Small Business | Forum « employer social media policy?

employer social media policy? (9 posts)

Topic tags: Employee, employer, engagement rules., policy, social media policy, social rules

Joe Dahleen http://follr.me/joe said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
Hi
Looking for a resource for a employer social media policy. Examples, best practices and anything related to the financial services industry.
Thanks for any feedback.
@jdmortgagetech
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Joe Dahleen http://follr.me/joe said
3 months, 4 weeks ago:
The FFIEC just released a guidance report this past week. Its called Social Media: consumer compliance risk management guidance.
If anyone needs the link – I can post it here.
But this report is about Risk Management guidance for Banks, Credit Unions, and non bank mortgage lenders.
The FFIEC is proposing guidance to address the applicability of federal consumer protection and compliance laws, regulations, and policies to activities conducted via social media.
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Rich Brooks said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
@jdmortgagetech
I actually did some research into this last year for a client looking to create a document for financial advisors.
However, last I heard they still hadn’t published it, and it went through so many changes after I let go, I’m not sure what it will say.
I know from getting some internal docs from friends of mine in the financial industry, that caution seemed to be the word of the day.
For example, LinkedIn was the only social media platform allowed for one company. You could only post what compliance gave you. You could not post any original content or ask people to join your network.
You could join groups, but you couldn’t start a conversation or respond to a conversation. (Imagine if you gave your advisors the same advice for an in person event!)
However, there are some forward thinking firms out there (often the smaller ones). I’d focus on content creation platforms, such as blogs and YouTube rather than social networks, if it were me.
Good luck!
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Joe Dahleen http://follr.me/joe said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
Thanks for the Reply Rich.
Yes, the financial services industry, in particular mortgage servicing and lending, is under going massive change with the new regulator CFPB over the 24 months. Cost for compliance for these companies are at all time highs.
But for social media policies and companies trying to monitor for compliance is all over the map. Like you said, some only allow Linked In profiles while other expose themselves to Risk by letting every loan officer or representative just have whatever social profile they want.
For the financial services industry – social is here to stay and its making a big impact for brands. The key is to find the right balance to take advantage of a growing marketing opportunity to expose your brand to the highest number of people in your targeted local markets.
Any one else have any ideas on the best social policies for review?
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Jonelle Hilleary said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
http://follr.me/joe“>@jdmortgagetech
Hi Joe-
Great question! You’ve identified one of stickiest issues around policy making- that of the divide between getting a policy that “legal” likes and one that enables users to function. That may be one of the obstacles in the example mentioned by @rich-brooks.
Since I am more on the strategy side of the house, I usually encourage my clients to put the cart before the horse and get policies in place early, but I’ll admit it’s hard to do when employees are already social outside of work.
I’ve added some links below to give you some boilerplate materials that others have put out. (Note: These came from an SME article- I have no connection with any of these, other than the Social Media Examiner link, as a member here.) These are good reading.
But I think the most important/helpful aspect of policy decisions is to think in terms of what your company/industry wants to accomplish, i.e., sales leads, reputation assurance/enhancement, market position/thought leader, or exposure/visibility in the market. Your policies will be different based on which of these you are seeking to achieve.
As @Rich-Brooks mentioned, this is no easy task. You need policies to guide employees as to how and when to reach out, what is permissible or not; and who is authorized to make what claims, promises or announcements.
And to go along with that companies really need to commit to training. Employees won’t adhere to what they don’t know and understand. Plan to train on: What is the company approach, tone, image to convey, obligation to shareholders/publics, and so on. Go early, go often…
Good luck- hope these links help get your started.
http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/the-anatomy-of-a-social-media-policy/
http://www.reputation.com/reputationwatch/articles/develop-social-media-policy-and-protect-reputation
http://toolkitcafe.com/product/social-media-policies/
- Jonelle
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Joe Dahleen http://follr.me/joe said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
Thanks Jonelle – Great stuff.
Yes, I am starting a new company and I wanted to get this policy in place before I start hiring.
My strategy is to leverage social – like you I am on the strategy side. But I knew all too well that when dealing with the legal team that this issue is hot.
My marketing strategy is to involve social in a very big way and leverage customer reviews and social shares as much as possible.
My thought process was to build a marketing department around command and control of all social profiles.
Social media director
Content Director
Web designer
marketing coordinator
Then all of the other employees would share company produced content.
The social media policy would keep every on track and monitor for compliants.
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Jonelle Hilleary said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
Smart approach, Joe. If more business creators thought this out ahead of time, there would be far fewer headaches!
You’re clearly on the right track. Making sure your SM Director has a strategic or risk focused background will be helpful for you in the long run.
When I work with clients, we work from the end to the beginning with them. What is the end goal? Where do they want to be and what do they want to be known for? These questions guide the policies that need to be laid out.
There’s a lot to this process, making for some very long and detailed posts, but this may be a start.
Post again if you need other or more specific materials. Always glad to help!
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Joe Dahleen http://follr.me/joe said
3 months, 3 weeks ago:
Jonelle-
Been poring over all of the info that you gave me. Great information. Thanks for the vote of confidence as well.
In financial services industry, we need to track every social message, email, voice mail and escalate complaints/ inquires so they can be tracked, reported on and produce a Qualified Written Response (QWR) within the required time frame.
My thought was to use a social media management tool that is integrated with ZenDesk so that it would feed into a centralized flow, control with management supervision so no response goes UN-attended.
As a business I will also be using a live chat. So I need to incorporate these responses into the Zendesk help desk support ticket as well.
Is there a better way?
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Jonelle Hilleary said
3 months, 2 weeks ago:
Joe-
In looking at a VentureBeat comparison with several others, it certainly looks like ZenDesk is a workable choice. (The government agencies I’ve worked with have used Remedy, but it may not offer all the features that ZenDesk does for commercial users, and the cost is a lot more.)
The list of companies that already use ZenDesk is impressive for a relative newcomer. Didn’t see any “finance” industry firms on the list but that may not mean much at this stage. Can’t beat the pricing strategy either…
So far it looks like you’re on the right track and doing all the right things ahead of time, as far as trying to get the framework well defined.
Continued good luck!
Jonelle
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