Did You Know? HR professionals spend an average of 6.02 hours per week engaging with social media content, compared to 3.89 with editorial content and 3.1 with vendor content.
Despite a 35 percent increase in social media consumption to nearly six hours per week, more than half of businesses worldwide have no social media policy or are unsure if they do, a new survey finds.
Nearly 3,000 people working in HR, IT and finance positions around the globe were interviewed for the survey conducted by Toolbox.com. The study found that although social media policies were scarce in many companies, 46 percent of HR respondents said their workplaces make it “easy” or “very easy” to use social media while working.
The Impact of Social Media on Employers
Social networking is no longer used just to share photos and videos, or for chatting. Companies are using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social web sites for recruiting, branding and customer contact. Legal experts say that employers need to be cautious about how they phrase social media policies before they implement them.
In a recent case, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has challenged the firing of a woman after she posted negative comments about her supervisor on her Facebook page. The company said it terminated the woman because the postings violated the company’s Internet policies. The NLRB said the employee’s Facebook postings were protected activity under federal labor law because the postings were attributed to her having been denied representation from her union.
Some legal experts say that employers who have adopted Internet policies to protect their companies from disparagement and legal problems arising from employee postings might need to review those policies carefully in light of recent developments. Additionally, employers might need to include new disclaimers or otherwise scale back policies that appear likely to be construed as interfering with employee rights
Despite the massive popularity of social media over the past two years, companies and corporate policies continue to lag behind. If you need assistance in creating or implementing a social media policy for your workplace, please contact our Human Resources Consulting specialists who will be able to assist you.
Source: SHRM