2. Understand your audience and invite contributions from audience members
Wiltshire says it is important to understand who will be engaging with your social media accounts, and some of the best social media policies she has come across actually enhance communication within the organisation and encourage people within the company to work more closely.
3. Prioritise building social media capability in your people—from the CEO down
Wiltshire says building social media skills within your company is about being able to take advantage of the opportunities of the online world, as well as being able to recognise when things might go wrong.
She says it is not about expecting that your staff will do something wrong, but understanding that social media campaigns can sometime inadvertently have negative consequences for the company.
“It’s important not just to educate your PR and HR departments as this is an important organisational issue,” she says.
4. Focus on what your people can do versus what they can’t do, whilst adequately mitigating the risk
Wiltshire says people and businesses will “transform” when there is trust and the focus is on “strengths and not weaknesses”.
“If you don’t trust your staff, that actually brings lower engagement and resentment,” she says.
“It’s up to us as leaders and business owners to empower employees and make them brand ambassadors for the organisation.”
5. Succinct outline of consequences of misuse
While Wiltshire believes employers should focus on the possibilities of the digital world, it’s important not to forget the legal framework you are operating in. “It’s very important to manage and mitigate risk,” she says.
6. Review your policy every six to 12 months
“The world is changing that quickly,” says Wiltshire.
“It’s very important to have people in your company who understand social media and have their finger on the pulse, and look for patterns and trends,” she says.
7. Consider using the word ‘charter’
Wiltshire uses a charter in her business as a way of showing her employees her commitment to developing their potential and capabilities, particularly around social media.
Editor
Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
