We won’t make you wait for the answer. Yes, social media screening really does help organizations make informed hiring decisions.
That said, using social media information to screen your job applicants and employees must be done ethically, just like every other background screening tool you use.
Why Should Organizations Use Social Media Screening?
In the past few years, social media screening has become more widely accepted as a valuable part of a comprehensive background check. A survey by The Harris Poll found that 71% of hiring decision-makers agree that looking at a candidate’s social media profiles is an effective way to screen applicants.
Social media screening gives organizations a way to accomplish three big goals.
Eliminates blind spots.
A person’s application, resume, and interview give companies lots of information about the candidate but they don’t fill in every piece of the puzzle. Social media screening can add the behaviors, opinions, and attitudes they may share on their profiles that won’t be present in traditional hiring information. This gives companies a more well-rounded picture of the candidate.
Mitigates risks.
Every new employee poses potential risks to your workplace. There may be red flags on a person’s social media profiles that won’t be uncovered anywhere else in the hiring process. Posts, comments, or engagements about racism, religion, harassing rhetoric, substance abuse, and violence can be strong indicators of a candidate’s suitability (or lack of) for the role and company culture. Identifying these risks before you hire a candidate reduces the chances of dealing with numerous issues down the road.
Protects the company’s reputation.
A brand’s reputation is crucial to success, and it can be blown apart in an instant. An employee is a representative of the company, and the attitudes and opinions they share on social media can affect the brand.
Proactively screening a candidate’s social media profiles for posts, photos, and comments that don’t align with the organization’s branding image can reduce the chances of the new employee negatively affecting the brand.
Fostering an Effective Social Media Screening Process
As with any policy change, HR must create a comprehensive, compliant plan for adding social media screening to the organization’s background check process.
- Document the process. Succinctly outline the goal of using social media as part of your background screening strategy. This plan should include what profiles will be screened and the specific type of information that will be considered relevant to the position sought. Be sure to develop a list of the keywords you’ll be screening. For example, an animal rescue may want to screen keywords related to animal abuse.
- Get written authorization. Using social media for background screening falls under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which requires the subject of a background check (the applicant, in this case) to give consent.
- Screen with consistency. Apply the same screening protocol for every applicant to maintain a fair, non-discriminatory process.
- Use a third-party screener. Outsourcing your social media screening increases the chances of conducting a more thorough screen and keeping the process compliant. Plus, screeners can remove Title VII information, so you can avoid seeing non-relevant information about the applicant that could create unconscious bias.
- Make decisions based on comprehensive information. Use the social media findings along with the rest of the background check, the candidate’s application and resume, and the interview to decide whether to hire the person.
- Follow Adverse Action procedures. If you decide not to hire the person in whole or part because of information found during the social media screening process, follow the FCRA’s requirements for taking Adverse Action.
- Maintain ethical standards. Use the guidance from the FCRA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and the Data Protection Act (DPA) to drive your screening process.
What Should Organizations NOT Do with Social Media Screening?
Now, let’s cover what companies shouldn’t do when they use social media for screening purposes.
- X: Invasive Practices
Respect candidates’ privacy during the screening process. Never ask for passwords or use deceptive methods (like “friending” them with a fake profile) to gain information.
- X: Unconscious Bias
Be vigilant about unconscious bias creeping in because of information you see on their social media profiles that are unrelated to the position. Maintain fairness, always.
- X: Using It as the Only Screening Tool
Social media screening works best in cooperation with other screening tools like criminal records searches, employment verifications, and drug screening. Using it by itself increases the risk of a bad hire.
- X: Screening without Permission
Don’t “sneak and screen”. That method isn’t compliant and is just an all-around shifty practice. Inform the candidate that your background screening process may include looking at their social media profiles.
The Bottom Line on Social Media Screening
With life being lived on social media, screening applicant profiles has become an asset for organizations trying to make informed hiring decisions. Information collected from an applicant’s social media activities can offer insights that companies can’t get through traditional background searches, on their resumes, and during the interview.
However, companies must be deliberate in adding social media screening to the background check process. Creating a proactive policy, practicing consistency, and maintaining compliance offer a win-win solution for using the information ethically and fairly in every instance.
Data Facts | www.datafacts.com