Guest Blog by Vero Screening: How Social Media Screening Benefits Our Clients :
How Has Social Media Screening Benefited Our Client Base?
In a world that requires ever-increasing online due diligence, we are seeing clients’ screening requirements constantly evolve. As of 2019, and after much supplier comparison, we partnered with Neotas to provide our social media background checks.
The Need for Social Media Screening
On average, a quick Google search only shows you 4-6% of all data available on the internet. As the digital age progresses, HR Managers are seeking more information about who they are hiring, to paint a fuller picture of a potential employee, and whether they will suit their company culture.
Now more than ever, there’s an increasing focus on how a bad hire could potentially harm a business’ reputation. Tools such as social media screening can help lower the risks involved with a bad hire.
We recently conducted a Social Media Screening Webinar in collaboration with Neotas where 46% of attending professionals revealed they had an experience of an employee with a negative online profile. The results show the importance of pre-employment enhanced screening, with attitude and behaviour not always considered highly enough in the hiring process.
The Uptake
The interest from our clients has been clear and has been growing steadily in the first quarter of 2021. Clients undertaking these checks fell within Financial Services, Legal, Tech and Consultancy sectors, where regulation is stringent. Each month we’ve seen new clients sign up.
The Results
Upon conducting these searches for our clients, themes of negative findings fell within:
- Inappropriate/undesirable content
- Sexually explicit content
- Hate and discriminatory behaviour
- Violent content
- Extreme views/opinions
- Undisclosed directorship
As well as highlighting risk categories from prospective and current employees, Neotas social media screening reports also revealed positive indicators, such as an individual’s charitable work and volunteering roles.
The Outcome
For our clients, these findings can make or break the decision to bring a new hire into the team, or raise new information about a current team member.
Three per cent of red flags raised by Neotas’ social media screening resulted in businesses withdrawing offers from candidates due to concerns about their online behaviour. Although a small percentage, it highlights the reassurance that these searches can provide and enabled these firms to avoid disruption to their workforce in the form of a dangerous or difficult employee.
More Information
To see how Social Media Screening can benefit your hiring process, get in touch – [email protected] or find out more: Social Media Search & Screening Services | Vero Screening
Download our recent social media screening case study here:
