When Social Media Can Damage Your Company

Lesley Gross - July 21, 2009

It happens more times than you’d care to know; an employee posts raunchy pictures of their weekend debauchery for all of their Facebook friends to see. So why does this matter to you as an employer? Simple… Because it is becoming more and more common for employees to be linked with clients on their Social Media channels.

Several large organizations have paved the way in establishing strict online guidelines for employees to follow. A few of these companies have even made these details public: Cisco, IBM, Intel. Companies aren’t taking this stand to bully their employees or tell them they can not use Facebook or Twitter, but rather to use good judgment when there is an overlap with their professional and personal contacts.

If a formal policy is not the right fit for your organization, you can encourage employees to create a separate account for their business and networking relationships. This way they can tailor all their content in a way that will best represent their professional goals, while at the same time representing their employer in a positive light.

As an employer it is important to remember not only how Social Media can work for you, but also of all the ways it can work against you as well.