The Benefits of Social Media Screening
Following on from our update on May’s social media search results, the benefits of social media screening remain a topic of debate. Neotas’s co-founder, Ian Howard, ” There’s been a couple of events that have occurred over the last couple of years which have made people very concerned about who they’re hiring and who they’re investing in.” In line with Credence’s May social media screening results, he went on further to say that, We see a lot of people concerned about racist content, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment content – and all of those things can come through via this level of screening.”
As we’ve seen, these kinds of results can cause irreparable brand damage. For sports clubs, a negative reaction from sponsors and fans alike could hurt both loyalty and income. Of course, this does not just apply to sports clubs – no matter your field of business, a lack of due diligence can harm your brand’s image for years to come. Social media screening allows organisations to be one step ahead. Utilising machine learning together with human review, Credence’s service picks up dangerous issues such as racist or politically sensitive posts. This allows our clients to identify troubling behaviour, find the right cultural fit for the company, or even stop them from ending up in a news headline. Under COVID-19 restrictions, remote recruitment has seen a dramatic rise, prompting employers across all industries to increasingly seek social media checks. When you cannot meet your applicant in person, the screening can provide a key insight into whether they are a good fit for your company culture. Furthermore, it’s not only the negatives: the searches often reveal information supportive of the candidate. Given the scale and prevalence of CV fraud, this is an invaluable tool in your arsenal.
What are the potential cons?
Without care, there are some cons to the practice. On the one hand, speaking from her experience as an employment lawyer with Doyle Clayton, Katie Mahoney said that “lots of employers use social screening to protect their reputation” and clarified that “there isn’t anything in law which specifically prevents them from doing that.” However, she went on to caution that discrimination claims could arise if social media screening revealed protected characteristics which were later factored into the decision-making process. These could include things such as religion, gender or sexuality. A service such as Credence’s ensures the opposite: the removal of bias from any hiring decision. Our checks are comply fully with GDPR, examine content impartially and only look for business-related risks.