Are Talent Communities discriminatory?
Posted by: Simon / 20.02.2012
Much is being made in the HR world of the concept of "talent communities" and how they may be a very
effective way for companies to recruit in the future. If you've not
come across the concept, they are in a nutshell an online network -
often using existing sites like LinkedIn, but increasingly built
with specialist platforms - where employers, potential candidates,
current employees, recruiters and careers advisers can interact. By
using various online communications, individuals can build up
relationships which allow employers to pick out motivated
candidates with a genuine interest in their company, while giving
individuals who are involved a head start in the recruitment
process. (these aren't the only potential benefits, but are
the ones most relevant to this blog)
So in reality, the concept is in many ways a modern take on the
idea of networking -that a personal or business contact can give
you an advantage when it comes to finding good quality staff (if
you're an employer) or in getting the job you really want (if
you're a candidate). It's also not a million miles away from
the idea that a company sponsors a student and gives them holiday
work placements, so that they have a ready-made candidate for a
vacancy when the individual graduates.
But are they discriminatory? Many talent communities are
run by people with an HR background so direct discrimination
(ostracising or excluding someone because of their
race/sex/religion/disability/age etc) shouldn't be a problem. But
the scope for indirect discrimination is huge. If a vacancy
is notified to a talent community in advance of any other form of
advertising, has this indirectly excluded older workers (who may
not be as computer savvy)? What if the tone and style of a
particular community makes certain groups feel unwelcome? And is
there an inevitable tendency for recruiters to favour "people like
us", thus reinforcing a dominant culture and excluding anyone who
doesn't appear to fit into the team?
Don't get me wrong - the world of recruitment is changing (very
quickly in some sectors) and employers need to adapt their
practices to the modern environment. But if talent communities
simply become an online version of "the old boys' network" then they may take
recruitment practices back to the world before equal opportunities
and diversity legislation.
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