As a positive image is paramount, employers, in-house counsel and executive decision-makers should consider instituting an official Online Social Media Code of Conduct that takes into account some of the following best practices and guidelines:
- Develop written policies regarding the content of messages posted on behalf of the company and for securing approval to post content on behalf of the company;
- Social networking policies must focus on protecting clients, employees and the company reputation – seek to disallow any derogatory or deprecating online commentary regarding project owners, co-workers, management, customers, business partners or affiliates;
- Monitor the content of the company’s social media pages as well as any publicly available content of employees’ pages – make sure employees refrain from discussing the construction projects in online media unless previously approved. Also monitor pages for unauthorized use of company logos or trademarks;
- Check and verify privacy and sharing settings – in addition to written policies and monitoring, construction firms dealing with government contracts must diligently protect security clearance secrets from unintentional release as well;
- Regularly educate and train employees and other company social media users on the policies;
- Employees and other company social media users should not claim or imply that their social media comments are made on behalf of the company;
- Warn employees and other company social media users that inappropriate social media use may be considered grounds for disciplinary action; and above all,
- Always think twice before clicking “share”, “post”, “submit”, or “tweet”!
