Social Networking – friend or foe to employers?

The emergence of Facebook, Twitter, and similar social networking sites has literally taken over people’s social lives. This new perspective on socialising driven by the internet and technology is great for communication with friends but ironically can be an enemy and a nightmare for companies and employers.

Statistics show that there are 26 million users in Britain on Facebook, one third of the British population, not to mention the 100 billion minutes spent on the site by these users. As an employer this can be very hard to manage in real terms, not mentioning the implications that come from employees using the sites in a way that could be deemed as defamatory to the company.

There are of course “business focused” networking sites, such as LinkedIn which can be a great sales lead generating tool and raise the profile of the services that your business offers. Although a proactive sales generator, this also comes with its own problems when employees come to leave; a subject touched on later.

Advantages to employees from sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn include increased brand awareness and business opportunities. When people follow celebrities on Twitter for example and they are using a brand, service or item linked to your business this can heighten your business profile and be a testimonial to you.

Similarly with blogging on LinkedIn, if you generate a question for debate relevant to your services, these are then free leads that have been generated for you to follow up and sell to. They have vested an interest by getting involved in your debate so a warm lead has been established.

These are the obvious advantages of social media sites for businesses; however do the risks outweigh the advantages?

Obviously the loss of productivity is the main problem unless this is strictly policed by the sites being blocked except for maybe lunchtimes. The main concerns for employers are that it is very difficult to monitor and discipline unless there is a clear and robust policy to go by.

But more importantly are the concerns of vicarious liability on the employer for defamatory comments made by their employees on such sites “in the course of their employment”. The problem with derogatory comments on Facebook is the permanency of the comment, the amount of people/customers or clients that can view it and the damage to the employer’s reputation.

This can also amount to serious claims of harassment and/or discrimination, so employers need to take reasonable steps to prevent it and make clear that it will amount to disciplinary action.  The other main area that can be of a huge concern to employers is when a list of contacts is made by an employee on a social media site, such as LinkedIn. Who does this list belong to, the employer or the individual? This is especially prevalent in sales orientated jobs, the list of clients and customers is paramount to the organisation and confidentially clauses have prevented employees taking this information with them in the past from computer based systems, but on social networking sites it seems that the ownership is hard to decipher. It may be necessary for employers to review their contracts of employment to see if this area is covered.

The other steps that can be taken, as discussed, are the development of a Social Media Policy, making sure there are online restrictions that block certain sites in the working day and what will amount to disciplinary action (including an Email and Internet Usage Policy).

This is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to the impact of the social networking sites on the employment relationship. The HR Services Team at Sussex Enterprise can assist you with all of the above and help you to protect yourself against potential claims that might arise related to social media sites.

If you would like any help within this area please contact the HR Services Team on 01444 259259 or email Tania.woodward@sussexenterprise.co.uk.