I could hardly believe my eyes! I’d read about it, discussed it, reviewed it, even posted about it, but I had never actually seen it “up close and personal”… A staff member posting a negative post about their position in the dental office…while at the office!

Social media is here and whether you are utilizing social media in your practice/business or not, your employees are! It would be great if you could depend on posts being all positive and upbeat, but we know that’s not reality.

You know Social Media and implications it can presents to the practice/business . You know the importance of having some type of Social Media Policy in place for your practice/business, but… what areas need to be addressed?

The top 9 areas to address in your Social Media Policy:

1. Policy Statement: This is a generalized statement about participating in social media. Tie it in with your Office Manual and Personal Conduct. Also address/acknowledge what’s done on their time is their business, however certain activities at work or outside work that could affect job performance, theirs or another employee, or the practice/business interests are a proper focus for a practice/business policy.

2. Definitions: Reference the Social Media Channels and Social Media Networks you are referring to in your policy. Ex. Blogs, micro-blogs, social networks, social bookmarking, sharing platforms, etc. Also reference how these might be address. Ex. Internet, mobile, text, email, etc. Also reference the Social Media Account Ex. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogs, and any other Social Media Channel.

3. Objectives: Establish and include guidelines that employees adhere to and why you are initiating the Social Media Policy.

4. Guiding Principals: Address how you expect employees to use social media at work and outside work. Who can “speak” on behalf of the practice/business. What can and cannot be discussed while at work or on their own time. Assure online activities don’t interfere with job requirements or commitment to patients/clients.

5. Respectfulness: Interaction online at work or on their time, always careful of what’s posted. Ex. Don’t say/post anything you wouldn’t want seen on the front page of the local newspaper or your Grandmother to read!

6. Disclosure and Transparency: Social media is all about trust and building relationships. Be aware of what you are posting, be honest, and disclose your true identity. Transparency and Authenticity (open and genuine ) are the two key elements in Social Media.

7. Privacy: Address you, the Employers, right to privacy and Employees right to privacy. As such employers and employees have the right to keep personal opinions, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions private and employees are prohibited from violating another employee or their employers right to privacy.

8. Confidentiality: Effectively managing and protecting confidential information is critical. Failure to manage and protect confidential information correctly and what that could result in. ALSO Employees can disagree but external blogs or other online social media channels are not to be used to air employee disagreements. **Note: Again, be careful of what’s posted. It’s going to be on the social networks for a long time. If in doubt, don’t post it!

9. Penalties: Failure to Comply with these Social Media Policies may result in: List what could happen if an employee does not comply. They could include: Warnings, No longer have access to certain information, Disciplinary action, up to and including termination, even Civil or criminal penalties as provided by law (depending on the situation).

Once printed, make copies for each employee. Then have a staff meeting introducing and going over the social media policies of the office. Then have each employee sign that they understand and have received a copy.

This is not an all inclusive list nor do all of these have to be addressed. Your practice/business will determine how involved you need to be with your social media policy.
However, whether your practice/business is actually using social media should not be the determining factor for whether or not you need a social media policy. The fact that your employees ARE using social media makes having your social media policies in place…critical!

If you have your social media policies in place, what area’s did you address not listed here?

***NOTE: This is not meant to be legal advice and I am not an attorney.

Your Thoughts

What, if anything, would you add to Livvie’s list? Have you experienced any negative effects as a result of failing to address any of these areas?

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