What do you think? Should organizations pay the data plan for their social media managers and community managers?

Hi @andrea-vahl Yes I mean the cellphone data plan for employees. Do you think a company should pay for that if a person is using their personal phone during off hours to do community management or social media management tasks for the company?

@andrea-vahl Thx for your thoughts Andrea. I agree. I think it should be paid for, but I guess there are a ton of considerations depending on the size of the company. In some ways maybe that makes it easier, if there’s a policy, in other ways perhaps it’s less flexible. Thanks again for commenting.

Is there any Extra cost to the employee above what they would otherwise be paying for their cell phone / home Internet? If they want this job, they would probably not qualify if they were the kind of person who did not have phone and Internet. So it comes down to the terms and conditions of the job. If part of it is working off hours, using equipment you have anyway, the company can choose to gift you the expense or not. It’s not like biz trip expenses where you would not be in the hotel apart from the job sending you there. If you truly need a costlier plan, they should pay the extra.

I agree with you Kathy. @kathyweir The 9-5 approach doesn’t work. That said, as a consumer, I don’t expect a company social media person to respond to my tweet or connection immediately. I just want to know they’re listening that I get a response within 12-24 hours. 

But, it’s way more satisfying to engage in a conversation in real-time when you have an issue because so few marketers are doing that. It stands out. 

I hear what you’re saying Abigail about getting the job in the first place and the negotiation process. @abigailgorton

What I see happening though is social media gets handed to someone post hire. Maybe they inherit that work because someone leaves or nobody is already doing it. The grumbling I hear is from people who have taken on the job as part of their workload but at the time didn’t consider the impact on the hours they work. Or the business hasn’t really considered what they are asking or expecting.

People hired to do social media only understand the consequences and are in a better position to negotiate. 

It’s interesting to see everyone’s take on this question. Thanks for participating.

@boxcarmarketing  So the ‘real’ issue becomes “Gee, I am doing a whole lot more work than we agreed on, can I get compensated for this?” Like all other compensation discussions it comes down to whether the company sees and values the employee’s contribution enough.  As @kathyweir  points out above, we have all seen the tracks of good and bad SM people. Some of them are devaluing the business while other are building it up. So the advice for the SM person would be the same as all other employees – find a way to let your boss know the good you are doing before you go in for that final discussion about next year’s pay. And / Or take your highly marketable new found skills and walk. This is not the first new position whose holders suddenly found themselves using their home phones / carrying pagers / using a cell phone without the whole deal being understood and negotiated in advance.