Social media and your workplace

Most professional organisations are active on social media, some more than others.

Depending on the type of business or industry, your organisation may be on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram or all these platforms. Your organisation may be highly engaged, posting daily, or perhaps less frequently along a set pattern, such as weekly.

As an employee do you contribute ideas for social media? Do you get involved by posting content on your platforms (where appropriate of course)? Are you active in suggesting ideas for posts that your organisation can consider? If not, why not?

If you want to be a brand advocate for your organisation on social media, start by thinking about these ideas.

Does your workplace have a social media policy?

Determine if your workplace has a social media policy. If yes, read it carefully and clarify anything you’re not 100 per cent clear on.

Then follow the policy to make sure you don’t post unacceptable material online. This is material that could have legal or other repercussions. The last thing you want is to get your organisation in trouble by posting inaccurate or inappropriate content.

Another important point is to discover if your organisation has a social media coordinator you can work with on content. Bounce ideas off them and use them as a reality check if you’re unsure about how to proceed.

If your workplace doesn’t have a social media policy, why not be proactive and suggest that one be developed? Best-practice managers love staff who are innovative and offer great ideas.

Be timely

Social media thrives on the ‘now’. So aim to publish current and relevant content, not content that’s stale and irrelevant.

If you’re attending a workshop or conference, for example, get someone to take a quality photograph of yourself with other team members, or clients or people you network with. You could consider taking the image in front of a branded media wall if there is one. Then post promptly to maximise the impact.

Be sure to plan

Planning is important with social media. Think well in advance so you’re on top of matters and don’t miss opportunities.

If your organisation is raising funds for a great cause, for instance, make ‘social media’ part of the planning. What photos or videos will you take and when? What is the best location to capture imagery? What is the key messaging around the cause?

Take creative images and videos

Not all images or video content for social media needs to be highly orchestrated, staged or edited by a pro. It does, however, need to be professional enough that it won’t cause embarrassment.

Think about the composition of images. Aim for a clean background. Don’t hesitate to crop background cultter.

This sounds pretty straightforward but it’s important. Why bother submitting an image, for example, with a mess in the background? Or a great photo of yourself standing beside a colleague who has their eyes closed?

Quality assure imagery

Make sure that nothing is in an image that is inappropriate, especially confidential information.

If you’re taking a photo of a meeting, therefore, make sure visible documents don’t reveal anything. Or if you’re taking an image and a computer is in the shot, make sure nothing is on the screen that could get you in trouble. A great idea here is to put your company branding on the screen. It’s a safe bet.

Don’t always be serious

Sure social media is about key messaging but not every post has to be deadly serious. Great posts often show staff having fun. They celebrate team spirit, culture and values, as much as they pump content to drive business. This could mean fun images from an awards evening, special internal celebration or team-building event.

Having said that, some ‘fun’ can be inappropriate so exercise caution. What is funny to you might not be funny to your social media audience. If in doubt, check with management or your social media coordinator.

Value opportunities

With paid learning and professional development opportunities, think about a social media post as a way to thank your organisation for investing in your future. This is one way to show management your appreciation.

A good idea is to tag your organisation in your post, if you’re using your personal LinkedIn page for example. Staying ‘on brand’ is super helpful and appropriate.

Seize the opportunity

If your organisation produces valuable resources that are easy to use on social media, go for it. It’s understood by best-practice managers that you won’t want to post material that makes no sense to your social media presence.

What if, however, your organisation is well known for producing expert articles? If one is published on a topic that resonates with your audience, why not share it? Thinking about ‘gold content’, in other words, doesn’t have to be daunting. And it doesn’t have to take time or cost you anything.

Think about your contribution

While your organisation may have a designated social media person, that doesn’t mean that social media isn’t part of your responsibility as a brand ambassador or a valuable communicator.

Think about social media as ‘everyone’s responsibility’. It’s a great way to enhance your organisation’s reputation online, which works to the benefit of all.

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