Management Communication: Social Media in the Workplace

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MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION - CASE STUDY
Assessment Task 3
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Comparison and contrast between the social media tools and traditional channels of
communication................................................................................................................................3
Impact of employee’s comments or behaviour on social media on the image of the company......4
Social media policy..........................................................................................................................5
Communication Plan Template.......................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7
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To : Staff Member of Sunshine
From : Jane Wilson
Date : May 5, 2019.
Subject : Social media policy of Sunshine
Introduction
Positive behaviour of the employees is essential at the workplace. The incidents occurred in the
company shows that the employees are not loyal to the company and their behaviour in the company
is not good as well. There must be some guidelines for the proper and correct use of social media at
the workplace. Social media guidelines specify or guide the employees what should be done in the
workplace and what is in favour of the employees. The employees should demonstrate good or
positive behaviour at the workplace.
Comparison and contrast between the social media tools and traditional channels of
communication
The execution of social media tools is very challenging for the company as the company is unable to
prevent negative consequences of the use of social media by the employees. Social media tools are
used for the circulation of the information in the company, and the social media tools are essential
for the smooth functioning of the business (Vaast & Kaganer, 2013).
 Social networks: This tool allows the user to share the data and information with each other.
 Media sharing: Media sharing sites enable the user to share pictures, videos and other
information with the others.
 Blog comments and forums: This website shows posts displayed by others in chronological
sequence and on the post people can comment.
 Bookmarking sites: Through the bookmarking sites users can save the links and can visit
again whenever they want to visit again.
Traditional channels of communication are the communication channels which are formerly used by
the organisations. The traditional communication channels are time-consuming and take time in
circulating the information.
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 Newspapers: Newspapers are the traditional communication channel of sharing the
information among the people and the employees.
 Telephone: In this communication method information is shared over the telephone.
Traditional channels of communication and social media tools both are the methods of
communication. In both the methods information and the data are shared with the employees and
with the people. These communication methods are used to spread the information within and
outside the organisation.
Social media tools are better than traditional communication methods as the information is shared by
social media tools very quickly. The data through social media tools are shared quickly. Traditional
communication tools are time-consuming and risky as well. Social media tools are less risky. For
social media tools, there must be proper policies and procedures so that the employees of the
organisation cannot misuse it.
Impact of employee’s comments or behaviour on social media on the image of the company
Comments, posts and behaviour of the employees on social media can impact the reputation of the
company. The image of the organization impacts positively and negatively by the posts of the
employees of the organization. The post displayed by the employee "junk food junk food
everywhere" damaged the reputation and brand value of the company. If an employee writes
something on social media and that is not in favour of the company, then that can bring the existence
of the company in danger (Dreher, 2014). News channel picked up the line posted by an employee
on his Facebook account, and that became the heading of the day. Now everyone uses social media
tools; hence a post can be seen by each and every one. The employees should be very careful while
posting a post on social media. Employees represent the organization, and if their behaviour is not
good towards the company, then that will impact the image of the organization negatively. The
comments and behaviour of the employees impact the reputation of the organisation in either way,
i.e. positively and negatively. The employees must be very careful before posting something on
social media during working and non-working hours as their behaviour impacts the reputation or
image of the organisation.
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Social media policy
In each and every company there must the rules and regulation regarding the use of social media
tools. There must be proper rules and guidelines for the use of social media in the workplace.
The employees represent an organisation and their behaviour on social media impacts the brand
value of the organisation. Social media policy or guidelines means rules and instruction on the
usage of social media tools (Meister, 2013). Social media policy guides employees on how to use
social media tools. The company introduced social media tools; however, it is unable to maintain
the guidelines for the optimum use of social media tools. Hence the company needs proper rules
for the correct use of social media tools.
 Set safety and usage rule: For the correct use of the social media tools company need to
frame or set safety and usage rule. According to this, the employees will be aware of
what they can do what they don't. For protecting its image company needs to develop
guidelines and policies so that the employees will follow the rules and regulation.
 Educate the staff: Educating the staff involves training to the employees about the
copyrights so that they will be acquainted with what are the unauthorised sites and from
where they can take the content.
 Restrict access during working hours: In the working hours, the company should permit
access to the authorized sites useful for the work of the company. This will improve the
employee productivity and overall efficiency of the company.
Communication Plan Template
1. Timing  17/05/2019
2. Audience  Staffs
3. Sender  Jane Wilson
4. Key Message  Sunshine 100 social media policy
5. Desired outcomes  Employee become more social media
friendly
6. Medium  Emails and oral communication
7. Materials  Computers, projectors and internet
8. Frequency  Thrice in a month
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Conclusion
Social media tools are crucial for the operation of the business; however, these tools can be
harmful to the company as well. For preventing negative use of the social media tools at the
workplace, the company should in place the social media guidelines for appropriate use of social
media tools. The company should be given training to the employees regarding the correct use of
social media tools and how their comment and behaviour can harm the image of the company.
For protecting the image of the company need to develop strict control on the usage of social
media tools.
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References
 ‘Guidelines address risks with social media’ 2013, Same - Day Surgery, vol. 37, no. 9,
accessed from .
 Dreher, Sonja 2014, ‘Social media and the world of work’, Corporate Communications,
vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 344–356, accessed from .
 Meister, Jeanne 2013, ‘Three Trends Affect Social Media Adoption in Your
Agency’, Public Manager, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 24–25, accessed from .
 Opgenhaffen, Michaël 2017, ‘Between hope and fear: developing social media
guidelines’, Employee Relations, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 130–144, accessed from .
 Vaast, Emmanuelle & Kaganer, Evgeny 2013, ‘Social media affordances and governance
in the workplace: An examination of organizational policies’, Journal of Computer
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Mediated Communication, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 78–101.
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