Social Media Screening |
Jessica Veal |
Reading Time: 3 minutes
A Guest Piece from Neotas.
Vero Screening partner with Neotas to provide Pre-Employment Social Media Background Checks. Here, we explain why adding social media to your employment screening processes will benefit your business.
Whilst the candidate experience has really improved over the years, the process is relatively unchanged in terms of identity verification checks, employment checks, criminal record and credit checks. These things are undoubtedly important to do, but the process hasn’t enabled employers to really understand the person’s character and personality. That’s where social media screening comes in.
The Increasing Need/Want for Social Media Screening.
In light of recent interest in movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter, there is a growing focus on reputation and culture within the workplace. Businesses are recognising the threat and potential harm that unsavoury personnel can have, and are using all of the tools at their disposal to help lower their risks.
In an increasingly remote world, there has also never been a more crucial time for screening employment candidates fully. Hiring personnel can’t rely on face-to-face interaction to get a measure of someone’s personality so additional checks are needed.
Traditional checks serve a purpose and are often a regulatory necessity but they don’t reveal enough about the individual behind the CV. Checking criminal records and the aptitude of a candidate are definitely important – but what about their personality and attitude? They may have the skills for the job but in a time where many businesses are fighting to survive, can you afford to take a risk on a bad candidate – or a candidate who will destroy your company culture?
What Can Social Media Screening Uncover?
There are plenty of misconceptions about social media screening, some of which are answered here in the FAQs section. Many are related to what’s included in a social media check and how that relates to data privacy.
Social Media background checks powered by Neotas are fully GDPR compliant. We review data associated to role-related risks only. We are not interested in old holiday photos, dog videos or pictures of your Sunday brunch.
What is uncovered is data related to key risk indicators like violence, explicit and inappropriate content, discrimination and hate speech, illegal activities and more. There are also positive indicators such as charitable work and volunteering.
Only behaviour related to one of these key indicators will be flagged. Protected characteristics like religion, sexuality, gender will all stay protected.
How Does Social Media Screening Work?
To get started, we just need the information that’s typically included in a CV. We then analyse the publicly available data online associated with that’s candidate social media accounts. A combination of AI, machine learning and human analysts review the huge quantities of data available and then produce a clear report, highlighting any risk indicators as red (flagged risk) and green (no area of concern) flags.
In 2020, up to 5% of Neotas’ cases contained high risk behaviours like discriminatory language or violence.
How Can Social Media Screening Benefit Your Business?
It’s easy to see the benefits of social media screening when you consider the potential negatives of making a bad hire. First and foremost, staff safety is the number one priority and businesses should do everything they can to avoid hiring a dangerous or disruptive person.
Secondly, the cost. The potential cost of hiring the wrong individual is significant and extends beyond the salary and recruitment fees. A bad hire can have a damaging impact on company culture and significantly harm productivity, while costs of dismissal and then re-hiring should also be considered.
Social media screening gives you a competitive advantage. When there is little to choose between a selection of qualified candidates, aptitude and cultural fit should be highest on the agenda. Who can slot in and lead this team seamlessly? Which candidate would be disruptive and ruin the status quo? There’s one way to find out.
