From time to time I read the American papers and HR publications. I want to know which trends and developments in our industry might be crossing the Atlantic in the near future.

That’s how I came across this story in the New York Times: ‘How One Stupid Tweet Ruined Justine Sacco’s Life.’ (Warning: if you read the story the ‘one stupid tweet’ is offensive.)

Justine only had 170 followers on Twitter – but that one tweet cost her a great career and a lot more besides. Social media is playing an increasingly important part in our lives and our businesses: whatever you think about Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and yes, blogging, they are here to stay – and they are subject to ever greater scrutiny.

The General Election is less than three months away. What’s the one thing we know for certain? That someone who’s currently looking forward to a comfortable majority and a victory speech will, before May 7^th, do something spectacularly stupid on social media – something that will see him shuffled out of the way for a replacement who thinks before he presses ‘send.’

But you don’t need to worry about a potentially-unemployed MP. You do need to worry about your staff – and about the people who might become part of your team in the near future. We’re increasingly being asked two very relevant questions by employers:

• Should I have a specific social media policy for my staff?
• Should we check the social media profiles of potential employees before we hire them?

‘Yes’ is the simple answers to both questions. Let me elaborate…

When I started work there was one telephone in the office. Yes, the mobile phone had been invented, but they were the size – and weight – of a small brick. So if you wanted to contact your friends it was very simple: you waited until you went home. Shopping from your desk? Don’t be ridiculous; that would never be possible.

Right now I have six tabs open in Google Chrome – and yes, three of them would allow me to contact friends. Shopping from your desk? The amount of work hours that are lost to it are simply staggering.

All that’s before anyone tweets or uses Facebook in their own time – the time when those potentially damaging tweets are likely to happen. Justine Sacco sent the tweet that wrecked her career while she was waiting for a flight at Heathrow – but irrespective of when it was sent it reflected badly on her employers and the consequences were inevitable.

So you simply must have a policy for your employees, setting out clearly what is acceptable and what’s not acceptable. Let me repeat what I said in August last year – because what has happened since then has only made this more relevant:

The absolute key is to have a good, tight, well-defined communications policy: as a bare minimum this should cover:

• What your employees can and can’t say on social media about work–related issues: this is absolutely crucial now that giving vent to your feelings on Facebook and Twitter is so easy – and so immediate
• Use of a mobile phone and tablet devices during office hours
• Use of the company e-mail
• And exactly what your electronic equipment can and can’t be used for

So much for your own staff – what about your potential employees? In particular, should looking at their social media profiles be part of your recruitment process? For senior staff, for those who will be in a position to comment on your business, my answer is an emphatic yes.

And no, it’s not stalking and neither is it an unwarranted intrusion into someone’s private life: anything someone posts on social media is in the public domain. At Castle we’d be failing in our duty to our clients if we didn’t look at the social media profiles – and comments – of the management-level candidates we’re recommending.

It’s the same if we’re hiring someone: I need the best person I can find – and I need someone who’ll fit with the rest of the team and reflect Castle’s values. If I see something on social media that suggests otherwise, I’d be a fool to ignore it.

In a recent survey – quoted in the Guardian – 45% of people involved in hiring staff said they were already using social media tools in the recruitment process: 40% said they would make greater use of them in the future.

As these figures are only going to increase, it seems crucial to me that employers have a defined policy to cover this area, so that both sides know where they stand – and know what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable. For example, employers can no more discriminate online than you can offline.

Social media can be hugely beneficial to your business: sadly, the reverse is also true. It’s vital that companies and organisations establish policies for the correct and appropriate use of social media by their staff – and particularly their HR department – as quickly as possible. If you need any help from the Castle team simply get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.