Management Blog

Will online background checks go mainstream?

Employers may soon be asking job candidates to undergo social media checks to ensure they have no online skeletons in the closet, according to a recent Age article.

But rather than trawling through a job candidate's social media history themselves the article suggests hiring managers will seek out the services of specialist online background checking agencies.

One of these is the US firm Social Intelligence which offers to review what a prospective employee has said or done online in the past seven years, the article claims.

Information that the company passes onto hiring managers includes racist remarks, drug references, explicit imagery or messages as well as mentions of violent activity.

The company claims it does not provide potential employers with references to a candidate's religion, race, martial status, disability or other information protected under employment laws.

Importantly, job candidates must agree to an online employment check and are advised if any adverse information is found.

What do you think – should online background checks be embraced?

How to be an Accidental Creative

The key to successfully developing new ideas at a moment's notice is to understand your 'creative rhythm', author Todd Henry argues in the new book The Accidental Creative.

Open Forum's review explains that everyone has a creative rhythm – a set of elements that can help professionals innovate despite the pressures of everyday office life.

Unlocking and building upon these elements is a potential wellspring of creativity. Neatly presented in the acronym FRESH, these elements are Focus, Relationships, Energy, Stimuli and Hours.

1. Focus – clear goal setting is the springboard to creativity

2. Relationships – the right relationships offer a source of inspiration

3. Energy – don't plan out every second of the day, manage energy instead

4. Stimuli – carefully consider what you feed your brain

5. Hours – make time to encourage practices that make you more creative

A smarter way to network

Networking is often described as the key to career success, but can it also make professionals happier? This recent Harvard Business Review podcast suggests it can.

A key theme of the 14-minute podcast is that successful networking isn't just about associating with powerful people, it's also an outcome of connecting with peers that support, nurture and challenge.

Tips for managing teleworkers

An increasing number of professionals will soon be managing the careers of people they have never met in person, according to a recent BusinessWeek post.

It's argued the emerging 'norm' of managing teleworkers or 'digital natives' requires a new set of rules to ensure talented staff members are retained.

To achieve this a number of tips are offered. In summary, these include:

• Video matters – use inexpensive video conferencing applications as often as possible to build a good rapport with remote workers
• Keep it simple – embrace easy to use collaboration tools to ensure meetings are relaxed and not focused on figuring out technologies
• Text it – conversations don't have to be verbal, encourage blog posts and team wikis to encourage a continuous dialogue
• Virtual small talk – achieve camaraderie on a virtual level with status updates that help people get to know each other a personal level
• Communicate boundaries – develop an online communication policy to ensure employees are aware of acceptable behaviour

Women seek 'trust and loyalty' from brands: study

A new study suggests women take a similar approach to choosing men as they do new brands, Marketing magazine reports.

Nielsen's Women of Tomorrow Report claims women in developed countries desire loyalty and trust in both the men in their life and the brands they choose.

In other findings, researchers claim women tend to follow more brands on social networks than men and are more likely to engage with media channels that can improve their lives.

Proving the importance of digital word of mouth, the study says personal recommendations from friends and family are the most trusted source of information for women.

The study indicates 69 per cent of women are using social media, but only 10 per cent believe advertising on the medium influences their behaviour.

Fast Company names Hogwarts' CEOs

With Harry Potter mania spreading across the world as the film franchise comes to an end Fast Company has decided to have a little fun by matching Hogwarts characters to real world CEOs.

In summary, here are some of the CEOs the publication believes emulate a little Harry Potter magic:

• Harry Potter - the 'chosen one' has much in common with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a leader who at age 25 is still learning to use his formidable powers
• Ron Weasley - despite numerous failures he never gives up… just like Sir James Dyson, developer of the Dyson vacuum and Airblade hand dryer, both of which faced many hurdles before succeeding
• Snape - Fast Company suggests Apple's magical leader Steve Jobs is the ideal fit to play this secretive yet revered figure with a penchant for dark clothing
• Dumbledore - it's claimed the legendary wizard has much in common with Warren Buffett, a man whose down to earth wisdom is equally loved by other CEOs and everyday investors

More characters can be found here.

The green future of golf

The golf industry is being urged to rise to the challenge of bringing sustainability to the sport according to this bnet video.

With more than 50 million people currently playing the sport across the globe, eco-centric golf is an ideal means of both greening up a popular sport and spreading the sustainability message.

Brands asked not to rush into Google+

Google+ may be receiving a lot of attention but brands are being asked to hold off using the social media platform until later this year, Marketing reports.

Google says it is currently working on a specialist Google+ application for businesses and brands that would give marketers access to rich data insights and compatibility to the AdWords service.

The company is currently trialing its Google+ service with a number of businesses to see how brand and consumers interact using the Circles and Hangouts applications.

Google+ was launched last month in what many are claiming will offer a major challenge to the dominance of Facebook in the social media sphere.

Law firms embrace female partners

A new study has found women are making their mark on the legal professional with a rise in the number of female partners at leading firms, The Australian reports.

The newspaper's study found 33.3 per cent of the latest intake of new partners in law firms were female, an increase from last year’s figure of 21 per cent.

Overall 2010 saw a 15.9 per cent increase in the number of partnerships offered, however the number of female partners grew more than twice as fast as the overall partnership pool, The Australian claims.

Another recent study has found women now make up 46 per cent of Australia's solicitors.

It's claimed women have benefited from a recent employment boom at large legal firms which have seen employment grow by 6.4 per cent over the past six months.

'Coolest' company perks revealed

A lot has been written about the workplace perks offered by IT giants Google, Facebook and Microsoft but a number of other businesses are also attempting to boost morale with unusual benefits.

In a recent post on the subject Business Insider reviewed some of America's 'coolest' perks. In summary these include:

• Career advice - Online retailer Zappos provides an on-site life coach to its 2,000 staff
• Workplace butler - Cleaning product manufacturer S.C. Johnson offers a concierge service that takes care of small personal jobs
• It's a dog's world - A dog sitting service is provided for the 11,600 employees of biotech company firm Genentech
• Best day of the week - Toymakers Mattel and Hasbro both offer half-day Fridays all year round
• Scuba rules - It's all about the underwater world for Chesapeake Energy which offers free scuba certification to all employees
• Hair today - Software company SAS has its own barbershop and beauty salon at its headquarters

More creative workplace perks can be found here.