What Do You Need to Know About Social Networking?

HR professionals are beginning to incorporate social networking into their recruiting efforts. Social networking can be used to foster connections between employees, share information quickly and effectively and establish broad recruiting circles. HR can take part in social networking by leveraging existing networks (e.g. Facebook) or by building their own internal social network. Many successful HR departments are doing both.

Best practice tips. HR departments looking to invest in social networking will benefit most by keeping the following three tips in mind:

1. Make it relevant. People won't use a solution just because it is available. Instead, they use it because it helps them get something done or saves time or makes more money. How you structure the community is based on the value it can provide its users. That value is what will drive recruiting staff and potential employees to rely on the network.
2. Consider demographics. Because your recruiting staff likely varies in age and technological savvy, be sure to allocate time and budget to adoption and training in how to use the network.
3. Prepare the C-Suite. Creating an internal social network won't be cheap. You'll need to prepare the C-Suite for the cost of the endeavor and also point out all of the benefits you hope to achieve.

Legal risks
There are potential legal risks associated with using social networking sites for recruitment purposes. Consider the following:

1. Discrimination. The photos and discussions on social networking websites may reveal information that is illegal to consider when making employment decisions, such as race, ethnicity, religion, age or medical conditions..
2. Off-duty conduct. Some states have laws that prohibit employers from considering an individual's private behavior when making employment decisions, particularly when the behavior is legal such as smoking.
3. Privacy. The younger workforce considers social networking websites to be private places because many intend to limit usage to friends or network members. Young people who learn that an employer checked them out online would likely view this as a violation of their privacy. And, legally speaking, most states have passed privacy legislation or developed common law that applies privacy rules to employers.
4. Pretext and false aliases. Some employers have secretly set up fake IDs on social networking websites in order to gain entrance to particular networks. Fake identities and pretext can become problematic.
5. Background checking firms. Employers that use background checking firms to screen candidates on the Internet are subject to the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as similar state laws and must therefore obtain consent from individuals before they are screened.

Although there are not yet any legal cases alleging social networking was used incorrectly as a recruiting tool, it is important for employers to have a fair policy in place. In general, you should ask yourself five questions:

1. Is it a valid predictor of job performance?
2. Does it directly utilize prohibited criteria (e.g., race, sex, etc.)?
3. Does it indirectly utilize illegal criteria in a way that has a disparate impact (e.g., the automatic use of criminal records)?
4. Does it violate a substantive right (e.g., right to privacy)?
5. Does it violate a procedural right (such as those under the Fair Credit Reporting Act)?

As for checking out applicants via search engines and social networking, you may want to consider taking a conservative approach by only conducting searches with prior written consent and only conducting searches after a conditional job offer has been made.

Reprinted with permission. © CCH

HR professionals are incorporating social networking into their recruiting efforts. Social networking is used to foster connections between employees, share information quickly and effectively and establish broad recruiting circles.