19 June 2014
LinkedIn Redux
I have said before that employers should ban staff from joining LinkedIn, and as LinkedIn is still trying to portray itself - incorrectly - as a business networking tool, I will repeat and expand on why I am saying this.
Don't forget that I am writing this from the perspective of a recruiter and hardened LinkedIn user who uses it as a valuable tool.
That statement alone should be a sign of what I mean. If I want to source an electrical engineer with SCADA knowledge, I can find every LinkedIn member with the right experience at the click of very few buttons. Why would I bother spending money advertising when I can make a direct approach to people with the right experience? Plus, I know that if they're open about their job on LinkedIn, then they will definitely be open to an offer.
If you're an employer, would you be happy at your staff driving around in cars signwritten with "Electrical engineer with ten years' experience looking for work - ph 555-55-555"? I'm guessing you wouldn't, but if your staff are members of LinkedIn, that's exactly what they're doing.
Aside from a few nebbish-types with no personality or real-world contacts, nobody has ever used LinkedIn as a networking tool. LinkedIn realised early on that what they had formed was not a social network like FaceBook for business, which was the original intention, but instead had founded the world's largest recruiter's database and that that's where the value lies.
Go and check and see who is a premium member and who is not.
You will find that every recruiter is a premium member, because that is what gives members access to other members' details in depth. Try it for yourself, as follows:
Pick an occupation - and make it a recognisable but unusual one - try civil engineer with experience in road-making and design for instance, then search for that in Auckland or Christchurch. As you go through the open pages, click and see who has viewed the page, and you will find the same search pattern over and over again - certain people (all recruiters) will appear on several of the similar candidates as they scout around for contact details of people who match their needs.
As an employer, if your staff are members of LinkedIn, you are open to damaging both your staff retention and intellectual property, because lots of people give away far too much information on LinkedIn in the hope of puffing themselves up to look better than they really are.
You are allowing your competitors to know intimate detail of people they are competing against, and often technical data that should not be available publicly.
If your company does not have a policy of banning staff from joining LinkedIn, then you should think about doing it immediately. To not do so runs the risk of your staff being targeted by recruiters, and as we all know, there's nothing quite like the attraction of being tapped on the shoulder to get a person to look at a new job.
The days of seeing staff in the lunchroom perusing the Situations Vacant as a means of identifying those at risk of leaving have long gone; nowadays, you won't know until the resignation letter arrives on your desk.
Protect your staff, your secrets and your business: ban LinkedIn.
Copyright © Alan Charman