Sponsored by FAMA.
In this episode of WorkTrends, we will walk through how younger generations in the age of AI are changing the hiring landscape and explore how we can adapt to protect our teams, brand reputations and quality of hire. The days of water cooler whispers and what happens at work, stays at work are over. For today’s digital native workforce, the line between workplace conversations and public social media posts has all but disappeared. Poof, one viral moment can reshape an employer’s reputation, influence hiring and impact customer trust. In this episode, we are exploring how organizations can stay ahead of these risks while protecting both their people and their brand.
Today we are joined by a favorite friend of WorkTrends, Ben Mones from Fama. Ben Mones is the CEO and founder of Fama, an award-winning AI-powered software company trusted by thousands of talent acquisition teams around the world. Ben is an expert on how technology is shaping society, particularly in the workplace. In addition to leading Fama, Ben serves on boards for a handful of high-growth startups and mentors emerging entrepreneurs.
Hiring in The Age of AI
What is fundamentally different about hiring today?
When you think about what companies are doing when they’re going through the screening process, of course they’re evaluating whether or not someone has the skillset or the capabilities to do a job. They’re asking questions around, as we go through our succession planning in this role, if we’re creating a new one, can this person integrate themselves and either continue to carry the torch or spin up a whole new set of workflows and outcomes for our company?
But when it comes to things that people have screened for, it’s always been like, is this person going to act and behave in the way that we expect them to when they join? Are all the things that they’ve told us about themselves, do we have a good read into whether or not that’s going to be true a few months, a few years from now? And so companies are always looking at things like the basics.
Red Flags in Today’s Hiring Process
Tell us what is happening with customers seeing that increasingly important to flag early on.
What we’re seeing is that 1 in 15 people that we’re screening on behalf of our customers are coming up with some sort of online misconduct. So that physical water cooler, it’s now moved online. And about yeah, 1 in 15 people, but these are the same sorts of things that around that physical water cooler. Think the things that could impact employee wellbeing, safety in the workplace, your brand, your reputation. If it got out, maybe that somebody was a sales leader at a company was acting misogynistic towards women, that might be bad. In the old days, that might just be like an employee safety wellbeing retention concern. But in the age of social media, that’s a brand and reputation concern as well for some of these companies.
Being Proactive or Responsive
Why is it better to be proactive rather than sort of forced into this ridiculous crisis response mode that people now kind of glaze their eyes over half the time it seems?
So the behaviors that become or rather get introduced into your organization, things like, again, let’s say you get someone that… I’ll just play out this example for you. Let’s say you’re not doing online screening, you’re hiring somebody. They’re in their early 30s, they’re a mid-level manager. They’ve had social media for years. They’ve been posting online for their entire life and they’re posting all this, let’s just say, again, just use that example, misogynistic stuff about women, saying horrible things that you would never say or ever want to be associated with as an individual. But this person’s saying it, the company lets that person in, doesn’t check it, whatever. That person then comes in, and I hate to tell everyone, but online behavior is a reflection of what happens in the real world. It is true.
To Learn More About Hiring in the Age of Social Media and AI
For more insights about how your organization can make the most of employee benefits, listen to this full podcast episode. And be sure to subscribe to the #WorkTrends Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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