Hi! It’s Tory Haggerty from Tuscan Club University’s Fair Lending School and welcome to another Fair Lending Short.
In this fair lending short, we are going to talk about the importance of having a social media policy.
If you had asked me just a few short years ago is a social media policy important, I would has said not so much. Today, I feel it is one of the most important policies at your organization.
It’s critical to let every employee know what is acceptable social media behavior. I’m not just talking about using social media at work, but what is okay and what is not okay to post on your own social media profiles.
I once saw a banker make a very racist and sexist post about some political candidate. I’ll give this person the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was their first time on the internet. But guess what? It blew up. It blew up so bad that the news did a story “Local banker makes discriminatory comment on Facebook.” Who wants to be responsible for that at your institution?
We have freedom of speech in this country, but that does not come with the freedom from repercussions. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater and expect nothing to happen. I tell people that if you are going to work in a very highly regulated banking industry, it’s best to refrain from certain opinions online. It reflects poorly on the employee, the organization, and many times it has cost someone their job.
Lastly – make sure everyone reads and signs the policy annually. Too many times in lender interviews, I learn they haven’t read the social media policy since they started with the bank 9 years ago. If you want everyone to know and follow the policy, make sure they read and sign it annually. How can you hold someone accountable for a policy they don’t remember?
Thanks for reading!
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