Are you in charge of your opinions? Why to have (and respect) the blog and social media policy of your company (or to get one)
Back to work, autumn says.
The first thing that usually happens is to forget breathtaking views and unmissable sunsets, to give more space in your day to everyday life in the office.
This is the most dangerous time of the year in which to share impressions, comments and even insults relating to one's condition as an employee, partly because under stress from returning, partly because there is always something to talk about in front of the 8 pc. and often it comes to work issues).
Whether they are fun, hilarious, unmissable, sharing information about your life in the company can become something dangerous. We never think about the fact that anyone could use those statements against us, but even more we think we are safe if behind an anonymous account, a pseudonym or a satirical page dedicated to this type of comment.
In recent years, companies have expanded their policies regarding the use of social media by their employees. The main objective is always that of: not confusing personal opinions with corporate ones, distancing roles well. But above all to protect the reputation of the company itself, which is not infrequently inundated with emails and comments when one of its employees (or worse manager) uses social media in an inappropriate way.
At the beginning we only talked about blog policies, because we were concerned about the impact of personal ideas in individual blogs activated by employees outside the company sphere, but often using content from everyday corporate life. The focus was to distinguish between what was authorized and written in concert with the company itself and what was instead individual, never in contrast with the company itself and its principles, always clarifying to users and readers that these were personal opinions. Now that the world has changed, however, the focus has shifted to the entire sphere of the employee's presence in social networks, often in real time and with zero time to limit any shared post or image; this means that preventing with rules could be the only option to contain damages through enforceabiliuty of expectations. So the policy must necessarily include more elements.
Let's see which ones
What to put in a policy relating to the use of social networks?
1.An explicit reference to the code of ethics and the principles that inspire the company (guys, if you don’t have one, it is definetley time to WRITE IT).
2. Support the use of the disclaimers to prevent personal opinions from being taken into consideration as a company unless expressly authorized to represent the company on social networks for the most varied reasons.
3. Ask users to maintain a non-aggressive or discriminatory tone (one of the main causes of dismissal due to the content posted on social networks concerns the racist, homophobic and general discriminatory attitude of the comments expressed).
4. Ask users to avoid sharing confidential information (as long as you clearly identified with them what is in fact a confidential information - because believe me: many of them have NO IDEA) with third parties (and their public, if they have one in social media life) . It is full of people specialized in obtaining information thanks to works of conviction and seduction of the most diverse species.
Two final tips: it is right to ask for a generic observance of netiquette, which goes beyond pure legal reprimand and enters the general way of doing things, the tone of voice in line with company expectations. but above all, do not be afraid to replace ten pages with some more direct explanatory images that help employees to visualize the conducts to be avoided and those to be implemented. We will return to the theme of visualization that replaces words, in terms of practical legal innovation applicable to many areas, not just policies.
Interested to get more insights? Stay tuned for special contents or contact me if you need help to build some of those aspects on your company.