At a recent Ecademy event in London on Social Media for Business with Louis Gray, the topic of Facebook in the workplace was raised and Louis gave his opinion. He, and most of the audience agreed, that employers should allow the use of Facebook in the workplace.Interesting to note in this week's issue of Webuser magazine their News Editor, Ben Camm-Jones comments on the same issue and highlights the recent issue Dixons Store Group faced when some staff were insulting customers on Facebook.
See coverage on the story from the BBC earlier this month.He sums the article up by saying: "So it's simple - let your employees use Facebook. The weakest links in your workforce will soon reveal themselves."
Click the image above to enlarge and read.
I agree. Business owners, directors and managers have to realise that Social Media is an exciting new way of communicating with their customers (not always positvely!) and they should be embracing the likes of Facebook, Ecademy, Twitter etc. When staff are using these mediums employers must ensure the content is monitored and any wrong doings are nipped in the bud.
But I know the power of using these social media sites as an amazing way of connecting with customers and potential new customers in a really positive way. Working for a company that knows and understands this helps boost the morale of it's staff and people feel they can make a difference.
So if you're an employer who doesn't allow access to these social media sites, think about how your staff feel and think of the positive ways you can harness these sites to help your customers. And sure, the odd idiot might abuse the new found trust you've given them, but as Ben Camm-Jones says "Facebook is an excellent way to suss out unsuitable employees".
4 comments:
Thanks for the mention. The focus is exactly right. I often see two discussions against the practice from different angles.
1) Should I let my employees use Facebook at work?
Answer: Yes. The main reason is that you should trust your employees, or why else would you have hired them?
2) Should I be friends with my boss on Facebook?
Answer: Yes. You should trust your boss and be friends with your boss, or work somewhere else. You should know that the content on your Facebook is acceptable.
I totally agree, Louis. Things are certainly changing and as Social Media continues to grow in popularity more and more employers will wake up to this.
I love your 2 points - absolutely spot on.
Thanks for tweeting this; I really appreciate it.
Just found this blog and you enlightened me! I used to have negative impression to those who are using fb in their workplace and I must admit Im one of those who block this kind of site in the router... Yay!
I appreciate this too much Dickie! :)
Hi Lyneth,
Thanks for your comments!
I hope you'll start letting staff use Facebook and other social media sites.
Of course it's always very sensible to give them guidelines and let them know that their accounts will be monitored.
As long as they use them sensibly, I think it can actually be good for a company especially if their employees are well connected and thought of highly by those people they connect with.
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