Why you should let staff use Facebook at work
I've spoken before about how I get a free massage at work every month. (I actually get a choice between massage and reflexology but I'm too ticklish for the latter!) I had my first massage on my first day in the office and I couldn't believe how lucky I'd been to find a company that wanted to provide that type of perk for their employees.
Can you guess the first thing I did after my colleague Michelle informed me that I'd be having a massage at 10am that day? I told everyone on Facebook and Twitter how awesome the company I'd just joined was. I figured the company were effectively paying me to have a massage so they wouldn't mind me taking an additional 30 seconds to rave about them online. Thousands of people saw my update and the company gained free brand awareness.
The small business I had joined understood the importance of social media - if they didn't, they wouldn't have hired me. But there are still plenty of businesses out there that are unsure whether they should let staff use Facebook at work.
Businesses that don't let staff use social media at work, I've got one question for you: do you trust your staff?
If your answer is yes, then you should let them access Facebook at work. And if your answer is no, why are they still working for you?
I'm convinced that the main reason businesses don't let employees access social media at work is because they're scared. They're worried that their employees can't be trusted to manage their time appropriately and I understand that. Yet I'm equally convinced that with the appropriate guidelines staff can be your biggest advocates online.
If you're still unsure, get the ball rolling and create a social media policy. Invite a few members of staff to help you create a policy that everyone can get behind. Just remember that these guidelines are being created to empower your staff, not send them running to the hills with fear of doing something wrong - so steer clear of legal jargon if it's not needed.
If you're still scared, why not consider a trial run? If output and quality remains the same in their workload you'll see that letting them use Facebook (and Twitter and LinkedIn) didn't have a detrimental effect after all. Then comes the fun part as you start to measure your reputation online and see social chatter about your business begin to grow.
I'd love to know your thoughts - do you let / are you allowed to use Facebook and other social media networks at work?
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Carla Bradman writes a London lifestyle blog and is the marketing manager at Paramount.
Founder & CEO at Collins Property Recruitment (We're Hiring!??)
9 年Good article Carla Bradman sounds like you are working for a great company! In this day and age most people are using FB, Twitter and/or Instagram etc and unless you don’t trust your staff there is no reason in my opinion why it should be permitted at work provided it's used in moderation.
Experienced Enterprise Architect, IT Technology Manager, Technical Delivery Manager, and IT / Telecoms Advisor remotely based in Ireland (Republic)
9 年No need. They already access FB at work... via their 3G/4G smartphones.
Tecnical Test Lead ,Aspiring Astrologer,Stock Market Analyst,Good &healthy cook
9 年Using social media at work is not offense but employees should feel responsible for what they are doing and should maintain the balance between work and other activities(anything). I think every company have their own network policies at place and always monitor the network traffic as well as those who violated the policies. Social media empowers the staff in gaining knowledge,finding tech solutions for the issues at work ....etc ,this would benefit both business and employee image.
Supporting the International market with CAT Gas and Diesel Generators Full turnkey solutions within Power Systems and Oil and Gas Industry
9 年as long as it does not effect your work then why not. everyone has their company name on their facebook so it would generate greater audience whether it is during work hours or not. I use facebook only at dinner times, but I will check linkedin daily and posts which relate to the company to gage a larger audience.
Cybersecurity Project Manager
9 年In point of fact, there's almost no way to block social media use. All you can do is drive it outside... if my company doesn't let me post on Facebook from my work computer, there's nothing stopping me from accessing it on my smartphone. But now I'll leave my desk, so no one can see me doing something the company 'prohibited', and so I'll take twice as long to post/read posts as I would have if they let me use it at my desk in the first place. For every decision, there is a cost, and both companies and workers decide if the benefits outweigh those costs, or not. Personally, I think that you may as well leave the access in place for your employees -- let them be adults, and use your network monitoring to advise you if someone is abusing their privileges.