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Should You Block Employees from Social Media Sites?

Ben Parr Editor, Mashable Recent Posts

1 Comment

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April 8, 2009

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“I disagree with just about everything written ...”

Shel Holtz

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It’s a near certainty that most employees who are 25 and under are members of Facebook or another social media website. This is a generation that has relied on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to keep connected with friends and stave off boredom. But when they enter the office, none of this matters – productivity, results, and the bottom line do.

This creates a conundrum for the small business owner. These tools can be major time and productivity sinks, but they can also be incredible tools for networking, advertising, and research. So should young employees be allowed to use social networks while on the job? The answer really depends on the employee, the company’s focus, and the needs of the business.

The Employee

Most young employees are used to having access to social networks all day long, and taking that away can cause ill will and drive off young talent. But this should not be a factor in deciding whether or not to block social media websites. Companies pay employees to perform tasks vital to the success of the business. It is tough to justify that surfing Facebook is a productive use of time.

However, there are many business uses for social media websites, and good employees can effectively manage their time on them. Be sympathetic to young employees, but make sure they understand the expectations that come with the paycheck.

The Company’s Focus

If the company is a brick-and-mortar furniture store, there’s almost no relationship between social media and a company’s success. However, if the company is a technology company, having unfettered access to breaking news, online chatter, and a network of friends needs to be available. Wal-Mart employees don’t need access to YouTube; News Corp employees do.

The Needs of the Business

Does the company need employees to be on the pulse of the latest trends? Does the company engage in online marketing? Is the company big on networking? Asking these questions can prevent a lot of headaches. If a company blocks Twitter, it should be prepared to be slower than the competition in tracking breaking industry news.

Think about all of the consequences on the bottom line when deciding whether or not to block social media websites. Employees are not “entitled” access to any specific website. However, they are entitled to all of the tools needed to execute their job to the best of their ability. Sometimes that means sacrificing a little productivity to be better connected.

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Shel Holtz 1 year 2 months and 9 days ago

I disagree with just about everything written here.First, the notion that employees using social media leads automatically to productivity loss is an unsubstantiated myth. Independent research from both the University of Melbourne and MindLap reveal it actually increases productivity; the Melbourne study quantifies that increase at 8%. That is, employees with access to social media are 8% more productive than those without.The argument that employee reaction to blocking shouldn't be a factor is also wrong-minded. Blocking sends a message that you don't trust your workforce, yet you want your workforce to be engaged (that is, you want them to give discretionary effort to the organization). You'll never build engagement without trust.The next wrong-minded statement is that social media has no place in a brick-and-mortar environment. Tell it to GM, where factory workers have access to kiosks open to Facebook and the company is tracking sales of cars based on employee evangelism for the vehicles among their online communities.But the real value of employees engaged in social media comes when you get past the ridiculous FUD that underscores this entire post and implement processes to leverage social media's value -- recruitment, competitive intelligence, decision support, sourcing subject matter experts, crowdsourcing, promoting the company's culture and values, product and brand advocacy, the list goes on.I maintain a site, www.stopblocking.org, and I curate content on the web that offers the alternative, intelligent point of view on employee access at http://storify.com/shelholtz/employee-access-to-social-media. Don't succumb to the kneejerk arguments for blocking access. They're no different than the same arguments used against the web, email and even fax machines.