While those in the healthcare field have unique concerns and laws to follow, every company-organization-non-profit or entity should have a workplace social media policy.  With that in mind, some thoughts on what every HR social media policy should contain.

• Describe/outline the reach of the policy:   clearly define how the policy relates to employee time at work (not related to job duties), employee time at work who might engage in social media as part of job duties, and use of social off work time.  Something very important to consider, who may/may not “represent” the company/organization while engaging in social media.
• Social Media Philosophy:  how does the company/organization view social media-what are its goals/objectives.  Providing an outline for how the employer uses social media will help explain why some employees may/may not use it to represent the organization.
• Privacy:  Employees/volunteers should be reminded what they post online is public.  Never assume it is private
• Company Devices vs Personal Devices:  do you have or need to have a separate social media policy for phone/computers issues to employees or volunteers?
• Social Media Policy as part of broader HR policies: how is the social media policy related to other HR policies?  Employees/volunteers should be reminded other policies carry over to social media use (HIPPA for healthcare, sexual harassment, confidentiality….)

These are just some general topics to include/consider in an HR social media policy.  More often than not, many employee complaints don’t come from the actual policy, but more so due to a misunderstanding as to the need for the policy and how it was communicated.

Having a plan for communicating, including employee feedback and input are important to successfully implementing a workplace social media policy.

Interested to hear more on our views regarding workplace social media policy?  Happy to chat further, call Will at (207) 755-9445 ext. 101  or email will@encompassmarketing.com.