Social networking policy is important for large business organizations in order to ensure information security for their businesses. Chevrolet business is one of the largest business organizations in the US with over 1200 employees. The business has branches in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Atlanta. The human resource management department is concerned that the employees have been posting inappropriate information about the Chevrolet business organization on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The employees have been posting about the new brands that the business is about to release to the market, key technological breakthrough that the business is currently working on and key managerial decisions taken by the business. The management department considers that behavior as harmful to the operations of the business. The management is concerned that leakage of information to outsiders may bring unfair competition and impact negatively on the going concern condition of the business.
The business has decided to develop social media policy within 60 days in order to control the unbecoming behavior. The business has also embarked on training the employees on the importance of business information security specifically for Chevrolet organization. The social networking policy has three sections.
The first section seeks to regulate the amount of time an employee can spent on social media. It states that an employee shall not be active on Facebook and Twitter during work hours. The organization has only 8 working hours per day. The policy aims at maximizing employee productivity per hour. Employees are only allowed to engage in social media during break time when they are not working. The second section seeks to regulate the kind of information an employee can post on social media on behalf of the business. It states that the type of communication on social media shall enhance information security for the business. Employees shall not be allowed to post information about the operations and decisions of the organization on social media because that amounts to insider trading that is harmful to the going concern condition of the business. The social media network should only be used to carry out internet advertising and selling by the advertising department. The third section spells out the penalty for breach of policy. It states that an employee who breaches the policy shall be liable to sacking and prosecution before a court of law for insider trading and breach of terms of employment.
The human resource department has designed a schedule of training employees on importance of information security dedication to work within 60 days. The department shall hire professionals who will train the employees twice per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The training shall inform the employees on the possible negative effects of inappropriate revelation of the secrets of the business to competitors such as unfair competition, collapse of the business and eventual loss of jobs for the employees. The training shall also foster good relationship and understanding between the employees and the human resource department.
References
Mathis.R.L, (2010), Human Resource Management, 13th ed, South-Western Cengage Learning.
