Behind Your Business

Should employers ban access to social networking sites like Facebook at work? If you look at the potential security risks alone, the answer would be resounding yes for most enterprises. Aside from the security risk, there's the huge hit that social networking has had on employee productivity. One estimate -- from IT consulting company Morse -- figures employee use of social-networking sites cost employers $2.25 billion a year in lost productivity.

Yet even with the productivity and security challenges caused by social media, there is no still easy answer to the Facebook ban question. There are, however, plenty of opinions and guidelines that can help your company make a sound decision around the use of social networking from 9 to 5.

First, it helps to consider how other small businesses as well CIOs at large companies are handling the social-networking phenomenon. More than half of CIOs in a Robert Half Technology survey said their firms don't allow employees to visit social-networking sites for any reason while at work.

"Using social-networking sites may divert employees' attention away from more pressing priorities, so it's understandable that some companies limit access," said Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology. "For some professions, however, these sites can be leveraged as effective business tools, which may be why about one in five companies allows their use for work-related purposes."

The Case for At-Work Facebooking

Public-relations and marketing firms -- or PR and marketing divisions within larger enterprises -- are among those who believe employees should be able to update their Facebook status at work.

As a PR firm, social media is a way of life for HMA Public Relations. Abbie Fink, vice president and general manager of the firm, said social networking is a critical component of how the company does business. In fact, she added, clients expect the...