Guest blog by Tabitha Fox, Managing Director of Social Brand Time

Without realising it the majority of us are connected to around 250million other people. It’s amazing that Twitter has that much power and reach and also concerning when you consider the impact one member of staff with a social media account can have.

When Justine Sacco, a PR executive at IAC, boarded a flight headed to Africa and tweeted to her 170 followers: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”, it’s doubtful that she ever thought that by the time she landed her tweet would be retweeted over 2000 times and that the hashtag #hasjustinelandedyet would become viral. Unfortunately, it did and when she did land she discovered that she had been fired and that even Donald Trump had berated her poor choice of tweet.

Justine’s case is obviously extreme, but with an increase in the reach of social media, dealing with unexpected staff social media updates is something that every business needs to consider and be prepared for. It just takes one dodgy comment on Facebook with your company mentioned as an employer to create a PR crisis, one comment from a disgruntled employee to lose clients, one flippant remark to affect your public profile.

What can be done to stop staff causing the company an issue on social media?

We recommend that businesses have clear social media policies and social media awareness training as part of the onboarding/induction process. Make staff aware of the rules and have clear consequences which are consistently applied at all levels should an issue arise.  By setting clear expectations of your staff’s online behaviour and explaining the impact it can have on a business, will prevent a significant number of social media issues.   

Use examples

Sadly, there is a lot of evidence that common sense cannot be relied upon. It is not unusual for people to forget that Facebook is a public forum, no matter what their security settings are (assuming they have even remembered to change the permission to private), or that screenshots can be taken in private groups and shared with employers or clients.  There are many examples of staff forgetting that they have work colleagues as friends and it ending very badly for everyone involved.

What do we do if our staff breach the social media policy?

So, the worst has happened and someone in your company has written something online that is wholly inappropriate and damaging to your company.   The nature of the comment or image involved will determine a lot of the actions that need to be taken, but first and foremost get facts!  Not hearsay, not he said, she said.  Find the original post and establish what it contains.  This will also be considered evidence in any related HR discussion and processes.

Damage limitation

Act swiftly but calmly, no business ever wants a situation like this to happen but in much the same way that you would hire a plumber to fix a water leak, it is advisable to hire a PR professional to deal with any social media related crises. They understand social media and they also understand how to deal with potential fallouts from these situations.

The term “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” is wrong, there really is. Fingers crossed, your staff member won’t have written something that is viral.

It’s serious and we need to make a statement

In these situations, it’s vital that you ensure that you maintain a sense of team and community whilst decrying the statement that your staff member may have made.

A poor statement can be as damaging as the initial post.  Ensure that your statement is calm, doesn’t point fingers, and assuages any worries that your clients and customers may have.  Seek help if you do not know how to handle this properly, do not pour fuel on the fire!

Debrief your staff

This is not the time to try and keep things secret from your staff, if there is an issue on social media and your staff are kept in the dark in respect of how the company are handling it, you will compound the issue.

Inform them and tell them what your response will be. Let them know who they should speak to if they have a concern and ensure that they know what your overall message is.  Keep everyone on the same message, even if that is, “concerns regarding this matter need to be raised with Person X, would you like their email address?”

About our guest blogger

Tabitha is an experienced Marketeer with skills that straddle both traditional and modern-day Digital Marketing. To discuss your Data Driven Creative Marketing needs visit Social Brand Time’s website. 

Do you have an up-to-date social media policy and training for your employees? Contact us for expert advice on this.