and goals. Writing and implementing a set of guidelines is likely not enough. We know social tools are used to engage and interact with others including customers so provide the guidance to get the best results. We can help design policies, practices and programs to provide guiding principles for employees and well as to employees - give us a call today.