HUMAN RESOURCE

Human Resources Management and Social Media

Human Resources Management and Social Media

Introduction

Because of the perspective that Human resources managers work with human beings, HR managers are not among the first to use and deal with the social media issues. Though, it improves their aptitude to employ people. It is a normal. While human resources management has many dissimilar tasks, one of them, is certainly to defend the company from legal issues. Another very big task is to protect and cultivate the organizational culture. As time passes, social media is getting more noticeably described. This affects the positions that an online existence will play for human resources peoples. As defined by Johnson A. Segal (2011) that many human resources peoples are employing the Internet to locate capable applicants who not only fit in well and have established honesty but also look good on paper. In addition, companies are heartening their workers to employ social networks to increase their contacts list. This paper discusses the emerging trend of social media in human resource development by comparing some articles.

Discussion

The Internet, and social media or social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare in particular, offers a trove of information for employers to review when considering job applicants. Indeed, according to a 2009 survey conducted by CareerBuilder, 45 percent of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates, an increase of nearly 23 percent from the year before. (Brass, 2005)

Of those who conduct online searches concerning the job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn, 21 percent use MySpace, and seven percent use Twitter. It is likely safe to assume that in 2011, the number of employers reviewing such social media sites is even higher.

According to the CareerBuilder survey, 35 percent of employers reported that they found content on social networking sites that was a factor in their decision not to hire the job applicant. For example, employers refused to hire applicants because of poor communication skills and because the candidates posted content showing them drinking or using drugs.

According to Segal (2011), 18% reported they hired candidates based on information gleaned from social networking sites. For example, 50 percent of employers reported that they hired the applicant because the information they found provided a "good feel" for the candidate's personality and fit with the organization. (Collins, 2003)

Employers Are Exposing Themselves to a Multitude of Legal Issues While harnessing the wealth of information available on the Internet is certainly a boon to the hiring process, there are undoubtedly pitfalls that could expose the employer to claims under federal and local laws, such as negligent hiring and retention, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, laws concerning employee's off-work extracurricular activities, antidiscrimination and whistleblower laws, the National Labor Relations Act and the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act. (Deschenaux, 2011)

For example, many states prohibit employers from refusing to hire a job applicant for engaging in legal outside activities. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibits employers from using consumer reports in the ...