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No, You Don’t Need a Social Media Policy

Jan 30, 2012 » by Cali & Jody

Image: Flickr user quinn.anya

[Guest post written by Michael Reynolds]

Social media in the workplace is (still) a popular topic of discussion. While those of us living in our enlightened bubbles see social media as just everyday communication, there are still many
organizations that are struggling to figure out how to use it, how to leverage it for business advantages, and how to minimize risk.

Based on what I’ve observed, there is a popular notion related to social media floating around among consultants that really bugs me. When discussing social media in the workplace and in business communication, the battle cry seems to be “you need a social media policy!”

No, you don’t.

A social media policy sounds like a good idea on paper, but let’s look at the message it sends. First of all, let’s agree that social media is not some weird, magical new thing that requires it’s own set of rules. It’s not. Social media is communication. Technology has changed in ways that allow communication to become more transparent, scalable, and flexible. However, at it’s core it’s still just communication.

Next, let’s agree that our employees are not stupid. As business owners and managers, I’m going to assume that we want to hire smart people that know what they are doing.

Finally, let’s agree to trust our employees. Again, I’m going to take another leap of faith and assume that we want to hire people that we trust. Sound fair?

If all this is true, then why do we feel the need to regulate and hamstring what our employees do on social media?

I, for one, love it when my team members show their personalities on Twitter, write insightful and opinionated blogs, and talk to our clients on Facebook. I trust my employees. I hire smart people. I enjoy what they bring to our team and encourage them to be visible and active online.

“But what about regulations and stuff, Reynolds! Your company is all fluffy marketing and shiny things but I have to worry about compliance and blah blah blah!”

Ok, so what? Is this a social media problem? No. This is a company culture issue. If you hire smart people with common sense and train them adequately to understand what their outcomes are, do you really need a social media policy? Or would you rather set them free to be creative and authentic?

And if you don’t trust your employees, then why are they working for you?

Please stop over-regulating, over-policing, and over-policy-izing your employees. If you trust them, you may just be pleasantly surprised.

What do you think? Give us your opinion in the comments! I’ll also be tackling the subject on this week’s Results-Only Radio show, with special guest Jeb Banner. Listen to the live show on Tuesday, January 31, at 1 pm Eastern; tweet your question or comment with the hashtag #ROWE, or leave a comment below and we’ll answer on the air.

[Michael Reynolds is President/CEO of SpinWeb – one of the first small business to become a ROWE. He is also a CultureRx consultant, speaker, trainer, and entrepreneur who has had extensive experience helping both business and non-profit clients utilize marketing and technology to become more productive.]

  • KellyK

    I think this is a great point.  It’s not the medium, it’s the communication itself. Maybe instead of a “social media policy,” any rules regarding compliance, proprietary information, and official communications need to be checked over to make sure they include social media.  So if you have training related to, say, HIPAA, maybe it has a quiz question about “Jane posts a get-well note to a patient’s Facebook wall and mentions his condition—what’s wrong with this situation?” 

    • KellyK

      I should point out that I’m not suggesting that every policy needs to mention social media specifically.  But if you’re giving examples, you may as well include a few that are social media related. 

      • http://twitter.com/StaceyMSwanson staceyswanson

        Kelly- as an HR person, I love your perspective and example! It’s all about the communication, not the tool used to communicate.  And it comes down to trusting people to make the right decisions.

      • KellyK

        Thanks!

  • Anonymous

    Yup.

  • Amal

    Amen!! 

  • http://twitter.com/Britany_Wallace Britany Wallace

    Excellent points made here, Michael. Your ideas seem like common sense, but so many owners or executives are afraid that people can’t be trusted. People learn what they are taught. If you teach your employees they cannot be trusted, they will learn that they cannot be trusted. If you teach them they cannot function independently of your schedule and step-by-step instructions, they will essentially become useless.

    Thank you so much for highlighting the business inconsistency of thought! It is always helpful to hear the culture’s faults so we can address and fix them!

    • http://www.michaelreynolds.com Michael Reynolds

      Thanks, Britany! It’s very encouraging to hear feedback like that :)

  • Ronnie Wooten

    Social media policies, like so many other policies in the workplace, are  just one more way to send the message to your employees that you do not trust them and you view them as immature children requiring constant guidance and direction.  Remember the old days of dress codes?  (I’m sad for you if your employer still adheres to this ancient employee handbook staple).  Were you more productive, smarter, mature, adult-like back then?  If I wear a red tutu while I work from my home office, am I any less qualified or are more results any less valuable than if I had on the traditional straight jacket or yore?  NO.  So to write a policy around how employees should act, speak, engage, etc. online in the world of social media is simply this:  A WASTE OF YOUR TIME.  To say that a culture has to mature before employees can be trusted to engage without such policy is ludicrous.  What is a “mature” culture?  By what benchmarks will you measure said maturity?   Employees behave immaturely because they are being treated like children.  When treated like the adults they are, you will find they are quite mature and have brains and common sense.  As parents, we police what our children do and say and share on social media – to protect them and teach them.  Are you your employees’ parent?  NO.  If someone says something inappropriate or damaging on social media, I can assure you they are doing the exact same thing on the phone and in email to your customers.  That’s called a character flaw – or a performance issue – but a policy will NOT remove such risk.  Social media is NOT the new Armageddon for corporate America as so many “experts” are suggesting.  How do you write policies and place rules on new and uncharted territory?  You don’t know what you don’t know.  Period.  A policy will not enlighten you to the unknown and the fear of may prohibit you from reaching a new level of success and that would be a travesty.  Frankly, too much time wasted on debating this issue is already costing you valuable time and potential sales.  Check out “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuk, trust your employees and sit back and revel in their “maturity” and how it propelled you to achieve goals you never imagined!     

    • KellyK

      Good point.  I don’t think you’ll ever *get* a mature culture by treating people like unruly children.

  • http://twitter.com/researchimpact ResearchImpact

    My company doesn’t have an e mail policy so why does it need a social media policy? If you have a communications plan then social media becomes just another tool in that plan.

    • http://twitter.com/caliressler Cali Ressler

      Very good point – great way of looking at it!!

    • Christy Runningen

      AND – if someone is showing poor judgment, what does it matter if it’s via social media, in the office, using company property, etc.  Isn’t poor judgement all the same?

  • http://www.wisetoweb.com/ Andrew

    I agree that if you’re going to hire people you should trust them. But I’m not sure if I agree with your position on not having a social media policy. The issue with this is that it’s not always about “trust”. 

    Here’s an example: 
    A business owner on the west coast in a competitive industry and was planning on buying a smaller company which was well known. This was something that they wanted to do *quietly* as it could turn out to be a significant benefit for the business. They sent an employee out to again *quietly* do some due diligence. 

    That employee posted an innocent “just landed in Cleveland” status update on Facebook. That update confirmed rumors going around. This made it incredibly difficult for the business to complete their purchase. 

    The employee that absentmindedly spilled the beans was trustworthy. Yet it was difficult to focus on results only, when there was no expectation of what those results looked like. It seems to me like having a policy (even a loose one) sets the tone for the results you expect. Doesn’t that mean better results?