Communities
Employers use social media but block it from employees
When social networks first became popular, it was not uncommon to hear of companies that blocked the sites from their employees’ work computers. What boss would want their employees sitting on Facebook stalking their ex-boyfriends all day? But times have changed now, and the war to get Facebook at work still rages on for many company employees. Social media has evolved, and is being used professionally and more intelligently than way back in the olden days (read: 5 years ago). Many companies, who use social media for their clients and internal brands, block it from their employees. Now that hardly seems fair. This argument has been raging on for quite some time now.
“The labor and employment group of global law firm Proskauer surveyed more than 120 multinational employers and found that 43 percent of businesses have dealt with employee misuse of social networks at work and about one-third have taken disciplinary action against employees for misusing social networks. Yet nearly half of those businesses do not have social networking policies in place.”
So who is right? Should employees be allowed to have free reign to all of their social networks at work? Or should employers limit the amount of access, due to past issues that have come up?
Really, there are many factors that play into this, but speaking in generalities, I am a firm believer that employees should have access to social networks if the company deploys social network strategies. Employees should feel as though they can tap these networks for ideas and inspiration, without receiving penalty. What really needs to happen in these situations, are guidelines need to be set. Social networking policies, that clearly define what the employer is expecting of their employees on these social networks, is extremely important for any type of success to be found in these situations. While some employers may still believe that social networks are only used for wasting time, they would be surprised to find out just how helpful these sites can be for employees creativity. And who knows? Perhaps they would get some ideas to help push the social initiatives they are deploying for their clients. What do you guys think? Should employers still be blocking social networks at work, even if they are deploying social strategies for clients and their internal brand?
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