Sunshine 100-Social Media Case Study
To post or not to post: The importance of social
media policies in the workplace
Jane Wilson, the Director of Social Media for Sunshine 100, an organisation specialising in responsible foods, pulled her Hyundai Elantra into a parking space near the entrance to her company’s headquarters in Brisbane. She was
keen to get to her office. The company was in negotiations to expand to China. The previous round of talks in Beijing had gone well for the company: managers had seemed enthusiastic about launching the company’s new line of wholesome baby foods. The professional nutritionists and dieticians led by Dr Jeremy Jones had asked Jane to start working on a social media campaign to promote the company’s values, ‘Together, may we create a healthier life by starting with the food we eat’. Today Jane would also get the go ahead to start Sunshine 100’s Twitter campaign
‘Kids Eats’ a recently launched initiative with a focus on working directly with schools as well as children’s organisations to educate primary aged school children about healthy foods and healthy eating.
Jane entered the building and took the lift to the tenth floor. As the doors opened she could see.
Paul Morgan, the CEO and Alice Jones, the Director of Communications, waiting for her just outside her office. Paul met Jane at the door. ‘Jane, we’ve got a real problem,’ he said. ‘It has to do with the launch of KidsEats’. Jane looked over at Alice, who closed her eyes. Paul continued. ‘Last night this posting to Facebook by one of our employees was picked up by five media outlets. We’re even made the Number 1 breaking news spot this morning with Daily Events’. The room was silent. Jane could feel her stomach beginning to notice and felt very taken aback. Social media in the workplace New to her role, Jane had read widely that social media can be beneficial to facilitate the work of employees.ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW
She also knew that many organisations were now encouraging their employees to access social media as a way to reinforce networks among employees in the organisation, bringing the possibility to build friendships, to share information necessary to execute task activities and to get support or advice. In her MBA strategy unit she had read that social media and social technologies could increase work productivity of employees by 30 per cent – 35 per cent because they increase the speed of communication, the scale of communication and ultimately engagement. The HR Director Brian Jones had dropped by her office last night to discuss how social media could be used to recruit new hires, especially when it came to the millennials. Sunshine 100’s key competitor, About Nutrition, had developed an attractive Facebook page publishing content of interest to potential hires, such as career tips, as well as an offer to directly contact the HR Director and send job applications.
Sunshine 100-Social Media Case Study needs to highlights the need to:
- Recognise the impact of social media on organisations can be serious with employers held vicariously liable for employees conduct on social media even when comments are made outside of the workplace and office hours. Organisations can also have their reputation and brand damaged by comments made by employees.
- Evaluate how an organisation can develop a social media policy.
- Devise appropriate strategies for communicating the company’s social media policy to staff.
Answer the following four (4) questions in your analysis:
i) The introduction of social media tools across an organisation can pose significant challenges. Managing these challenges goes beyond installing the right tools and technologies. Compare and contrast the challenges posed by social media tools with the challenges posed by the traditional channels of communication. ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW
ii) What impact might an individual employee’s comments or behaviour on social media have on an organisation’s identity, image or reputation in the sense that it might be seen by broader and unintended audiences?
iii) What social media interaction should a company’s social media policy cover?
iv) Using the communication plan template, devise a communication strategy for the Director of Social Media to communicate the social media policy to staff.