With today’s labor market, it’s critical to take the necessary steps to attract and retain top talent. Employers are recognizing how social media can influence the workplace. A toxic workplace environment causes distress from within. However, this stress can be greatly mitigated with a strong pre-employment screening program.
As more and more businesses recognize the threat a toxic workplace brings to their brand and reputation, they’ve invested resources into a rising area of expansion in the screening space: social media screening.
The Importance of Social Media Screening
It makes sense. Social media is prevalent in virtually every aspect of our lives. From LinkedIn to the Metaverse, our digital presence is growing. While it was once standard practice to evaluate a candidate through physical presence alone, widespread usage of social media is now a dominant part of a candidate’s life. With people leading lives both offline and on, the need for a complete, holistic view of an individual is more important than ever.
According to the 2021 PBSA HR.com background screening survey, nearly 40% of participants are seriously considering expanding their screening programs to include social media screening. Why? It’s an effective way to detect the behaviors that can lead to a toxic work environment.
Fama, First Advantage’s social media screening partner, estimates that roughly 50 in 1,000 employees will exhibit toxic behavior. These employees are far more likely to sink productivity, increase absenteeism, and amplify turnover—all of which costs your company in more ways than one. With the increase in remote work employees, social media screening is one of the best ways to get a true read of anything toxic that might end up costing your company.
Social media screening quickly identifies behaviors that pose a risk to employers. It can include a search for posts on professional or personal topics, posts from others about the candidate, or any social media activity aligning or conflicting with the values of the hiring organization.
Whether you’re dealing with new hires or current employees, social media screening helps root out toxic behavior in its tracks. Not only is the process customizable to your company’s values, it’s also an AI-driven process that provides results in as little as one business day. Live alerts and automated summaries empower you to make hiring and management decisions consistently and confidently.
Social Media Screening with First Advantage
First Advantage supports a fully compliant social media screening process to help illuminate additional risk areas for safety, toxicity in the workplace, and other harmful online behaviors. Steer clear of unnecessary costs to your business with First Advantage’s social media screening solution powered by Fama.
