Today, in all companies who are “positively embracing social media” there is a big ticking time bomb for corporate legislature to defuse.
Informal email chitchat carried out on company issues and then held on file forever, can be retrieved at a later date and potentially used out of context.
We have all probably seen pictures of computers being seized in enquiries or heard of the “for Neville” email. The point being that it is largely impossible to remove all traces of an email once it has been sent, rightly so.
Defining implementing and policing electronic communications policies has never been more important for either the company or the employee.
A well-managed process can form the backbone of winning employee sponsorship of a communication and involvement programme. Managed badly and it will drive an invisible wall of mistrust through all levels of an organisation.
Never before in history has just about everyone in an organisation had the ability to communicate 140 characters globally, for no cost, and with little thought, to then wreak havoc upon the business from which it was sent.
Governance and oversight are two words that currently don’t translate well into new age media speak. A clear strategy and an active management programme for the use of social media in the workplace are vital without which the saying “act in haste repent at leisure” has never been more true.