November 1, 2010 at 21:55Social networks in business. Employee Behavior Policies
China, India, Facebook - such would be the three largest countries, if Mark Zuckerberg was president, and Facebook country, 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, 3,600,000,000 photos were stored on Flickr.com back in 2008 year. There is a great influence exerted by social networks on our daily lives - the same Obama has about 5.7 million followers on Twitter, which is far from a record. Two years ago, 93% of users believed that companies should be present on social networks, and preferably interacting with customers .
And, for example, in America, this happens all the time - in Twitter alone there are a lot of accounts of companies and corporations, where with their help they conduct a dialogue with users, support them, trying to answer questions and respond to comments as quickly as possible. In this way, the problems of improving the image of the company are solved and much more effective advertising of new products and services is achieved, and all this at a low cost, because all you need is to love your customers, know what to write about, and be able to use TweetDeck or Hootsuite.
I must say that in Russia, companies are only just beginning to come to an understanding of the need to work with social media. So far, though most of them only Twitter-accounts can be observed, which are filled with trite census of company news from the official site via RSS, for example, one of the two largest stock exchanges is soand it does, plus companies use masfollowing and buying followers. In general, the situation is just that, although there are exceptions .
Abroad, attention is paid not only to marketing, PR and other methods of promotion in social media. The behavior of company employees during their stay on social networks is also pretty strictly regulated. In particular, documents defining what employees can afford and what is better not to have at Microsoft , SAP , Intel , NVIDIA
and even the Red Cross and other Mayo clinics .
Studying all of the above documents, I noticed that the main points are generally similar, so you can make some top recommendations that are followed by employees of large companies and corporations.
So, what are the recommendations for behavior in social networks in the general case that large companies give their employees:
1. Write in the first person.
Remember that you are not a representative of a public relations company. Therefore, write in the first person (“I think ..” instead of “We at% companyname% think ..”). Respect proprietary information and corporate information not intended. for disclosure (release of new products, mergers / acquisitions, etc.). If you post a message or comment on a website that is not associated with% companyname% please add captions similar to the following: “Publications on this site are my personal initiative and do not necessarily coincide with the opinion of% companyname%, its strategy or express the company's position . ” Remember, you may be held personally liable for the content of your publications.
2. Write about what you understand.
If you write about work in% companyname% in your blog / microblog, then use your real name, clearly indicate that you work in% companyname%, and clearly and clearly state your role in the company.
3. You are part of a large organization.
By identifying yourself as an employee of a company, you create the impression of your competence and, in general,% companyname%. Remember - what you say and write forms the image of the company.
4. Respect copyright.
You must respect the intellectual property of others. Never use more than just a small piece of someone else's work and make sure to mention the author and, if possible, post links to the original source.
5. Apply the "Manager Rule".
If you are going to print a comment or blog post, and you have the slightest doubt about whether it is worth doing this, before you cast aside doubts and click “Send”, ask yourself: “If my boss saw this, would I be embarrassed or worried? ” If after this you still doubt, it is better to discuss this issue with the public relations department or the legal department.
6. Do you have to register accounts in social networks on behalf of% companyname% or its divisions?
In general, company employees should not register such accounts on social networks, unless they are directly responsible for their presence on social media in their department and have verified and verified that such an account has not yet been registered. If there is any doubt that this has already been done, then the account does not need to be registered.
7. Use a conversational style of speech.
Connect with people on social networks and readers of your blog the way you would talk to them in real life. Show your individuality and personality. Produce content that you yourself would love to read.
8. Do you add value?
The best way for people to read what you write is to write interesting and valuable things. Social relations with the public should improve the image of the company, build a sense of community - i.e. to help our customers, partners and colleagues. If you write something that allows people to improve their knowledge, skills, build their own business, do their job, solve problems or understand our company better - then this is adding value.
9. Avoid confrontation.
The line between a healthy argument and provocation can be very thin. Do not slander our competitors or% companyname%. Likewise, there is no need to respond to every critical statement or taunts about the company, although, of course, if you are talking about slander, you can refute the knowingly false statement about our company.
10. Have you screwed up?
If you make a mistake, admit it. Be honest and quick to fix it. If you are editing an earlier blog post, then let people know you did it.
One can debate on whether it is ethical for corporations to essentially intervene in the personal lives of their employees, but on the other hand, those who work in large companies should also have a sense of responsibility. In general, the practice of implementing behavior policies in social networks for employees is a good idea that helps to avoid such situations .
PS In addition to the above documents, this list of companies was used to prepare the article.having official documents of policies of behavior in social networks for employees.
PPS The study of this topic turned out for me to create a similar document and presentation for companies, and since I am for the open source, I want to share all this goodness with the habro-public. Accordingly, feedback, amendments, instructions and wishes are highly desirable, I will be very grateful).
And, for example, in America, this happens all the time - in Twitter alone there are a lot of accounts of companies and corporations, where with their help they conduct a dialogue with users, support them, trying to answer questions and respond to comments as quickly as possible. In this way, the problems of improving the image of the company are solved and much more effective advertising of new products and services is achieved, and all this at a low cost, because all you need is to love your customers, know what to write about, and be able to use TweetDeck or Hootsuite.
I must say that in Russia, companies are only just beginning to come to an understanding of the need to work with social media. So far, though most of them only Twitter-accounts can be observed, which are filled with trite census of company news from the official site via RSS, for example, one of the two largest stock exchanges is soand it does, plus companies use masfollowing and buying followers. In general, the situation is just that, although there are exceptions .
Abroad, attention is paid not only to marketing, PR and other methods of promotion in social media. The behavior of company employees during their stay on social networks is also pretty strictly regulated. In particular, documents defining what employees can afford and what is better not to have at Microsoft , SAP , Intel , NVIDIA
and even the Red Cross and other Mayo clinics .
Studying all of the above documents, I noticed that the main points are generally similar, so you can make some top recommendations that are followed by employees of large companies and corporations.
So, what are the recommendations for behavior in social networks in the general case that large companies give their employees:
1. Write in the first person.
Remember that you are not a representative of a public relations company. Therefore, write in the first person (“I think ..” instead of “We at% companyname% think ..”). Respect proprietary information and corporate information not intended. for disclosure (release of new products, mergers / acquisitions, etc.). If you post a message or comment on a website that is not associated with% companyname% please add captions similar to the following: “Publications on this site are my personal initiative and do not necessarily coincide with the opinion of% companyname%, its strategy or express the company's position . ” Remember, you may be held personally liable for the content of your publications.
2. Write about what you understand.
If you write about work in% companyname% in your blog / microblog, then use your real name, clearly indicate that you work in% companyname%, and clearly and clearly state your role in the company.
3. You are part of a large organization.
By identifying yourself as an employee of a company, you create the impression of your competence and, in general,% companyname%. Remember - what you say and write forms the image of the company.
4. Respect copyright.
You must respect the intellectual property of others. Never use more than just a small piece of someone else's work and make sure to mention the author and, if possible, post links to the original source.
5. Apply the "Manager Rule".
If you are going to print a comment or blog post, and you have the slightest doubt about whether it is worth doing this, before you cast aside doubts and click “Send”, ask yourself: “If my boss saw this, would I be embarrassed or worried? ” If after this you still doubt, it is better to discuss this issue with the public relations department or the legal department.
6. Do you have to register accounts in social networks on behalf of% companyname% or its divisions?
In general, company employees should not register such accounts on social networks, unless they are directly responsible for their presence on social media in their department and have verified and verified that such an account has not yet been registered. If there is any doubt that this has already been done, then the account does not need to be registered.
7. Use a conversational style of speech.
Connect with people on social networks and readers of your blog the way you would talk to them in real life. Show your individuality and personality. Produce content that you yourself would love to read.
8. Do you add value?
The best way for people to read what you write is to write interesting and valuable things. Social relations with the public should improve the image of the company, build a sense of community - i.e. to help our customers, partners and colleagues. If you write something that allows people to improve their knowledge, skills, build their own business, do their job, solve problems or understand our company better - then this is adding value.
9. Avoid confrontation.
The line between a healthy argument and provocation can be very thin. Do not slander our competitors or% companyname%. Likewise, there is no need to respond to every critical statement or taunts about the company, although, of course, if you are talking about slander, you can refute the knowingly false statement about our company.
10. Have you screwed up?
If you make a mistake, admit it. Be honest and quick to fix it. If you are editing an earlier blog post, then let people know you did it.
One can debate on whether it is ethical for corporations to essentially intervene in the personal lives of their employees, but on the other hand, those who work in large companies should also have a sense of responsibility. In general, the practice of implementing behavior policies in social networks for employees is a good idea that helps to avoid such situations .
PS In addition to the above documents, this list of companies was used to prepare the article.having official documents of policies of behavior in social networks for employees.
PPS The study of this topic turned out for me to create a similar document and presentation for companies, and since I am for the open source, I want to share all this goodness with the habro-public. Accordingly, feedback, amendments, instructions and wishes are highly desirable, I will be very grateful).