Social Media and Your Staff: How to Protect Your Club

Bryan O'Rourke, Josh Gerber, Christine Thalwitz and Keith Callahan discuss how to protect your club from your employee's use of social media in this week's Ask an Industry Leader.

Q: Is it within our rights as an employer to have our staff sign a code of conduct agreement for social media use? If so, what are some points to include in such an agreement? We’re mainly concerned about a staff member saying something that makes our club look bad.

Bryan O'Rourke, CSO & Principal
Fitmarc
bryan@fitmarc.com 
www.bryankorourke.org

A: As an employer it is within your right to have your staff sign a code of conduct for social media. We allow our employees the option of joining the Brick Bodies social network but once they do so they must realize they have bridged the gap between their social and personal interactions. Employees must be aware that anytime they put out posts on their social media pages they are making statements that are a representation of the company whether you like it or not. At Brick Bodies we have this code of conduct in our employee handbook and each new hire reviews these policies with our HR Director to make sure they are aware. Here are some important points to have in your conduct code:

• Cannot use the sites for anything personal during work hours – Employees will get on these sites and play for hours. 
• Cannot make any posts that give a negative connotation to the company or its employees.    
• Cannot post anything illegal. 
• Have information about how to handle friend requests from members.  If the employee chose’s not to participate in the company community they should direct them to the companies social media pages. 
• Conversation’s that you have with current or potential members should be approached with the same level of professionalism as if they were talking to someone in the club. 

Employee’s must always keep this in mind when they make posts: Does this Help or Hurt the Brand?

Josh Gerber, Marketing Director
Brick Bodies Fitness Services, Inc.
Josh.Gerber@BrickBodies.com

A: Even if your company is not active on social media networks, your employees probably are.  Therefore, it is critical to set clear guidelines about the organization’s expectations and policies for social media activities. Many companies have simply expanded their existing communications policies, confidentiality agreements and codes of conduct to specifically include social media. If you decide to create a more comprehensive policy: 

• Define social media broadly to include multimedia sharing, blogs, social networking sites, wikis and any other applicable online activities.
• Reiterate your company’s policies regarding non-disclosure of confidential and proprietary information.
• Include a code of online conduct that addresses company standards of honesty, integrity and professionalism.
• Prohibit team members from speaking on behalf of the organization, presenting themselves as agents of the company, or using company logos or trademarks if they have not been authorized to do so.
• Remind team members that information shared online, whether publicly or privately, can easily circulate and that anonymity is unlikely. Explain potential problems that can arise if team members reference the company when participating in social media outside the workplace.
• Emphasize that any computer use at work is subject to company monitoring and that team members should have no expectation of privacy under these conditions.
• State the consequences for violating the company’s social media policy, including (but not limited to) termination of employment and potential civil liability.
• Obtain signed acknowledgment and acceptance of the terms of the policy from all team members.
• Provide opportunities for additional training on appropriate use of social media.

For successful adoption of a social media policy, focus more on what employees can do than what they shouldn’t do. When crafting a policy, you may want to solicit input from team members who are active social media participants. Your team members are an amazing resource, so harness their know-how and enlist their help in promoting your business online!

Christine Thalwitz, Director of Communications & Research
ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers
christineot@acac.com

A: It is clearly within the company's rights to have employees sign a code of conduct. However, much of the use of internet has not been fully tested in the courts. I believe it incumbent upon businesses to establish ethics and acceptable behavior guidelines.

Your company should take no position on employee's  decision to maintain or participate in blogs, wikis, social networking pages, web sites or other online activities. However, it must be clearly understood that the views expressed in the blog are the employees alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the company.

Employees must respect the company’s confidentiality and proprietary information, follow all rules regarding said information and be respectful to the company, employees, customers, partners, and competitors.

Employees are subject to the company's discipline policy for any posting, publication or public statement they make, including specifically any statement that the company determines, using criteria of its sole choosing, to be detrimental to its business.

Some general topics for the Code of Conduct could contain: Excellence, Integrity, Team Work, Innovation, Healthy Lifestyles, Business Ethics, Honesty, etc. Similarly, you can also choose to outline clearly unacceptable behaviors, including: Dishonesty, Inappropriate Social Distancing, Failure to Comply, Use of Drugs/Alcohol, Theft, Insubordination, etc.

Mr. Keith Callahan, G.M. / Managing Partner
Manchester Athletic Club
kcallahan@blueskycorp.com
blueskycorp.com