As we have been writing about and discussing social networks over the recent months, I read with interest a story that Alex Manchester over at the Melcrum blog reported on.

It was reported in the Telegraph in the UK that many city firms in the UK are banning the use of Facebook.

Given internet and intranet security is paramount today, and the increase in firewalls inside organisations, it is not suprising that many organisations have security set so that a number of sites can not be accessed.

In fact, I find the firewalls of some of my clients are set so strict that my standard email will not get through so I have to revert to a text message.

London has more Facebook users than any other city in the world with more than 826,000 people in the city are registered on the site, a figure that has doubled since May.

However the Telegraph reports:

More than two thirds of employers are banning or restricting the use of Facebook and similar sites over fears that staff are wasting time on them when they should be working, a survey found.

Several companies have warned employees that accessing the site during office hours is a sackable offence.

More than 70 per cent of businesses, including banks and law firms, have barred the sites.

City firms are taking the lead, with Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort both banning employees from accessing them. But “Faceblocking” is spreading.

The Metropolitan Police, British Gas and Lloyds TSB are using internet filters that prevent sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Hotmail from being viewed at work.

I wonder if this is in fact being shortsighted?

Remembering that one of the foundations of building a strong employer brand so that you attract and retain great people is the area of trust, if you do decide to ban access to such networking sites it is critical that you advise your people of the strategic reasons for doing so.

Do not let your people think that you do not trust them - that would bear too much of a resemblance to the times when companies didn’t let you have access to an external phone line for fear that you would spend too much time on the phone to family and friends and not focus on business results.  (I am sure that this still happens in some companies especially in the context of making international calls.)

Many business leaders at the heads of these organisations are rightly concerned with security of their IS infrastructure. However I would also guess that many have not used or experienced the new on-line social networks.

Here are three tips if you find yourself as a business leader and wondering if you should enable employees to access social networking sites:

1. Explore the platforms - have someome introduce you to Facebook, Ecademy and LinkedIn - perhaps one of the best people to do this would be your recruitment advisor or executive headhunter that you partner with as they use on-line networks to connect with potential employees. And if they are not using them, consider changing your recruiting firm as they should be.
2. Educate your people - make sure that you share with your people what your expectations are if you decide to make the on-line social networks available. It probably is not that you want to count the number of minutes and hours they spend on-line; what you should be interested in is their ability to deliver outcomes.
3. Offer alternatives - if you decide that you can not allow access to everyone for reasons of security, explain that to your people. You can be sure that they will understand if you present the business case rather than it being seen they are being banned from the sweet shop. As networking by the “on-line water cooler” is a great way to connect to potential employees, explore business opportunities and research on-line, consider providing some hubs in the office where employees can connect to on-line social networks.

The on-line social networks are the equivlent of your Chamber of Commerce or the golf club. If you value networking off-line at these locations, on-line networking can be equally as valuable - with the added benefit of no membership fees, no travel time and no rounds of drinks to be bought.

Looking at it another way, enabling your people to connect with others through on-line social networks could make your business more productive and reduce overheads!

Update 30 August 2007 : This article has has been included in a round up of social media marketing articles by Chris Garrett.

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