DID Y0U SEE WHAT I SAW 0NLINE?

Part Two
ByTedJanusz
oes a company have the right to make employment decisions based on
information found online about a candidate or employee? A CareerBuilder
survey examined what employers tend to look for online.
media profiles as part of the selection process? No. As
Shawn Slevin, president of P3 Consulting, points out,
"We're at a place where technology is ahead of the 1aw"
Delay and Combs say that any good HR or recruiting
professional knows that ignorance is not defensible in a
court of1ar,r,. They suggest, to protectyourself, you keep
the following nine recommendations in mind:
* Disclose in your application process that background
checks will be conducted as part ofthe selection pro-
cedure. Note that the background check process may
also include reviewing information online.
It All Depends
* Wait until after initial interwiews to do these checks.
Most professionals find themselves on the side of the
* Ensure that the information found is genuinely public.
candidate if the candidate took measures to protect his * Avoid connecting to people under false pretense. Don't
or her social networking profile using the site's privacy friend an applicant with the intention of using that
tools. However, once the information is made availabie connection to see their profiles, for example.
through public channels, then a candidate has difficulty
a Don't oversell the company when discussing it on
claiming privacy expectations. social networking sites.
a Inappropriate photos.
* Drug and alcohol use.
6 Inappropriate, confidential, or negative information
about previous employers, co-workers, or customers.
a Misrepresentation of information.
Sharon Delay and Karin Combs, co-authors of
E-Cruiting ask, "Is it an invasion of a candidate's pri-
vacy if an employer makes a hiring decision, in this case
a decision not to hire, based on information found on
social networking sites?"
What are we to do?
Delay and Combs suggest that initial recruiting efforts
that happen on social media take place on Linkedln.
Linkedln limits the amount of information visible in
public proflles. The nature of Linkedln is for professional
job searching and connecting, so the tone and content
tends to be more professional.
Delay and Combs also recommend thatyou search
candidates' profiles to confirm a positive hiring decision
rather than disqualify them from consideration.
(By the
way, they know this is easier said than done.)
Oh My Gosh!
What should you do if you stumble across something
that might be alarming? Delay and Combs suggest you
continue your research. Remember that we were all
young once and maybe didn't use the best
judgment
when we said something or shared a photo. Document
your findings, good and bad. Then, give the candidate a
chance to respond to your findings.
It's the Law!
Is there currently any legal precedence that prevents
recruiters and HR professionals from reviewing social
* Make sure any hiring decisions are made on real
job
requirements and not on information protected by
Title VII.
e Document every finding, especially if it is used for
a negative decision. Make sure the candidate has a
chance to address these findings. A documented back-
ground check is a strong defensible piece ofevidence
in a lawsuit.
* Don't allow the information found online to be the
only information used in the decision-making process.
* Develop and have all employees in your organization
sign a social networking policy.
Here's an important point: We can't discipline em-
ployees for violating a policy that doesn't officially exist.
Jesse Torres, author ofI{um an Resources Guide to
Social MediaRrsftg says our organizations need to address
employee use of social media through a formal, written
social media policy, . He also says each employee should
read and sign the social media policy.
To see samples of social media policies for several
hundred different organizations, some of which are
likely to be very similar to your parking organization, go
to Social Media Governance at socialmediagovernance.
TED JANUSZ is
a professional
speaker on the topic
of
"social
media
for baby boomers,"
author, and marketing
consultant. He is the
author of the Socral
Media Marketing
Guide for Parking
Professionals, which
is a free publication
for lPl members and
can be downloaded
from parking.org/
socia lmed iag u ide.
He can be
reached at teii@
ia
n*spres*niaticns.
ror* or 614.440.7487.
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