How Far is Too Far? Researching Potential Job Candidates on Facebook |  |
- How Far is Too Far? Researching Potential Job Candidates on Facebook
- Call for All 50 States to Adopt Self Employment Program
- Umberto Milletti of InsideView: Rise Above The Noise
- Shaken Not Stirred
- Small Business Opportunities Spring From Unexpected Sources
| How Far is Too Far? Researching Potential Job Candidates on Facebook Posted: 23 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PDT The background checks companies used to do on potential employees seem like child’s play compared to what some employers are doing to get the dirt on job candidates today. Not only are they searching Google results to make sure there’s nothing unpleasant in cyberspace about a new hire, but now they want candidates’ Facebook passwords.
If a candidate’s Facebook or other social profile is set to private, logging into the account lets hiring managers find out what exactly the individual is up to. But it can also lead to unintended negative consequences — such as discrimination. For example, if a job candidate for a law enforcement position (one of the most common roles where Facebook passwords are requested) is a member of a non-Christian Facebook group, does that give the employer the right to not hire him? And are the prospective employers really thinking this through? What if the job candidate is not hired and turns around and brings a discrimination claim, based on the potential employer having seen that information that implies religious connections? Have We Crossed the Line of Personal Privacy? Facebook, for one, won’t stand for it. The social networking site updated its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to reflect the unlawful act of sharing passwords. Unfortunately, it’s not clear if someone is caught doing so if they will be prosecuted (the statement says the user’s account may be deleted) or whether the offending employer will be held responsible. And if so, how? And while there isn’t current legislation against such practices, it may not be long before there is. Connecticut’s U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal plans to file legislation that would prohibit an employer from asking for a social profile password, and would enforce a violation fee of $1,000 for the first offense, and $2,500 for subsequent offenses. What Are Your Rights and Responsibilities as an Employer? Naturally, small businesses like ours want to ensure we don’t hire extremists, drug addicts or anyone who’s not a good fit for the company. In my mind, you can’t make that call by viewing someone’s social media profile, nor should you. Before the Internet, companies hired based on resumes and interviews. You got some bad apples with the bunch, but you accepted that as the cost of doing business. Now we think the Internet can prevent us from hiring the wrong people, when in fact, it can’t. If you feel compelled to do so, search in Google for a prospective employee. What you hope to see is professional blog posts, references to previous jobs and maybe a bit about a job candidate’s love for travel. You shouldn’t be searching their social media sites to find ways to disqualify them. If you have questions about their extracurricular activities, ask about them in the job interview, rather than browsing their Facebook profile. People are allowed to have a separation of personal and professional in their lives, and as an employer, you should respect this right. From Small Business Trends |
| Call for All 50 States to Adopt Self Employment Program Posted: 23 Mar 2012 11:11 AM PDT Legislation extending the U.S. payroll tax deduction in February included changes to the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) voluntary program that allows states to pay a self-employment allowance to unemployed individuals who are in the process of establishing businesses and realizing the dream of self-employment.
The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) and other small business organizations previously expressed a desire to see these types of programs extended and embraced by all 50 states; currently only Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington have adopted SEA programs. We have called upon Congress to help pass legislation that would assist all states in launching self-employment training programs for residents. These training programs should be available free to all unemployed citizens providing them with an avenue to create their own job, should they be unable to find one. The changes in SEA include making available Federally-financed unemployment benefits to the program, additionally, the bill directs the Department of Labor and Small Business Administration to provide technical assistance to states that are interested in establishing the program. Perhaps the biggest incentive for states is the inclusion of $35 million dollars to help states administer the SEA program. Previously the state absorbed the costs of developing and maintaining the program. In most cases, an individual must be eligible to receive regular unemployment insurance under State law. Those who have been permanently laid off from previous employment and are deemed by the State as likely to exhaust unemployment benefits are eligible to participate in the SEA program. Individuals may also be eligible even if they are already occupied by full-time self-employment activities, such as training, business counseling and technical assistance. NASE hopes that states will embrace the SEA program and use the new funding streams to quickly implement a program that will translate into "real" opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to launch their businesses and become engines of economic growth. NASE is a fervent supporter of federal small-business programs that have a proven track record of efficiently aiding very small businesses and the self-employed, such as the SBA Office of Advocacy, Small Business Development Centers and the SBA Microloan Program. We hope to add the SEA program to that list should it prove to be positive for business owners. You can learn more about the program by visiting the Department of Labor website.
From Small Business Trends |
| Umberto Milletti of InsideView: Rise Above The Noise Posted: 23 Mar 2012 08:30 AM PDT It’s no secret. Social media has changed the way folks are doing business. But there’s a lot going on in the world of social media so one may ask, “How do you rise above all the noise?” Filtering information, connecting the right people at the right time, bringing companies together and making sure employees are on the same page is very necessary. In this interview, Umberto Milletti of InsideView joins Brent Leary for an in-depth discussion on the topic. * * * * *
Small Business Trends: Before we start talking a little bit about social enterprise and social business and social selling, can you tell us a little bit about your background? Umberto Milletti: For the last six years at InsideView I have been focusing on the problem of how you make the customer-facing employee in a company, like sales people and account managers, be more productive by delivering relevant intelligence to them that they can use to be more relevant with their customers and prospects. Small Business Trends: What does it mean to be a social enterprise? Umberto Milletti: I believe that social changed business in many areas. One of the areas it changes is how businesses deal with customers and prospects. In short, social provides an unparalleled view of the people that you want to do business with, or you are doing business with. Their interests, their desires, what is going through their mind, what is happening in their company. All of that information is now available in the cloud through social media, the traditional media; through publications; through webcasts; and it is really a great opportunity for companies to provide this information to employees to make them more effective. In the old days, when I was a little bit younger, selling and dealing with customers meant going to their offices, looking at the pictures on their desk, understanding about their family, their interests, their favorite sports, their desires and building a relevant relationship. Today, the businesses cannot afford to do that anymore. It is too expensive and time consuming. Social media replaces a lot of that and I can learn a lot about a person just by doing some effective research. This is what we focus on in building technology to make that really efficient, scaleable, and effective so that our customers can be more productive in dealing with their customers and prospects. Small Business Trends: What are some of the major ways social changes the job of selling and how does that change in the age of the social enterprise? Umberto Milletti: It has changed in that the Web has brought on an onslaught of emails and phone calls, which means that buyers are less and less responsive. I know I do not pick up my phone anymore; I do not have time to answer my voice mails; I cannot possibly answer all of the emails that I get for people who are trying to do business with me. That creates a challenge for people who are customer-facing. How do they rise above the noise and provide a relevant message? In my mind, social is an opportunity to learn about the person you are dealing with. Understanding the person, not just an email address, not just a contact or a person. What are you going to say in your conversation with them that will make this relevant? What will start a relevant conversation or a relevant business relationship? You also remember the days of "spraying and praying" that your cold calls will be answered and your emails are returned. Those days are mostly behind us. We are trying to help customers who are going through that condition and we now have over 1.000 companies and over 200,000 people who, every day, are using our technology to be more relevant. Small Business Trends: How about the role of inter-departmental communication between sales and other areas? How is social changing that? Umberto Milletti: By making their organization more intelligent and more relevant. All of us have had customer experiences where it is clear that the company we are dealing with is disconnected entirely. They do not know what the right hand is doing. That is what social can do. It can bring companies together and it can make sure employees are on the same page. The challenge is that social can create a lot of information that you will need. Again, in my mind, technology may filter that information and connect the right people at the right time to make them productive. Social has to be watched to make sure that it does not overwhelm employees with noise. I believe that technology has to take a key role, and not just to connect people, but also to filter information. So that we all get what is relevant to us and not what is irrelevant to us. Small Business Trends: How does the role of work flow automation fit into sales today? Umberto Milletti: I think that work flow automation in sales is usually along the lines of CRM applications or sales force automation applications. But applications are now almost ubiquitous and they are really fairly commoditized, everybody has one. Like any other workflow automation system, they were built for a different time. A time when the whole industry was a manufacturing industry. We had set processes that you needed to automate. In today's world, most of us do not have step processes. We have to be able to respond individually to each customer need. The world is changing so quickly that we cannot all follow automatic process. I think that workflow automation is to be enhanced with social paradigms that can adjust where all employees can use their intelligence and their knowledge to provide a superior customer experience. I do not think that workflow automation, by itself, is going to be a competitive advantage going forward. It is going to be about who has the most important employee; who has the most collaborative employee; who can deliver the best message through the customer experience. Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about InsideView and about social selling? Umberto Milletti: InsideView. We’re also sponsoring a university called Social Selling University. Just Google Social Selling University. It is a free educational worksite that people can use. This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.
From Small Business Trends |
| Posted: 23 Mar 2012 05:30 AM PDT
Goodness knows that just about everything has been done with the in/out bin, but I like to challenge myself to come up with something new now and again just to keep the ol’ noggin running smoothly. Normally I begin by looking for pairs of words that work together: research and development, hot and cold, sweet and sour… I don’t remember exactly how I came upon the “shaken, not stirred” Bond thing, and for a while the baskets were filled with martini glasses instead of paperwork, but it felt like something that hadn’t been done before and it made me laugh. Mission accomplished. From Small Business Trends |
| Small Business Opportunities Spring From Unexpected Sources Posted: 23 Mar 2012 02:30 AM PDT Where do the best small business opportunities come from? Who knows! Maybe it’s best to answer the question by saying they come from unexpected sources. Great ExpectationsWhen big business looks to small business. It’s true that sometimes big companies ship overseas, but another trend is emerging, one that entrepreneurs should examine. Big business may be looking to buy from domestic small businesses too. Bloomberg Businessweek Hottest startup in town. Not every hot startup idea is in the field of cutting edge technology, it turns out. Recent numbers demonstrate one market especially is showing promise. Can you guess the market suddenly revealing big opportunities for entrepreneurs? WSJ Operation DailySmall business promotion advice. When it’s time to promote someone at your organization, who do you look for? Perhaps it shouldn’t be your top performer. Here is another look at a tough decision. Small Business Trends Creating a small business bank account online. If your small business has never opened an account online, here are some guidelines that will apply to most. Online banking is the trend. Here are some tips to make it work for you. SBA.gov Better BusinessThe part-time entrepreneur. One big question out there among small business owners is how to start and successfully operate a small business while supporting a family and holding down a full-time job. Smart Business Guide Use fun Holidays to build your brand. It doesn’t matter whether the day you celebrate, April Fool’s Day for example, is a day offering zero opportunity for sales growth. There are some unique chances here in terms of promoting your business. UPrinting.com Setting CourseTaking control of the future. Sometimes even the best entrepreneurs need help plotting a new direction. Here are 22 ways to help you chart a course toward the place your small business should be in the future. FixCourse Staying close to your roots? Is this ultimately a good idea or a bad one? It’s a particularly good question if you’re trying to make a decision for the future of your business. bizCompare Building MomentumContinue outreach despite sales. A down tick in sales should never affect the degree to which you are getting your business in front of prospective customers. Marketing efforts must continue even in tough times. Here are some tips about what works best. NCTechNews Is it time for your business to outsource? You’ve heard enough about outsourcing we’re sure. It can be an important step for small businesses, helping to save time and add efficiency. But how do you know when it’s time to outsource in your business? GetApp.com From Small Business Trends |
Whether you’re growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]
| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment