Despite reports of widespread misuse of social networks at work, nearly 50% of businesses still don’t have a social network policy: survey

Nearly half of businesses do not have social media and networking policies in place, despite the fact that 76% use social networking for business purposes and many report abuse or misuse of social networks.
These findings come from an informal survey of more than 120 multinational employers conducted by the international labor and employment group of law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
Forty-three per cent of survey respondents reported employee misuse of social networks at some point. And 31.3% reported having to take disciplinary action against an employee for misuse of social networks.
“In order to harness the benefits and minimize the risks of social networks, employers need to set distinct and specific policies and practices for their use,” said Betsy Plevan, co-head of Proskauer’s international labor and employment group. “Relying on employees to exercise good judgment is simply not enough.”
The June 2011 survey asked 10 questions aimed at capturing current attitudes and practices concerning social media in the workplace. Survey participants included in-house counsel, executives and HR professionals across a broad range of businesses, many of which have a global presence and are clients of Proskauer.
The survey found social network use for business is a relatively new phenomenon. Of the businesses that use social networking for business, 70% only started doing so in the past three years.
Twenty-nine percent of businesses actively block employees’ access to social networking sites. Only 27% monitor employee use of social networking sites.
“The business world is experiencing an ongoing and rapid proliferation in the use of social networking,” said Daniel Ornstein, a London-based partner in the international labor and employment group. “Although this has many benefits, hardly a week goes by without yet another new story of a viral tweet or posting that has the potential to damage the reputation of a business, underscoring the need for companies to be proactive in this area.”
The full results of the survey can be found at:
http://www.proskauer.com/files/uploads/Documents/Survey-Social-Networks-in-the-Workplace-Around-the-World.pdf