Through my conversations with friends and people in other companies, it becomes quickly evident that different companies have very different policies concerning the use of social media in the workplace. On one hand you have companies who are run like a prison, restricting access to Facebook, Twitter, and anything remotely associated with fun. Other companies are closer to a playground, let employees Tweet their hearts out all day long. So, who is right? Well, you probably already know my answer (your darn tootin you should be able to use social media), but the key here is why?
Employee Moral – on the most basic level, permitting social media use is good because it communicates to your employees that you trust them to use their time effectively and aren’t going to micromanage every task they do each day. (Most) people work their tails off for you (almost) every day, the least you can do is allow them to take a few minutes to connect with friends or contacts via social media.
Fosters Innovation – Let’s take Twitter for example. One of the biggest uses of Twitter is to keep up with others in your professional area, keeping tabs on the latest news, developments, blog posts, etc. By allowing employees to Tweet, they will not only learn these things, but think of how to apply them to your business, helping you develop and grow in the long run.
Keep An Eye on the Competition – So, if you’re Coca-Cola, things that Pepsi does are obviously somewhat important to you. Well, if your employees, the ones who are out their doing the work and making decisions that affect your positioning compared to Pepsi, can’t use these social media tools, how are they supposed to know what Pepsi is doing in these areas? By allowing access to social media, your employees could find out that Pepsi has a Twitter account, and do what needs to be done to hack into it and make very naughty tweets. Juuuuuuuuuuust kidding. You get what I’m saying though.
Oh that? That's your competition keeping an eye on your Twitter profile.
Create Evangelists – This is the biggest factor in my mind. If your company is a great company with some gnarly products and excellent service, nobody knows this better than your employees. By giving them access to social media, you open up the opportunity for them to communicate all of these awesome great aspects of your company to their friends/connections. Let’s say you have as little as 100 employees. If 75% of them are on social media and send a tweet somewhere along the way how they love working for your company or something positive about it, they could potentially reach hundreds or thousands of other people. You’ve just been able to tell thousands of people about your company without spending a dime or even spending any time planning. Now, you may take the risk of employees letting something negative slip about your company, but, if employees are saying things like that, you have bigger problems on your hands.
So, what are your thoughts? Am I way off the mark and you think social media is not appropriate in the workplace at all? Are there other reasons you have to add to mine? Looking forward to hear your thoughts!
