Bio-Sport`s Social Media Policy - Case Study Example

Bio-Sport`s Social Media Policy The Bio-sport company thrives on close and active interaction with s. Social mediahas provided one such platform where employees can share information and at the same time interact with clients on a personal level to obtain feedback and suggestions. Persons who have vested interests in the online presence of the company include: Shareholders whose main concern is the profitability and value of the company which directly reflects on the dividends they earn. The online representation of the company could either make or build its image and in extension the profitability, value, competitiveness and survival of the company. Managers have been given the task of overseeing the operations of the company on behalf of the owners. Therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that social media activity helps them achieve this goal. Objectives Of The Company In Relation To Social Media The company through management and employees shall at all times strive to create and maintain a social media presence that is positive, constructive and instrumental to the achievement of the overall organizational goals. Social media should be used as a platform to promote the objectives of the company. Social Media Aspects That Are Covered By The Policy This policy applies to the following social media platforms: both personal and corporate face book and twitter accounts, chat rooms, personal and corporate blogs and LinkedIn. Guidelines To The Human Resource Department The human resource department reserves the right to monitor the behavior of the employees on social media on matters that may have explicit or implicit effects to the company. The department can take action as deemed fit against an employee based on information gathered from social media accounts. In the recruitment process, the department has the mandate to gather information about the character of an employee based on their social media presence as they can use this information in making hiring decisions. Guidelines To The IT Department The vested upon the task of ensuring that the privacy of the company`s private documents is maintained and that these documents are not accessible by unauthorized persons. Due to the fact that employees are allowed to use the infrastructure of the company for social media purposes, the department should ensure that the necessary security measures are put in place to keep hackers at bay. Ownership of social media accounts The company`s official social media accounts are the property of the company and as such the employees given the mandate to represent the company through these forums have no claim to ownership and therefore do not have exclusive rights over the accounts. The accounts shall exclusively represent the interests of the company and in no circumstance shall the employees in charge use them for any other unauthorized purposes. These official accounts are subject to regulation by the management such that: they can inspect the content posted regularly; they can dictate the content that is shared through these accounts; can authorize, deny or revoke access by individual employees; and can close down the accounts. Personal/ private accounts regardless of whether they have been acquired during the course of employment or were created before are the property of the individual. Management has no rights to demand access to these accounts. Guidelines To Employees On The Use Of Personal Social Media Platforms For Business Use It is imprudent to imagine that an employee shall use his account strictly for personal endeavors as part of who he is defined by the fact that he is employed in the company. To draw the line between personal and corporate use of social media accounts certain guidelines have to be followed. An employee shall be considered to have used their personal social media platform to represent the company if he or she either explicitly or implicitly: Uses his status as an employee of the company as the main point of reference Post information in his capacity as an employee of the company Uses the name of the company and his position to advance an agenda Shares information about the company that is not available to the public Shares information and interacts in the name of the company Shares information and interacts on behalf of the company Uses the company`s logo or trademark in information shared In light of the above, an employee shall be held accountable for all information in his accounts that will be considered as having a representation of the company. For this reason all employees that have an active social media presence are expected to: Treat everyone with respect. In their interactions at both private and corporate levels, employees are expected to be polite and to respect the opinions of other parties on the platforms of interaction. They should refrain from talking down on people and being disrespectful when representing the company regardless of the situation at hand. Disrespect towards fellow social media users paints a bad image of the company and could result in loss of business. Use polite language Strong language, curse words, offensive and insensitive language should be avoided especially when acting in an official capacity. Employees should remain neutral in their language so as to maintain a professional image as an individual as well as maintain a good image of the company. Be cautious about the information being posted Employees shall not share information that is not available to the general public unless otherwise authorized by the management. This includes intellectual property rights, pending decisions, secret management policies and any other information that common sense dictates should be kept away from the general public. They should also refrain from sharing information that paints the company in a bad name. Sensitive information getting to the hands of competitors could result in loss of business and by extension profits. Be accurate In interacting in a professional level, employees shall ensure that the information they share is accurate. They shall cross check information with the relevant sources and with their colleagues before sharing on the various platforms to avoid misleading the public. Apply utmost care Employees shall treat everybody as if they are up to no good until proven otherwise. They should be careful on their interactions with strangers to avoid slips that could result in the disclosure of confidential information. Caution should also be applied so as not to give hackers a way into the company`s computer system. Ensure high levels of privacy Employees should ensure that their accounts are secure. They are encouraged to frequently update their security settings. In addition, they should ensure that access codes remain known only to them and should be careful enough not to always log out after use. Seek clarification In cases where an employee is unsure whether sharing a piece of information or interacting on behalf or in the name of the company in a certain capacity is allowable, he shall enquire about his intended actions to seek the go ahead from the management or a person in authority before executing the actions. Exercise restraint Employees should restrain from posting information and pictures that are not desirable. Before posting, they should take a moment to review what it is they intend to share to ascertain that they are fully aware of its contents. Social Media Use During Working Hours And With Company’s Infrastructure All employees should aim in maximizing their productivity during working hours and as such social media presence should be at al level that common sense dictates. An employee shall not be restricted from the use of social media during official hours as long as management ascertains that the quality of the work they have been contracted to do is not negatively affected as s result. Employees are not allowed to use the company`s infrastructure for social media use that is purely at a personal level. Employees who have the authorization to run the company`s official social media accounts also have the authority to have more online presence hours as stipulated in the authorizing documents. They shall also be allowed to use the infrastructure of the company for fulfillment of their mandate. Liability And Disciplinary Measures The company is fully liable for information shared on the company`s official accounts as long as the employees in charge acted within the scope of their mandate. All costs associated with this shall be met by the company. In the case where they overstepped their boundaries, they shall be held liable to the extent in which they overstepped. The management expects that all employees make will make themselves familiar with the provisions of this policy and as such shall be held liable for any negative implications that will be brought forth by actions that will be considered negligent as per the provisions of the policy. They shall be liable for any legally enforceable information shared or comments posted. Disciplinary actions against such employees shall be as management sees fit and this will depend on the scope of the damage caused. However, in the case where they acted as authorized the liability transfers to the company or authorizing party. Summary of state laws and ethical lens theories In Amendment of sections 411.02, 4112.05, 4112.08, 4112.14, 4112.15 and 4112.99 employers, employment agencies, labor organizations and personnel placement services are not allowed to make at a requirement for a job applicant or a person who is already employed to provide access to their personal electric accounts regardless of whether they were acquired before or during their term of employment (Travares) The National Labor Relations act The second report released by the NLRA hold that social media policies are unlawful if they, to a reasonable extent, tend to infringe on the rights that are stipulated in section 7 explicitly. In the case where the policy does not explicitly infringe on section 7 rights but it is still deemed unlawful, it will be taken as to violate section 8(a)(1) if it is deemed that: (1) employees have reasonably twisted the language in order to but a ban on activities that are permitted by section 7; (2) the rule was put in place as a result of a union activity; and (3) the application of the rule was such that prohibits activities that are permitted by section 7. Social media policies will also be considered unlawful if the manner in which they are stated in an ambiguous way such that there is no restrictive language. Rights of employees as stipulated in section 7of the National Labor Relations Act. All employees as provided by this act shall have the right to: form, join or assist labor unions; self organization; collective bargain through representatives of their choice; to engage in activities that whose aim is collective bargain and to not participate in such activities if they choose to unless otherwise stipulated in the labor union agreement. Rights of employees as stipulated in section 8(1) (a) of the National Labor Relations Act An employer will be deemed to have practiced unfair labor polices if their activities have interference, restraint or coercion effect on the employees such that they cannot enjoy their rights as stipulated in section 7 (Solomon). Works Cited E, Lafe Solomon. "Rules on using socila media technology and communicating information are overboard." 2012. jan, Klang Mathias & Nolin. "disciplining social media: An analysis of 26 swedish municipalities." (2011). Kietzman Jan H., McCarthy Ian P.,Hermkens Kristopher & Silvestre Bruno S. "Social Media." Business Horizons (2011): 241-251. Travares, senator. 130th genral assembly of the state of Ohio. 2014. 31 October 2014 . WL, Arnesen DW. & Weis. "Developing an effective company policy for employee internet and email use." jouenal of organizational culture (2007). Read More