of 251New Facebook Policy for Pre-Employment Screening

Angie Carreon

Maria Freites Mora

Kevin Irwin

David Kallsen

Jason Williams

October 11, 2012

Pre-Employment Screening:

New Facebook Policy

of 252New Facebook Policy for Pre-Employment Screening

Ulrich, D.,Allen, J., Brockbank, W., Younger, J., & Nyman, M. (2009). HR transformation: Building human resources from the outside in. Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from http://hrtransformationbook.com

Four-Point Model of Strategic HR Transformation

1. Why include Facebook in the screening process

2. What happens when we do

3. How this will be done

4. Who participates

1BUSINESSCONTEXT(why)

2OUTCOMES(what)

3REDESIGN

PLAN(how)

4ACCOUNT-

ABILITY(who)

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BUSINESS CONTEXT (WHY?)

• Purpose of pre-employment screening– Prediction of performance

• Verify credentials• Verify past performance

– Prediction of liability• Protection of physical and financial assets• Provide safe working environment• Avoid negligent hiring law suits

– Compliance with law for specific jobs

1

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BUSINESS CONTEXT (WHY?)

• Facebook– Founded in 2004– Social media website in which people

• connect with other people• share and express what matters to them

– Grown to 552 million daily users as ofJune 2012

1

Facebook. (2012a). Facebook reports second quarter 2012 results [Web page]. Retrieved from http://investor.fb.com/ releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=695976

Facebook. (2012b). FAQ [Web page]. Retrieved from http://investor.fb.com/faq.cfm

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BUSINESS CONTEXT (WHY?)

• Use of Social Media in Pre-Employment Screening– National Association of Colleges and Employers

(NACE) – 2006 survey results• 1 in 10 employers planned to review social media profiles• Stated that may influence hiring decisions

– CareerBuilder.com – 2006 survey results• 12% of 1,150 hiring managers review social media profiles • 63% of the 12% stated that didn’t hire because of something

found there

1

UlrBrandenburg, C. (2008, June) The newest way to screen job applicants: A social networker’s nightmare. Federal Communications Law Journal, 60(3), 597-626. Retrieved from http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v60/no3/11-Brandenburg.pdf

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BUSINESS CONTEXT (WHY?)

WHY NOT USE THIS

RESOURCE?

1

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

Outcomes:

– New policy

– Communication of new policy

– Responses to new policy – may depend on ...

• Communication of new policy

• Who does the review

• Diagnostic approach

• Use of information

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

NEW POLICY

• All applicants will log in for review by HR of Facebook profile, or ...

• if applicants do not have a Facebook profile, they must sign a statement declaring such– Falsification of this statement is grounds for

immediate dismissal if it is later determined that applicant did have one

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

NEW POLICY

• HR will review all available Facebook profiles of applicants– Purpose of review to search for disqualifying

information– Not having a Facebook profile will not disqualify an

applicant– Only applicants’ profiles will be considered for

potential disqualifying information– Potentially disqualifying information associated with

applicants’ Facebook Friends may result in a follow-up interview for clarification

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

NEW POLICY

• HR ...– Examples of disqualifying information include but are

not limited to depictions, descriptions, etc. of:• applicant engaging in illegal activities (e.g., illegal drug use,

drunk driving)

• applicant engaging in or promoting values that conflict with company policies (e.g., workplace violence, discrimination)

• anything that would predict that applicant would not be successful in the role (e.g., bullying, breech of contract)

• anything that suggests applicant misrepresented qualifications

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

NEW POLICY

• HR ...– For documentation purposes,

• Any disqualifying information is to be copied and attached to application

• Lack of disqualifying information is to be noted on the application

– HR professionals providing this service to the employment process will receive training

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

NEW POLICY

• Hiring managers will be instructed to not review Facebook profiles of applicants

– To separate exposure to information about protected status of applicants from the hiring decision

– To better ensure that consistent criteria is utilized in both the screen in and screen out process

2

ENHANCES LEGAL DEFENSIBILITY!

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

COMMUNCIATION OF NEW POLICY

• Explains rationale

• Provides clear expectations

• Specifies terms and conditions of use

• Emphasizes mutual respect rather than autocracy

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Antecedent: Communication– Recipients

• applicants

• employees

• external environment/stakeholders

– Content• rationale

• clear expectations

• terms and conditions of use

• statement of mutual respect

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Antecedent: Reviewer

2

HIRING MANAGER HR DEPARTMENT OUTSOURCE SVC

• Closest to hiring decision

• No specialty in employ- ment law

• Further from hiring decision

• Specialty in employment law

• Furthest from hiring decision

• Specialty in employment law

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Antecedent: Diagnostic approach

– Type of information gathered• discrete vs. continuous data

– Objectivity• testability against external environment

– Construct validity• testability of predictive value of the information

gathered

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Antecedent: Use of information

– Purpose• Screen in vs. Screen out

– Confidentiality• Discretion exercised to not disseminate an

applicant’s information

– Ethical use of information• Adherence to the standard of not misusing an

applicant’s information

2

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Availability of Facebook Profiles

2

AV

AIL

AB

ILIT

Y

Applicant willing to show

Applicant has account Applicant lies

Temporarily deactivated

Applicant refuses to show

No account

FORWARD

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Prediction of Performance

2

PR

ED

ICT

ION

OF

PE

FO

RM

AN

CE

Discrete data

Good communication of policy

Unstructured info gathering

Continuous data

Subjective information

Poor communication of policy

FORWARD

Specific information

Objective information

Poor construct validityGood construct validity

Screen inScreen out

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OUTCOMES (WHAT?)

RESPONSE: Avoidance of Liability

2

AV

OID

AN

CE

OF

LIA

BIL

ITY

Discrete data

Good communication of policy

Unstructured info gathering

Continuous data

Subjectivity in evaluation

Poor communication of policy

FORWARD

Specific information

Objectivity in evaluation

Poor construct validityGood construct validity

Confidentiality breechedScreen out

HR as reviewer

Confidentiality maintained

Ethical use of information

Line manager as reviewer

Unethical use of information

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REDESIGN PLAN (HOW?)

Redesign Plan

3

RBL Group. (2009). HR Transformation Milestones Checklist. Retrieved from http://hrtransformationbook.com

Acknowledge need for change

Create change project team

Define, assess, prioritize business realities

Write and communicate business case

Bu

sin

es

sC

on

text

Organizational capabilities audit

Define key capabilities needed for change

Link key capabilities needed to business needsOu

tco

me

s

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REDESIGN PLAN (HOW?)

Redesign Plan

3

RBL Group. (2009). HR Transformation Milestones Checklist. Retrieved from http://hrtransformationbook.com

Create strategy

Shape organization with clear accountabilities

Audit practices to determine which align

Define effectiveness in roles and new tasks

Assess and invest in professionals’ abilities

Re

des

ign

Pla

n

Appropriate staffing

Acc

ou

nt-

abili

ty

Incentives to engage in appropriate activities

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ACCOUNTABILITY (WHO?)

In order to facilitate a sustained change that delivers value ...

– Top management – policy change needs to be championed and its importance embraced

– HR• On-going assessment of line managers’ KSAOs

• Facilitate training to close the gap

• Engage and share ownership with line managers

• Build new strategy into performance management system

4

Ulrich, D.,Allen, J., Brockbank, W., Younger, J., & Nyman, M. (2009). HR transformation: Building human resources from the outside in. Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from http://hrtransformationbook.com

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ACCOUNTABILITY (WHO?)

In order to facilitate a sustained change that delivers value ...

– Line management• Be receptive to and learn

– the new policy

– its benefits

– its link to organization strategy

• Share ownership with HR in the execution of the new policy

• Educate subordinates on new policy, its benefits, and link to organizational strategy

4

Ulrich, D.,Allen, J., Brockbank, W., Younger, J., & Nyman, M. (2009). HR transformation: Building human resources from the outside in. Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from http://hrtransformationbook.com

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QUESTIONS?