Being Social on the Clock

Social media has been accepted as a novel and effective channel with which to improve business marketing oriented strategies the world over. As much as organizations attempt to suppress the use of social media in the workplace, it is impossible to deny that customers and employees seem have completely embraced social networking. If incorporated ethically, social media presents organizations with a whole new world of attainable opportunities. However, if ill managed, this may result in a myriad of risks that transcend financial, legal and personnel boundaries.

This essay attempts to underscore the need for organizations to institute policies as well as procedures aimed at governing the use of social media with regard to work place ethics. The policies adopted by various organizations tend to vary widely. This is due to the fact that to date, there are no standardized guidelines offering assistance to organizations in the management of social media use in the workplace. The innovations witnessed in the technologies sector and online oriented businesses such as social media has made it quite difficult for organizations to take mitigating action upon the misuse of these new technologies. Thus, it has been difficult for research and legal precedents to guide organizations in the event that social media and technological advances pose a risk to a business.

The development of high speed internet connectivity by internet service providers and mobile telecommunications companies has further revolutionized social networking. This has been catalyzed through the market domination by smart device manufacturing have only added to the woes of management in many organizations. Smart phones are an easy and constant way with which employees can stay connected to social media on the clock. Unethical use of these devices has definitely led to loss of personnel hours, such that an organization’s productivity noticeably decreases. It is difficult for organizations to limit the use of such personal devices as it will result in a breach on individual rights and freedoms. As such only through training of professional workplace ethics can minimize the adverse effects of social media on employee productivity.

The use of social media in the workplace is not commonly used to market or even try to reach customers, though employees will more often than not log in to different sites to catch up on the trending news. Managers and supervisors do at times have to get brusque when verbally reprimanding employees on the use of work hours on social media. These scenes tend to distract everyone around which in itself translates to more time lost and low morale. Our organization depends on the internet to offer communication conduits among different departments, some of which are far flung regional offices. As much as the local area network can be restricted, at present it is not, smart phones are there and at the employees’ disposal. Thus employees tend to lose a percentage of the on the clock hours to social networking.

Work ethics requires that employees be accountable for the time that they are paid. In essence, the productivity of the company ensures that the organization is a going concern. It is rather unfortunate that employees will not pay attention to such simple maxims. Social networking is a great thing for both companies and individuals. However, it is important to respect company policy on the use of social networking.