Social Media and Human Resource Staffing: Legal, Policy and Practice Issues for Employers

INTRODUCTION What is social media? A recent Society for Human Research Management (SHRM) research report titled "Social Media in Business Strategy and Operations" defined social media as: Web-based tools and technologies used to share information and turn communication into interactive dialogues with internal or external audiences. Examples include Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter (SHRM, 2013). While social media websites existed before the 2002 launching of Linkedin and the 2004 launching of Facebook, their use was limited. In the last three years their use by individuals and in turn employers has exploded dramatically. Facebook membership reportedly grew from 161 million registered worldwide users in January 2012 to more than a billion monthly active users in December of 2012 (Oracle, 2012 and Facebook, 2013). LinkedIn reported that it had grown from 100 million members in March of 2011 to 200 million members in January of 2013 (LinkedIn, 2013). As Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites have continued to attract users, employers have also ramped up their use of social media. Time and money--two key resources most organizations attempt to maximize--are at the top of the list of reasons driving organizations of all sizes and kind to find more ways to utilize social media. From a marketing prospective, for example, social media enables organizations to connect with a wide audience at the stroke of a key pad with minimal cost (Frost, 2013). Access and use of the most popular social media sites is free, and given the increasing number of people utilizing social media in their daily lives, utilizing social media as part of an organization's promotional plans can allow them to "stretch" their "advertising dollars further" (Frost, 2013). Organizations have also been utilizing social media to drive overall business operations and in turn results. At Unisys for example, the organization has been attempting to use "social media tools to become more agile, to share knowledge, and to increase the speed of innovations" with the goal of improving individual employee and organizational productivity (Meister, 2011). HR STAFFING With respect to the use of social media to find and select the right individuals to employ, employers are attempting to take advantage of the same factors driving marketers and managers in general--money & time. With more and more individuals visiting social media sites than reading the Sunday want ads when looking for work, it is obvious why survey data reports as many as 95% of companies are using Linkedin and other sites to find the right individuals to employ. A hrmreport.com article reported that Microsoft saved $88,000 in recruitment fees using Linkedin and that brewer SAB Miller saved $1.7 million by employing people directly through Linkedin (hrmreport.com, 2013). Using social media to recruit has also been reported to help employers reach job candidates that are no longer using traditional sources and in some cases reaching higher-quality candidates. According to an Oracle white paper on how to effectively use social networks in recruiting, "Individuals who frequently use social networks tend to be early adopters of innovation and also tend to be more technically savvy (Sullivan, 2009). These are the traits many companies look for in potential candidates. Social networks offer a fast way to connect with these individuals" (Oracle, 2012). Another potential reason for using social media in recruiting often cited in the literature is the ability of employers to establish relationships with potential employees over time. Following individuals over time enables employers to more effectively "determine cultural fit" (hrmreport.com, 2013). Along those same lines, many employers are utilizing social media sites as a cost effective way to conduct background checks (hrmreport.com, 2013). Building a positive "brand image" is another important marketing concept that social media can be part of an organization's strategy to attract quality candidates. …