While most of the discussions we’ve had here on The Hiring Site about social media recruitment focus on its benefits, I wanted to take the opportunity to address a recent whitepaper by talent management firm Taleo about social media recruitment’s potential risks.  (The main risk being, according to the paper, that companies could, in theory, be accused of practicing discrimination by advertising their opportunities on sites whose user demographic disproportionately represents the workforce demographic.)

While it’s good to be aware of the potential risks Taleo mentions in the whitepaper, it is important to point out that these risks represent the exception, not the rule. 

The biggest risk comes from when companies use only social networking sites to source candidates, which could put them at risk for discrimination, according to Taleo, because advertising on just one type of social networking site that attracts only a certain demographic could be seen as an intent to exclude others. (For instance, because the demographic of LinkedIn users disproportionately represents the demographic of the entire workforce, using LinkedIn to source candidates, it could be argued, excludes some groups from getting equal opportunities for employment at your organization.)

But smart companies already know better than to limit their recruiting efforts to just social media because they recognize that social media is just one part of an overall recruitment mix, used to supplement other talent engagement and attraction efforts.

“Anyone who suggests social media be the sole source for any company’s recruiting, or recruiting for a specific position for that matter, is giving bad advice,” says Melissa Murray, Emerging Media Consultant at Personified.

For instance, used in conjunction with postings, hiring events, internal referrals, college tradeshows, etc., social media adds another channel to attracting the right talent to an organization. And while some companies use it for sourcing, it is best used for employment branding and attracting candidates to apply to jobs.

(This isn’t just good legal advice, by the way – it’s smart marketing. Using a variety of channels by which to advertise your open positions will ensure you get in front of a wider range of diverse candidates, each with different skills to offer and ideas to bring to the table.)

In fact, if anything, Taleo’s report is simply a reminder of what companies should be doing anyway (and, for the most part, already are) when it comes to recruitiment, namely:

1. Plan ahead.  Discuss potential risks and contingencies with your legal team, PR department and human resources managers before getting involved in social media.
2. Train your recruiters – whether internally or with the aid of a third-party consultant – on the social networking tools that your company plans on using – in addition to general training on Affirmative Action, EEOC and your company’s own practices to improve its diversity and inclusion efforts.
3. Create social media guidelines for your company and make sure your employees – or whoever is representing your company in the social media space – are well-versed in these guidelines.

“Bottom line,” says Murray, “If a company’s application process is compliant, and they’re inviting candidates from a variety of platforms, they’re creating a diverse pool. It’s up to their sourcing team and hiring managers to select from this pool in a way that supports the company’s diversity initiatives.”

So long as you view social media as a complement to – and not a replacement for – your overall recruiting process, you can still reap the benefits of a social media recruitment strategy.