Posts

Five Millennial Background Screening Challenges

/ /by

By the end of 2015, Millennials are expected to outnumber Baby Boomers in the workplace for the first time. They’re hot commodities, but hiring them creates background screening challenges.

In particular, when screening Millennials, employers need to take into account not only what’s effective, but also what’s legal. Below are five of the chief challenges.

1. Social Media Searches

We know Millennials love their social networks. But some say Millennials share too freely. The resulting wealth of online information can be tempting for hiring managers.

Using social media to screen candidates can be risky, however. The information you find might not be legal to use in a hiring context. Information about religious affiliation, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status or health condition may all be prohibited under anti-discrimination laws. Plus, Millennials appear to have more cultural diversity than Gen X or Baby Boomers—42 percent identify with a race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white.

The legal risks associated with social media searches are not unique to Millennials, but because of their diverse makeup and propensity to share, employers are more likely to stumble upon protected class information. Employers shold ensure social media screening is done by those who are familiar with the legal risks.

2. Digital Natives And Age Discrimination

Millennials are not direct targets for age discrimination. But the hiring criteria you use to attract Millennials might be at the expense of people protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and similar state laws.

For example, in 2013, Facebook settled a lawsuit with California’s Fair Employment and Housing Department for posting an employment ad that stated “Class of 2007 or 2008 preferred.”

Another example is the term “digital native”—people born and raised in the digital age. It’s code for Millennials, and it’s popping up in job ads. Legal experts agree that pre-screening for digital natives is thinly veiled age discrimination. Instead of screening for digital natives, identify the job requirements. If you want someone skilled in tech and comfortable in the digital environment, use those words. Chances are, lots of Millennials will be qualified and respond.

3. Driving Records

According to AARP, Millennials drive around 25 percent less than their counterparts did just eight years ago. If a licensed driver with a clean driving record is your target, you might be eliminating prospective Millennial applicants. That might not be a big deal, but like all parts of a background check, you want to make sure the information you are seeking is relevant to the job.

Before you run a motor vehicle report (MVR) on an applicant, ask yourself why. Is a clean driving record a bona fide job requirement? Requiring a driver’s license or running a motor vehicle check would not rise to the level of discrimination, per se, but could limit your job pool in the 20-30-year-old market.

4. Credit

Millennials tend to rely less on traditional bank loans and credit cards, are more likely to use cash, and spend less than Gen X or Baby Boomers. They also tend to borrow less. As a result, many are “underbanked”—have little or no credit history. If a credit report is one of your job requirements, expect little or no information about unbanked Millennials.

Credit is already a slippery slope, with many states prohibiting use of credit for pre-employment screening. Credit information is a sensitive topic for many job candidates. It could be even touchier for Millennials.

5. Job History And Verifications

Millennials job-hop. According to Data Facts’ blog, “a whopping 91% of them don’t expect to stay at a job for longer than 3 years.” Moreover, according to a recent federal study, Millennials are less likely to have worked during school. So they are more likely to leave college without a work history.

All of this leaves a prospective employer with less to work with in terms of reference checking and verifications. As a result, screening for job history, applied skills and experience might be more challenging. One possible solution: expand the scope of inquiry to include volunteer experience and potentially personal references. However, the use of personal references and investigative reports may necessitate additional notices and further legal compliance under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 

Image: Bigstock

Gen Z in the Workplace

/ /by

There was a great discussion, and at times, debate, on #TChat last week, all about Generation Z and the workplace.  It feels like we just learned about Gen Y and how to engage them in the workplace, and it’s already time to prepare for Gen Z!

Most people consider Gen Z, also called “Digital Natives”, to be those young people born around the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s.  They are the first generation to be born into a completely digital age, hence the name “digital natives”.

Before I get into some research and predictions around this next generation, let me say this: I don’t believe in generalizing an entire generation.  I have worked with amazing Gen Yers who had work ethic in spades, with Gen Xers who weren’t latchkey kids who depended on mom for many things, and with Boomers who know more about computers than I ever will (I’m a Gen Xer).  However, there are bound to be some trends as different generations are brought up through such different social, economic, and technological times.

Intro to Gen Z

Gen Z’s most formative years have seen America attacked by terrorists, people losing jobs and homes in a severe economic recession, and the first black President of the United States. They have seen the power of social media in creating superstars and taking down governments. They have computers in their classrooms and many have their own websites or at least Facebook pages by age 10. Gen Zers have a benefit that Gen Yers missed: Their parents – mostly Gen X – were already adept at navigating social media, had seen mistakes made, and are more prepared to coach their kids through that space strategically.

Now for a few predictions and suggestions for the workplace.

Recruitment Efforts

If you’re not going social, you’re not going to get the best talent. Building a community around your brand and its values will help to engage these new workers. They were born on Facebook, quite literally. Use Youtube, use humour, go viral with your recruitment efforts.

Organizational Culture

Posting your company culture statement on the wall and preaching it to your employees never worked, but as time goes on, it continues to be less and less effective. Your employees, your customers, your business partners, are all talking about you. Publicly. If you’re not living up to the words on your poster, they will know. It will become more and more important for companies to build positive, transparent, and trusted cultures in order to attract talent.

Types of Jobs

By 2019, when Gen Zers are hitting the workplace, they will be working jobs that we never heard of or could imagine, even in the year 2011.  Contract work will be the new normal.  Multi-tasking will also be more prevalent – and more productive. Gen Y is the first generation who actually can multitask effectively, as shown in recent studies. Gen Z will be even more adept at paying attention and working productively at more than one thing at a time. They will expect it, and will be bored if they don’t get it.

Diversity

It will finally be time to do away with Diversity departments and initiatives. For these workers, Diversity is a given. If you have to focus on it, you don’t get it yet. And they won’t get you. Gen Z will expect that everyone has a voice regardless of opinion, socio-economic background, or race.

Collaboration

Gen Zers don’t quite have the entitlement mentality often associated with Gen Y. Their parents, while protective and micro-managing, saw the effects of the Trophy generation and are trying to resist it. But Gen Zers will still expect to be involved. They see sharing and collaboration everywhere, from social media sharing to Taylor Swift partnering with T-Pain.

Social and Technology at Work

By 2019, forms of social networking for collaboration on projects and recognition will be a given. HR needs to get involved now, or be left in the dust. Innovative companies are employing internal blogs, newsfeeds, e-recognition, and socially networked performance management to align everyone towards the same goals. Check out companies and applications like Rypple, TribeHR, Careerify, Yammer and Achievers for examples of this type of technology. Email is not as popular with this generation. Texting, IM’ing, and Facebook is how they communicate.

Learning

Learning will need to be byte-sized and bite-sized. I picture Gen Zers with the iPhone 23S, scanning QR codes to watch a bite-sized video of learning they need, just in time to complete work. I picture them collaborating in building training, adding to Wikis to build content.

Communication

Gen Zers are used to communicating by text and in status updates on Facebook profiles. They are used to brevity. They may need additional training and coaching in business communication and grammar. Some say their propensity to blog will make them better at written communication, but I have to disagree. The form of communication in a blog is often not grammatically correct, and often times may not be entirely appropriate in business. Although, by the time Gen Zers are running the business world, that will likely change too.

It’s hard to say whether these predictions will come to fruition. We’ll know in about 10 years. In any case, I’m excited to see the impact Gen Z will have, and how the workplace will change. What do you think?