Should employees have access to Social Media sites

Should employees have access
to Social Media Sites at work?

© Copyright 2014 Jagriti Prasad

The recent trend shows that many companies are
restricting access to Social Media Sites at work for
the employees.
The employers have the view that employees take
multiple breaks to spend time on such sites, which in
turn lead to loss in productivity.


One thing is to keep in mind is that employees
already have access to Social Media Sites via
personal devices.
A Social Media policy should include all usage
including usage during work hours on personal
devices.


In my view, allowing access to Social Media Sites at
work to the employees should depend on the type of
business a company is mainly into.


Social Media at work should not be
allowed in -


Companies in which Data privacy is
required
In such companies use
of Social Media Sites
are to be restricted at
work, use of any type of
Smartphone should also
be not allowed as the
employees can access
Social Media Sites on
Smartphone and get
the information out of
the company premises.

Example –
Companies dealing in collections of the credit cards.


Companies which require customers to pay over the
phone by card or cheque.


Companies dealing with customers personal and
financial information.


Companies dealing in Insurance.


Companies in which work requires full
focus of the employee


Allowing Social Media access in such businesses
might lead to –
• Distraction to employees at work.
• Time wastage - Social Media can be addicting and
time consuming.
• Increase Unproductive time - Employees can easily
consume hours of time on Social Media websites.


Social Media at work should be
allowed in -


Company in which the work is done in
small tasks and there are daily targets
for the employees
As the task is done in parts, the employees having
access to Social Media can use it to take small break
after one task is completed.
Such small beaks will lead to –


Increase in productivity Small refreshing breaks
will help the employees
in being more productive
at work.


Increase energy and stamina - Studies show that
employee’s energy levels and stamina improves by
as much as 25% after taking breaks throughout the
day.


Companies in which productivity of an
employee is measured by the quantity
and quality of the work
Productivity is not a measure of the time
employees spend at work engaged in non-work
activities. It’s a measure of output. Use of Social
Media can actually help increase output.
The employee should be measured on the target
achieved and the quality maintained.
In this case, access to Social Media Sites will help
employees to refresh themselves and their
minds.

HR consultancy firms
Allowing access to Social Media Sites to
employees in such businesses will be of great
help.
• The employees can take help of LinkedIn to get
the right candidate for the right job.
• The job postings can be done on Facebook
pages, on different groups on Facebook, LinkedIn
page, LinkedIn groups and on Twitter, requesting
interested candidates to apply for the job.

•
•
•
•

HR consultancy firms can take the help of
Social Media Sites for Business Opportunities,
Contact Generation,
Recruitment, and
Crowd Sourcing.
Posting job openings on different Social Media
Sites will also help in increasing traffic on the
company’s website.

Advertisement agency
Advertisement agencies should allow access to Social
Media Sites to employees at work as these sites can
help them in –
• Brand building with the customer,
• Help in getting Customer feedback/ ratings about
the goods.
• The Social Media Sites can be used to get the
content go dynamic, you have to give audience
something unique that they can't get elsewhere, also
give them a reason to shout about it. If you get those
things right, you can achieve massive return on
investment (ROI).

• YouTube can be of a great help to run advertising
campaigns.
• Employees of such firm can help the content reach to
maximum number of audience by sharing the
content on their own pages.
• The employer should encourage the employees to
use Social Media Sites while at work.


Companies selling goods and services
•
•
•
•
•

Social Media Sites help in Increasing the sales by lead generation,
Increasing the number of customer,
Helps with Customer Relationship Management (CRM),
Query resolution (if any), and
Increase repeated visits on the website.


• Customers can be updated with the availability of the
particular items in the store or website.
• Product descriptions can also be shared with the
audiences on Social Networking Sites.
• Companies can take help of
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to
promote the product line.


• Employees of such organisations can be encouraged
to use the Social Media Sites and spread the word in
each of their friend circles.
• Employees can help the company by answering to
any questions or queries regarding the product on
behalf of the company.
• Here, allowing access to the employees would be of
great help as no one person will be responsible for
promoting the products of the company.
• Employees will feel more engaged with the
companies work and will be more loyal to the
company.


Summary
• Blocking Social Media access can reduce productivity
of employees, as the employees will spend more
time finding a way to the sites they want to visit.
• Social Media is already a part of daily life.

• Employees can be responsible with their Social
Media use at work.
• There will always be employees who will waste
productive time at work.

• Business should have a clear Social Media access
policy.
• Social Media access policy should clearly state
what is allowed and what is not allowed to access.
• Employer should encourage the employees to use
the Social Media in a right manner and in favor of
the business.


Thanks!
Jagriti Prasad
jagriti_knp@yahoo.com
twitter.com/JagritiPrasad1
www.linkedin.com/in/jagritiprasad
www.slideshare.net/JagritiPrasad
https://plus.google.com/jagritiprasad
http://jagritiprasad.wordpress.com


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