Benefits of Social Media Recruitment in Healthcare
Discuss about the Social Media Recruitment in Healthcare Industry of Canada.
Social media provides a platform for people to use the internet in establishing a social network and expressing their feelings. It is a place where most of the population can be easily found. The process of social media recruitment is an emerging trend among the employers. It is a very accessible way to connect with the potential employees. Therefore use of the media in relation to the process can be a very effective tool. The use of social media has become significantly important to the recruiting strategies of employers. The fount of information for organizations seeking recruitment is now social media profiles. The process is making it easier for recruiters and potential employees to connect with each other. Every organization now days have Meetup or Facebook group. However the process does not comprise of benefits only, it also has significant ethical and legal issues associated with the process.
Health care in Canada is projected to generate the most employment compared to any other industry by 2022. 59% of the recruitment within healthcare is done through the direct or indirect use of social media (McDonald & McIntyre, 2017). According to (Grajales III, Sheps, Ho, Novak-Lauscher, & Eysenbach, 2014) the use of social media has provided the organization a tool through which they can exclude employees who have some kind of trait such as gender, race, disability or religion from being recruited. Such an act is strictly prohibited by law which states that no person shall be discriminated against in the process of recruitment and selection with respect to any special characteristics. There are various such ethical and legal issues associated with the process of social media recruitment.
The paper argues that the use of social media in the process of recruitment and screening potential employees in nursing contains significant legal and ethical risk which an organization may be subjected to. The paper provides counter arguments in favor of the use of social media for the process of recruitment. The paper then provides arguments in relation to the risk associated with social media. The paper concludes by analyzing both the counter argument and the arguments and provides an appropriate action plan.
As stated by (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011) with the rise in the use of social media for the process of recruitment and screening of potential employees in nursing and healthcare the benefits of social media is being recognized by employers which includes increasing the quality and pool of equipments, cost saving, and for the purpose of targeting a specific group of candidates. According to (Jobvite, 2012) a straight forward way of screening candidates are provided by social media at a much lesser cost which is involved in the traditional methods. The process of social media recruitment also gives the organization an insight into the character of the potential candidate which cannot be gained through any other process. It has been stated by (O’connor, Jackson, Goldsmith, & Skirton, 2014) that the quality of employees recruited in the healthcare industry is vastly enhanced through the use of social media recruitment.
Legal and Ethical Risks of Social Media Recruitment in Healthcare
(Brown & Vaughn, 2011) argue that social media provides a public forum which is readily available for the purpose of researching candidates while involving lowest possible cost. This makes the practice attractive in the healthcare industry. In addition potential employers are provided with detailed information which allows them to make inferences or draw conclusion about the personality or character of the applicant which may not be economically or easily obtained in a traditional manner.
It has been widely accepted by literature that a cost effective alternative to a more traditional process of recruitment is provided through the use of social media. According to (Chu & Snider, 2013) statistics from Canada healthcare industry provides that it costs around $3,295 to make a traditional job advertisement and on the other hand social media adverts only costs $377 at an average. The use of social media can also trigger diversity and equality policies as it provides a potential opportunity to the recruiters to conduct online forums and discussion in relation to the potential candidates who are difficult to access. The strategy can also be used as a net widening search process which would ensure that organization go beyond searching in same types of areas in relation to potential candidates.
In addition, it has been stated by (McDonald & McIntyre, 2017)that interactive tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook play a significant role in the process of recruitments through fostering realistic jobs information among the employees providing recruitment information. The argument has been supported by (Gorman, et al., 2014) who states that social media is not only important in relation to the process of attracting employees but also in presenting realistic job previews to the potential candidates.
It has been stated by (Shere, Zhao, & Koren, 2014) that the use of social media for the purpose of provides a positive band experience. As social media platform is used by the employees to research about an organization, brand experience is critical for an organization to be viewed as an attractive employer. Potential employees would only want to work for those employers who have a well established name and who are trusted in the society. where a positive brand image is established by an organization the potential candidates would be likely to respond to the social media advertisement made by the employer. Therefore a lot of information can be obtained by a potential employee about the employer through the use of social media. This will let the employees decide whether they like the culture and feel of the organization. In case the potential candidates do not like the culture of the organization they can restrain form applying which would save time and cost for themselves and the organization as well. The process may also help the organization form deterring candidates who are not suitable for the job. Through the use of tools like “work fit questionnaires” the employers may analyze the preference of the potential candidates and reject applications at an early stage. This may lead to significant cost saving for the organization in terms of the time saved by them. Thus in relation to the healthcare industry in Canada the use of social media recruitment provides a platform to attract and deter applicants by providing them a picture of working in the organization entails.
Cost-Effective Alternative to Traditional Recruitment Methods
According to (O’connor, Jackson, Goldsmith, & Skirton, 2014) the use of social media generally enhances the process of communication which can be hugely beneficial for healthcare organizations. Therefore when social media is used in the process of recruitment the process of communication which is a vital element is also enhanced. In addition there is also an element of brand building in relation to the use of social media in the process of recruitment. For instance on Facebook vacancy posts are liked and shared by people even in case they are not applying to the post themselves. The process enhances the public image and overall profile of the organization. The existing employees of the organization may also advertise in favor of the company by sharing their experiences in relation to the organization online which may attract other potential employees to the organization and reducing the cost involved in advertisement.
However amidst the several benefits which have been provided in support of the use of social media in the process of recruitment and screening of potential employees in the healthcare industry there are several areas of concern which are associated with the use of the process. In case the organization does not use the process of social media recruitment in a proper manner it causes a few significant risks to the organization and the potential candidates.
Although specific advantages in relation to targeting recruitment and making economies is offered through the use of social media, the process also includes certain cost and risk with respect to its use. The most significant legal risk along with the broader ethical questions is in relation to the practice of screening. It has been stated by (Clark & Roberts, 2010) that the background information and references in relation to potential candidates were always available to employers on request. However the employers restrained form indulging into the activity due to legal and cost requirements. There is a shift in this norm as employers are on a routine basis carrying out informal online background verification without the consent or knowledge of the potential candidates. The employers make the decision based on the information which they find in relation to the candidates. The practice is taken by employers as granted and widely acceptable, however a few employers have raised the question that whether such practice is ethical.
The use of Social Media searches in relation to Human Resources also raises question in relation to accuracy, reach, cost and legal risk. According to an online survey conducted by (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011) in the healthcare industry of Canada on HR mangers whose organization had used SM in the process of recruitment it was commonly cited that the process acts as a disadvantage for various candidates. The issue was followed by concern in relation to privacy of the candidate. In addition the issue of possible discrimination had also been cited by the managers in relation to the personal characteristics of candidates. The details in relation to the issues have been provided in the diagram below.
Triggering Diversity and Equality Policies through Social Media Recruitment
Source: (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011)
When the question of singling out one of the most important concern had been asked to the managers in relation to the use of social media in the process of recruitment, it was found that the situation where the candidates do not have access to the use of social media results in a disadvantage to the candidates.
It has been argued by (Zielinski, 2012) although there has been an increased use of social media; the financial advantages provided through its use have not been quantified. The increase of social media as a platform for recruitment is increasing at a very rapid rate. An American shipping company UPS is one of the very few organization who have made a study in relation to the cost involved in the process of recruitment using social media platform in details. The organization used an analytical software to evaluate the performance of social media sites. Tools were also used by the organization to get details about the comment made people in relation to company and its practices of recruitment so that it can be aware of how the process is taken. It was found through the study that the biggest cost associated with the practice of social media recruitment was the staff time. It was also argued by the study that the cost justification should merely not be based on number of organization follower increasing, but also the quality of the online interaction of the organization, the retention rate and the number of heirs directly through the use of social media. The view has also been supported by (McDonald & McIntyre, 2017) which also found staff time as one of the most significant cost associated with social media recruitment.
The process of screening through the use of social media is not a formalized part of the process of recruitment. This means that the information collected through the process which is unverified may also be inaccurate. People can edit or distort information on social media website in compliance with social desirability. According to (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011) it is always perceived by the employers that the information which has been posted on social media website is more accurate than which is provided by the employees themselves in the cover letter s the employee do not expect that the social profile would be viewed by the employer. However where social profile has been created by a person he or she may try to impress family and friends and indulge in the process of distorting information in relation to the intended audience. Employer can also be provided with the information about the potential candidates from any third person associated with the social networking websites and even such information is not verified.
Another issue which needs to be considered in relation to social media recruitment is the potential of making mistakes easily. A candidate may by mistake add information which he did not want to add or has been posed by someone else. Although such information can be rectified quickly, if they are not a false impression is created on the employer.
Fostering Realistic Job Previews through Interactive Social Media Tools
A further important question in relation to social media recruitment is the relative diversity of the applicant pool which is available through the social media platform. There is a possibility that gender, generational, and racial differences are observed by the employers towards the selection of potential employees. It has been stated by (Davison H. K., Maraist, Hamilton, & Bing, 2012) that demographic differences may exists in terms of those who are provided access to a webpage and those who are not.
The process of social media recruitment also provides a platform for negative remark and criticism against the organization in the same way through which it enhances its reputation. These negative remarks can spread quickly and easily. The legal implications of the process of social media recruitment are also largely untested as the process is relatively a new one. In the light of the wide variety of information which can be accessed by the employers online there are various claims which can be brought by the potential candidates against the employer. It has been argued by (Brown & Vaughn, 2011) that a series of unique legal challenges and issues are introduced by the use of social media platform in recruitment. A potential of individual bias arises when employers indulge in social media recruitment. Currently employers are no required to disclose the information which have been collected and considered by them through the use of social media. This may provide an opportunity to indulge in the process of discrimination.
Conclusion
For the above discussion it can be concluded that the use of social media in the process of recruitment and screening of potential employees in the healthcare industry of Canada is not free of risk and disadvantages irrespective of its wide acceptability among the employers. There are several risk associated with the process such as financial costs in terms of staff time, disadvantages for candidates who do not have access to social media, concerns in relation to privacy, increase in the number of candidates, discrimination based on personal characteristics, increase in workload, limited pool of candidates and bad impact on organizational reputation. However in the light of the advantages of the process, the practice cannot be declared as totally ineffective in the process of recruitment. The process can still be effectively used if a proper risk management structure is implemented towards addressing the risk. However, the implementation and structuring of the framework is not going to be easy in the light of several issues which are posed by the process to both the employers and the employees. In addition there is no option available to those employees who are not able to gain access to the websites. Thus the extent to which the process is used is vital to its success. Although the process can be used as a reference but it cannot be an integral part of the recruitment process ethically and legally
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