Infosys has announced that they will soon come out with a code of conduct for their employees who participate on various Social Media sites like Facebook & twitter. This is absolutely a step in right direction.
Many Indian companies have taken a different route by banning the social media sites completely on their network, which according to me is a completely wrong decision – especially in this day and age when Social Media sites are gaining much significance.
According to Infosys representatives, they will be coming out with a Do’s and Dont’s sort of manual for all Infosys employees. In a scenario, if the employee breaches the code of conduct, he may even loose his job.
I think the biggest concern that Infosys has currently is the privacy of confidential client data, which could very easily be compromised knowingly or un-knowingly – The code of conduct will ensure that employee is responsible for his actions during his interactions on Social Media sites.
Internationally, most of the big companies like Microsoft & Intel have a Social Media Policy, but in India Infosys will be the first company to come out with it officially.
What really needs to be seen though is – Whether enforcing such a policy will actually serve its intended purpose. I doubt…
How will Infosys monitor all it’s Employees interactions? and even if they are able to monitor it on their own network, an employee can easily interact on social media sites using his mobile phone. Anyone can write a blog and publish it anonymously!
So the effectiveness of this policy is debate-able, however, this is a step in right direction – instead of banning social media completely in offices !