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!
是否该在工作场合使用社交媒体是最近的一个热门话题。 随着越来越多的员工因为社交媒体发布的内容而被老板训斥，甚至因此被解雇，导致雇主越来越关注自己员工的社交媒体动态了。
与此同时，无论是从整体文化层面上还是工作场所中，社交媒体已经开始迅速风靡起来。
社交媒体的影响力越来越大
Proskaeur最近发布的报告显示，90％的企业都因商业目使用社交媒体。 企业使用社交媒体向外部客户推广自己的机构，同时提高企业内部员工和高层管理人员之间的沟通。
招聘流程中社交媒体也日益受到重视。 目前，约有94％的人会用到社交媒体作为招聘工具的一部分。 这可能意味着，通过推特发布职位空缺，又或者在Facebook或LinkedIn上寻找更多相关职位候选人的详细信息。
事实上，从CareerBuilder网站的一项调查中发现，39％的公司会在招聘过程中使用社交媒体来对应聘者进行背景调查。
问题的症结究竟何在？
从CareerBuilder网站这份调查中我们还发现，有高达43％的招聘经理通过社交媒体发现了职位候选者的一些负面信息，从而pass掉了这些有问题的候选人。 这些问题包括不雅图片、使用毒品、甚至是说前雇主的坏话。
根据Proskaeur的报告，虽然使用社交媒体的公司越来越多，但员工在工作中使用社交媒体的机会却正在减少。 该调查发现，会在工作中屏蔽社交媒体的雇主从2012年的29％上升到现在的36%。允许员工访问所有社交媒体网站的雇主数量在一年内下降了10％，从53％下降到43％。
看一眼时下的头条新闻就不难发现，为什么社交媒体在工作场合的使用场景会如此尴尬。 员工发布的那些负面的、不恰当的，或者彻头彻尾煽动性的内容，真的可以把雇主们陷入到水深火热中。
Taco Bell的一位雇员拍了一张舔玉米卷的照片而备受关注，一名校车司机因为facebook的一则发布而被解雇，加州Pizza Kitchen因为发布推特吐槽新制服而离职。从以上事例不难看出，为什么很多雇主决定屏蔽公司的社交媒体，实际上是为了努力减少各种尴尬事件的发生。
但是，雇主可能需要重新考虑一下社交媒体的问题。 从EVOLV、微软公司和Warck School of Business的一名教授最近的研究同时显示出，是否允许在办公室中使用社交媒体和员工留任、生产力上升之间有一定的相关性。
事实证明，上Facebook或Pinterest休息几分钟，可以帮助员工理清头绪，清醒头脑，更好地处理工作项目。
事实上，一项由Millennial Branding和American Express发起的研究发现，有69％的Y一代劳动者认为，他们应该在工作时被允许没有任何限制地访问社交媒体。（ Y一代，通常指1980年到1995年间出生的美国人，更侧重于指“80后”。在Y一代眼中，世界上没有什么值得寻找的意义，也没有任何界限可以框住人，一切皆无限制，一切皆有可能。）如果你想保持员工高涨的士气，留下最优秀的员工，那么完全不允许员工访问社交媒体可能并不是一个很好的解决方案。
在社交媒体和雇员生产效率之间找到平衡
是否允许员工在工作中使用社交媒体是一个难题，这或许可以解释为什么Proskaeur的调研发现：如今80％的企业都制定了社交媒体政策，而2012年，这个数字还只是60％。 企业不该一刀切地完全屏蔽社交媒体，而应该用有章可循的规章制度来平衡员工们使用社交媒体进行分享的需求，让他们了解什么样的分享是属于可接受范围的。
以下是一些可供参考的指引：
制定具体的参考指引
公司的社交媒体使用指南应该切切实实地写下来，并且让所有对此有疑惑的员工能轻易获取。公司的社交媒体指导方针的内容还应该与时俱进，但基础部分应该清晰明了，特别是关于社交媒体使用部分，无论是在公司里还是在公司外面，什么是被允许的和什么是被禁止的。
请记得：你的员工代表公司
无论是一家世界500强还是一家初创公司，请记住员工代表着公司的公众形象。 你得确保员工以最佳状态代表着公司形象，这就是为什么企业应该制定自己的社交媒体指南，管理员工在公共视野中的行为。
投资培训
引进专业人士，教授员工和管理者如何利用社交媒体，以及如何避免滥用社交媒体。
让大脑休息
如果一个员工每天在Facebook上花费90％的时间，那肯定会出现工作效率的问题。 然而，刷刷Facebook和Twitter，或在Pinterest找找菜谱，实际上可以让员工短暂地休息一会儿。
如果你想要在公司屏蔽访问社交媒体，那么在这之前，最好问问自己，从长远来看，这样做对公司的利是否会大于弊。
使用内部社交媒体进行协作
社交媒体不仅仅是140个字符的微博或者po个午餐图片。 有大量基于企业的内部社交媒体工具，可以帮助企业更加快速地进行协作，并把不同的部门和机构的员工紧密联系在一起。 比如Teambition这类基于项目的协作工具，对于企业内部项目协作和流程管理非常高效。
社交媒体作为一种功能强大的工具，其功能正被正确地使用和挖掘。 比起在公司进行全面封锁，更好的方法可能是重新考虑，并制定一个更好的社交媒体指引。
你的看法呢？你们公司是否屏蔽了社交媒体？ 分享你的看法吧！
