In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Eric Meyer covered legal challenges related to social media background checks. Today, his take on managing such checks, plus an introduction to a unique 10-minutes-at-a-time training program for supervisors and managers.

In an interview, you have at least some control, but when you go online, you have no control over what you’ll find. However, you can take steps to minimize your risks, says Meyer.

Meyer, a partner with Dilworth Paxson LLP in Philadelphia, offered his tips at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium held recently in Nashville.

Bulletproofing Your Online Search

First, ask some basic questions, says Meyer:

  • Why do you want to use social media?
  • What is the utility of doing the search?
  • What information are you hoping to find
  • Is candidate use of social media a plus or a minus?
  • Is it critical to the position? (For some jobs, you may need someone thoroughly familiar with online sites and procedures; for others, there is no need.)

 

When Should You Search?

Do your search after the interview but before the offer. Or, says Meyer, make the offer contingent on passing the check. Before the search, get prior consent from the applicant. (You certainly need this if using a third party to do your search, Meyer notes.)

Who Should Search?

For sure, says Meyer, don’t let the person making the hiring decision do the online check. Consider using:

  • A third party
  • A member of the HR department
  • Another non-decision-maker

 

How Should You Search?

“The ad hoc approach is stupid,” says Meyer. Be organized about your search:

1. Have a policy
2. Train people on your policy. (“Hiring managers, resist the temptation to go to Google.”)
3. Develop a checklist. Write out a list of what you want to know, says Meyer. For example:

  • Expressions of hate
  • Drug use
  • Sexual content
  • Disparaging comments about work
  • Mean things about customers
  • Volume of online activity (updating status every 10 minutes, tweeting every 15)
  • Good judgment
  • Good writing

 

The checkers go down the checklist and only the checklist. They don’t report on protected characteristics.

4. Document your procedure so that you can show consistency in your checking activities.

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Save the Bad Stuff

Finally, says Meyer, when you make a negative decision based on information you found online, be sure to save that and document your decision.

Meyer’s Test

 

Meyers offers the following test for checkers: What would you report after reviewing this FaceBook page with your checklist?

  • Name: John Doe/The Wizard
  • Job: Accountant/ Conjurer
  • Hobbies: Disabled Vietnam War Veteran activities
  • Religion: Warlock
  • What I love: Taking care of my partner through his many illnesses
  • What I hate” Traveling while there is a full moon (because I can’t take my knife on the airplane); Managers who make me work on Halloween
  • Biggest accomplishment: Staying active while receiving weekly dialysis
  • Most telling feature :My strong Bolivian accent

 

What would you report after going down your checklist? Only the statement about the knife, says Meyer. How can you get your supervisors and managers to manage their social media checks and the hundred other things you need them to do right? Only one way—train, train, train.

Training is critical, but it's tough to fit it in. To train effectively, you need a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. Also, if you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you need a program that’s reasonable in cost.

We asked our editors what they recommend for training supervisors in a minimum amount of time with maximum effect. They came back with BLR’s unique 10-Minute HR Trainer.

Train your line managers with BLR's 10-Minute HR Trainer. There won't be time for classroom boredom. Try it for free.

As its name implies, this product trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer offers these features:

Trains in 50 key HR topics under all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities, and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)

Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.

Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies or turn them into overheads, and you’re done. (Take a look at a sample lesson below.)

Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs to do so as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.

Works fast. Each session is so focused that there’s not a second’s waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock, yet they remember small details even months later.

Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days

We’ve arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it’s not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we’ll set you up with 10-Minute HR Trainer.

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