Fifty-five percent of employers plan to expand their social media usage in 2012, according to a survey released by the Society for Human Resource Management.

The survey, An Examination of How Social Media Is Embedded in Business Strategy and Operations, also reveals that 40 percent of respondents have implemented an official social media policy, and 56 percent of social media policies include a provision outlining the organization's right to monitor social media usage. Another 68 percent of social media policies detail a code of conduct for employee use while networking, 66 percent of social media policies have a code of conduct for personal employee use. Fifty-five percent of social media policies also include guidelines for social media communications.

Of the respondents, 52 percent report having social media as part of their marketing strategies, and the marketing staff leads social media efforts among 35 percent of the respondents. Other than marketing departments, social media is led by information technology departments at 17 percent, HR departments at 14 percent and management at 14 percent.