Tweet this! More employers now allow social networking at work

In a new survey conducted by Robert Half Technology, 1400 chief information officers (CIOs) from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees were asked: “Which of the following most closely describes your company’s policy on visiting social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, while at work?”

Prohibited completely

Permitted for business purposes only

Permitted for limited personal use

Permitted for any type of personal use

Don’t know/no answer

I’ll cue up the music and list the results after the jump…

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Although the study indicates that more companies now accept that employees use social media as part of the business, it’s little surprise that larger companies are growing less tolerant of employees making personal use of social media — and I’m guessing any other internet site — at work.

New technology only makes it easier for employees to use social media.

Similarly, technology growth makes monitoring employee internet use more difficult.

The interwebs just keep evolving and provide employees with new ways to interact online. Google is now a player in social networking with it’s Google+. And while China figured out how to block it, your business may have a tough time implementing a strong enough firewall. Employment-law attorneys/bloggers Philip Miles and Daniel Schwartz have each addressed the impact that Google+ (which, presently, is only being offered by invitation only), may have on the workplace. You can read their posts here and here.

Even if you can defeat the Google-monster, smartphones are undoubtedly impacting the workplace too. More than 1/3rd of adults now own one. That’s a lot of Facebook and Twitter apps that can successfully run all day on mobile networks that you don’t control.

Employee use of social media — business or personal — ain’t all bad.

I’m not a big doom-and-gloom guy, especially when it comes to employee use of social media. That said, I advise employer-clients to address it head on.

If you have questions or concerns about employee use of social media — on and off the clock — maybe some friends and I can help.

The Proactive Employer Podcast, sponsored by Thomas Econometrics, is presenting a special two-part round table discussion where experts answer all of your HR and social media questions. They’ve lined up an all-star panel (yes, folks, I’m on the panel) of labor and employment lawyers, bloggers and social media adopters who will be sharing their expertise on various aspects of social media and human resources.

The two-part round table discussion will air on July 22, 2011 and July 29, 2011 and will be available for on-demand listening at The Proactive Employer website at or via iTunes.

In the meantime, if you have any questions that you would like for us to address on the podcast, please leave them in the comments below.