Social media in the workplace is a hot button topic. As more employees are reprimanded or even fired over the things they choose to post on their social channels, employers are paying more attention to what their workers are tweeting and saying.

At the same time, however, social media has skyrocketed in popularity, both in our overall culture and in the workplace.

Social’s growing influence

A recently released report by Proskaeur shows 90 percent of all companies utilize social media for business purposes. Companies are using social media to promote the organization to outside clients and customers, as well as to improve communication internally among employees and upper management.

Social media is also gaining prominence in the hiring process. Currently, about 94 percent of recruiters are using social media as part of their hiring toolbox. This can mean anything from tweeting out job openings to looking for more information about a candidate on Facebook or LinkedIn.

In fact, a survey from CareerBuilder discovered 39 percent of companies are using social media to research job candidates during the hiring process.

What are the problems?

The same CareerBuilder survey discovered a whopping 43 percent of hiring managers researching candidates through social media found something negative which convinced them to overlook the candidate in question. This runs the gamut from inappropriate photos, to references of drug use, and even candidates bad mouthing former employers.

According to Proskaeur, while social media usage by companies is increasing, employees’ access to social channels at work is decreasing. The survey found 36 percent of employers block social media at work, up from 29 percent in 2012. The amount of employers allowing workers to access all social media sites has fallen by 10 percent in one year, from 53 to 43 percent.

One look at the headlines and it’s not hard to see why social media’s star is simultaneously rising and falling the workplace. Employees posting negative, inappropriate, or downright inflammatory content can really put their employer into hot water.

Taco Bell took heat for a picture of an employee licking taco shells, a school bus driver was fired over a Facebook post, and a California Pizza Kitchen employee was let go after tweeting complaints about a new uniform. It’s not hard to see why many employers, in an effort to cut down on embarrassing stories, decide to curtail social media posting.

But employers might want to rethink putting the kibosh on social media. Recent studies from Evolv, Microsoft Corp and a Warck School of Business professor have all shown correlations between social media usage in the office and upticks in retention and productivity.

It turns out, a short Facebook break or a few minutes pinning away on Pinterest can help employees clear their heads and come back refreshed to tackle projects.

In fact, a study by Millennial Branding and American Express found 69 percent of Gen Y workers feel they should be able to access social media at work without restrictions. Cutting out social media entirely might not be a good solution if you want to keep morale high and retain your best people.

How to balance social with productivity

The social media conundrum probably explains why Proskaeur found social media policies can now be found in 80 percent of companies, up from 60 percent in 2012. Instead of merely getting rid of social media entirely, you need to be able to balance employees’ urge for social sharing with clear guidelines to help them understand what is acceptable to share.

Here are a few ways to balance social media with propriety and productivity:

Write a concrete set of guidelines

Your social media policy should be written in stone, and easily accessible for all your employees who might be confused about the ins and outs. Your social media guidelines should be an evolving document, but it also needs to be crystal clear about what is and isn’t acceptable behavior in regards to social media usage — both in and outside the office.

Remember employees represent your company

Your employees are the public face of your company, whether your organization is a Fortune 500 or a growing startup. You need to ensure workers are representing your company in the best light possible, which is why your company should develop a social media policy governing behavior from employees in the public eye.

Invest in training

Bring in professionals to teach employees and managers about how to utilize social media and how to avoid abusing social power.

Allow for brain breaks

If an employee spends 90 percent of his day on Facebook, you definitely have a productivity problem. However, a short break to check Facebook, look up a recipe on Pinterest, or engage in a conversation on Twitter might actually be the brain break your worker needs.

Before cracking down on social media sites, ask yourself whether it might be more hurtful than helpful in the long run.

Use internal social media for collaboration

Social media isn’t just for 140 character bursts or Instagramming your lunch order. There are plenty of internal and business social media tools helping companies collaborate more quickly, and tying together workers from disparate departments and offices.

Social media is a powerful tool is wielded correctly. Before employers hit the block button, it might be a good idea to reconsider and develop a better policy instead.

What do you think? Does your company block social media in the workplace? Share in the comments!

工作场合的社交媒体是一个热点话题。随着愈来愈多的员工因为选择把东西发布在他们的社交渠道上而受到斥责甚至被炒鱿鱼， 雇主正对他们的雇员发布的东西投以更多的关注。

同时，社交媒体的流行度依然在我们的整个文化中和在工作场所中飞涨。

社交不断增长的影响力

一份Roskaeur最近发布的报告显示90%的公司为了业务目的而利用社交媒体。公司们正利用社交媒体向外部客户和顾客推销自身组织，并改善内部员工和高层管理之间的沟通。

社交媒体在招聘流程中也表现突出。目前，大约94%招聘人员使用社交媒体作为他们招聘工具箱中的一部分。比如在Facebook或者Linkedin上发布招聘中的职位来寻找获选人的更多信息。

事实上， 一份CareerBuilder的调查报告显示39%的公司正在招聘流程正使用社交媒体来寻找候选人。

社交媒体的问题

CareerBuilder的同一份调查显示43%的大量招聘经理通过社交媒体研究候选人并发现一些负面信息使他们确信的筛除有问题的候选人。这覆盖从不雅照片，到滥用毒品的整个范围，甚至包括候选人对前任雇主的吐槽。

根据Proskaeur, 虽然公司使用社交媒体在上升，员工在工作中对社交媒体的访问在下降。调查报告发下36%的雇主在工作中屏蔽了社交媒体，在2012年这一比例为29。允许员工访问所有社交媒体网站的雇主在一年中下降了10%，从53%下降到43%。

看一眼头条新闻就不难知道为什么社交媒体这颗新星在工作中一方面在上升另一方面却在下降。员工们发表负面的，不合时宜的，或者带有明显闪动性质的内容确实让他们的雇主很难受。

Taco Bell 因为一张员工甜墨西哥贝壳的照片获得了热度， 一个校车驾驶员因为发表了一条Facebook被解雇， 一个加利福尼亚披萨厨房员工因为在推特上抱怨新制服被请走人。 这并不难理解为什么许多雇主为了斩断这些令人尴尬的故事，而剥夺员工发表社交媒体的权利。

但是雇主可能想要重新考虑在是否可以在社交媒体上发表一些无害信息。Evolv最近的研究显示，微软和Warck商学院的教授都显示了在办公室中使用社交媒体和员工的保留度和生产率上升之间的一直关系。

研究显示，一个Facebook的休息或者在pinterest上的几分钟休息可以帮助员工清清脑子并且焕然一新的回来处理项目。

事实上，根据Millennial Branding和美国快递的一项研究发现69%的Gen Y工作人员觉得他们应该能够在工作中不受限制的进入社交媒体。如果你想保持高涨的士气和留住人才，全面切断社交媒体可能不是一个好的解决方案。

如何平衡社交和生产率

社交媒体的难题可能解释了为什么Proskaeur 发现80%的公司都有针对社交媒体的政策，而2012年这一比例是60%。 与其彻底摆脱社交媒体，你需要能够以清晰的指导方针来平衡员工对社会化分享的迫切要求来帮助他们理解什么样子的分享是可以接受的。

这里有几种方法来平衡社交媒体和适宜性，生产率

制定一套具体的指导方针

你的社交媒体政策应该是板上钉钉的，并且让所有对细节迷惑的员工容易访问。IDE社交媒体指导方针应该是不断进化的文档，但是对于办公室内和办公室外社交媒体使用中什么行为是可接受和不可接受的，应该像水晶一样清晰。

提醒员工他们是在代表公司

不管你的组织是否是财富500强还是一个成长中的创业公司，你的员工都是公司的公众形象。你需要确保员工尽可能的最好的展现来代表公司， 这也是为什么你的公司应该制定社交媒体政策来管理员工在公众眼中的行为。

投资于培训

通过引入专业人士对如何使用社交媒体和如何避免滥用社交力量对员工和经理进行培训。

允许大脑休息

如果员工把每天90%的时间花在在facebook上，毫无疑问你会有生产效率的问题。然而一个查阅facebook，在Pinterest上查找食谱或者在推特上聊一下天的短暂休息都可能实际是你的员工需要的大脑休息。

在封杀社交媒体网站之前，问问你自己这样长期来说到底是有利还是有害。

使用内部社交媒体来协作

社交媒体并不仅仅是140个字的爆发也不是你发起订单的Instgagramming. 有大量的内部和业务社交媒体工具来帮助公司更快的协作，把不相干部门和办公室中的员工联系在一起。

如果使用正确，社交媒体是一个有力的工具。 在雇主点击屏蔽按钮之前，重新考虑并且开发一个更好的政策也许是个好主意。

你觉得如何？你的公司在办公场所是否屏蔽了社交媒体？ 欢迎在评论中分享你的观点。