Social Media Policies in Short Supply

Social media opens up unparalleled opportunities for credit unions and their members and employees to communicate – and unparalleled opportunities for mischief. How do you encourage open and productive communication while avoiding gaffes and missteps that can erode the reputation of your CU?

Experts say that formal social media polices can head off many of the troubles, although few CUs have adopted them. As a result, CUs are exposing themselves to unnecessary risks, at a time when regulators are holding employers responsible for misleading or deceptive statements made by their employees, including statements made on the employees’ personal online accounts.

CUs are also losing out on an opportunity to discourage online comments by employees that may be detrimental to the organization.

Rory Rowland, an industry consultant based in Independence, Mo., cites the recent case of a disgruntled CU employee who decided to launch a detailed broadside against management on his personal blog. According to Rowland, the rant was “tawdry and ugly” – and totally avoidable.

“It is a classic example of a CU that does not have a social media policy,” he says. “They allowed their employees to go online and vent their frustration with this leadership team.” Granted, parsing the rights and interests of CU employees and management is a delicate exercise. But Rowland says everyone is better off if the ground rules are clear from the beginning.

That includes a clear statement of principles setting out expectations of CU employees while using social media networks, and a delineation of the risks – reputation and financial – that the CU faces when employees fall short. He also counsels training in social media so that employees can learn to identify appropriate conduct.

In addition to a formal policy, he says employees should have to sign an agreement that spells out their rights and responsibilities when they use social media and reference their activities at work in any way.

Such agreements can include language encouraging employee participation in social media, but not commentary that demeans or disparages the CU.

Disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, such as information about customers, should be explicitly prohibited. He also suggests that employees be required to refrain from speaking publicly about crisis situations without company approval.

“If a credit union has a fire in the data processing room and must switch to back up facilities, I don’t think that is a good thing for an employee to Twitter about or to update on their Facebook page,” he says. “Of if you are robbed, and the employee puts details out that the police do not want out about the robbery, it may put the credit union’s reputation at risk, and the employees’ safety at risk.”

Employees should make clear if they have a vested interest in CU related topics they are discussing on the web including comments about competitors, he adds. Regulators are starting to crackdown on firms whose employees make unsubstantiated or misleading claims on the Internet.

“People on social media sites are on the lookout for companies not being honest,” he says. “To ensure social media interactions are successful, you need transparent relationships.”

Used with permission from the Safety and Soundness Report, www.cusafety.com