The thought of random staff members freely expressing their thoughts on social media can be scary. I get it. What if they say something that’s incorrect? Or flat out embarrass your agency?
To be clear, there are really two issues here: First is what employees do on their own time with their own social media accounts, and second is enabling individuals to represent their department or agency in a more official capacity. While it’s important to correctly address the former, I believe there is greater opportunity in the latter.
Allowing individuals to officially represent the agency can transform public perception. People connect a lot better with other people than they do with corporate logos. Furthermore, allowing a subject matter expert in a department to engage in direct conversation with her audience can be game changing for audience engagement and growth. For inspiration, I recommend paying attention to how FCC CIO David Bray became the most social CIO in the world.
Here are a few guidelines to help you empower the people within your agency without risking agency over-exposure:
Clearly delineate personal vs professional usage
I mentioned that it’s important to correctly address personal usage of social media by employees. The most valuable thing to do here is draw a clear line between what constitutes personal usage and what constitutes professional usage. Second, be very careful about trying to control what they say and do with their personal assets and personal time (see the NLRB’s guidance on employee rights). It’s critical for your social media policy to address this issue head on. Here’s some example language you might consider including in your policy:All agency employees may access personal social networking sites. These sites should remain personal in nature and be used to share personal opinions or non-work related information. If you decide to comment on posts about official agency business:
- state your name and, if relevant, your role when discussing agency business;
- use a disclaimer such as, “The postings on this site are my own and don’t reflect or represent the opinions of the agency for which I work.”
Require oversight rather than control
Staff members might want to get more involved with social media, but not know where to start. If your agency is interested in distributing the power of social media, I believe it is the responsibility of public affairs and communications managers to create processes to encourage and support this distribution.A key tactic is to employ a registration process in which the communications team must approve the use of every social media profile that will officially represent the agency. While this might initially sound like a constraint, it sends a clear message that your agency is willing to allow others to get involved. For more guidance, I recommend the following tactics for distributing the power of social media without losing control.
Ongoing training and peer feedback
The best way to ensure that your staff doesn’t stray too far outside the lines with their social media commentary is to draw the lines for them. Train them on how you approach specific types of situations and questions, and what might be inappropriate. Use real-life examples from your own Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. Make sure they have read and agreed to your official social media policy. And consider formal social media training as part of the registration process described above.Yes, training requires an investment, but it doesn’t have to be completely on your shoulders. Many agencies have created social media committees to help steer the direction of strategy. These committees can also drive periodic — monthly or weekly — peer feedback sessions, and perhaps provide an open door to anyone who wants to help represent your agency on social media. The beautiful thing about peer feedback is that everyone gets better and the message gets more consistent.
Ultimately, social media democratizes the spread of information and gives each individual a voice. What might be the impact of ensuring that the voices within your agency are heard?
