Ok…Again, this post is not exactly on the topic of the blog as a whole – but it does bring to light some issues that small business should be taking into account when they hire and where they get their information.
I was sitting in line today, when I struck up a conversation with the director of IT for a local bank. We got to talking about the social marketing aspects of the net and how they had impacted the business over the years. I asked him, just off the cuff if they had any influence on his department’s hiring practice – ie. did they use Myspace to research potential hires? He said they did not at this time, but the question had come up for the bank as a whole. So, my next question to him was, do you think it is fair to use this information? I mean, is what a person does on the web and in their spare time any indicator of how they might perform their job? This is largely a question to get employers thinking – I think it largely depends on the position and the company, but a crazy/derogatory/or otherwise socially unacceptable social networking page could ultimately reflect poorly on the company, its sales or in some way affect its bottom line. How much? As a small business owner you need to decide this and use the information accordingly when you are hiring.
Now, I am not a lawyer, although I do know a few, and I think that they would agree with me that information on the net is fair game when it comes to hiring practices – bad or good information, for that matter. Hiring managers and Human resources specialists can pipe right up! I would certainly like some input on this topic if you have it.