LinkedIn has become an integral part of the job search and recruitment process. With over 722 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the largest professional networking platform. As a result, it’s common for employers to search for candidates and current employees on LinkedIn.
There are several reasons why an employer may look up staff on LinkedIn. Here are some of the most common ones:
Recruiting and Hiring
LinkedIn is a go-to resource for recruiters and hiring managers looking to fill open positions. When hiring for a role, employers will commonly search LinkedIn to source potential candidates. They may look up applicants who have applied for the position to view their full profile and credentials. Employers may also proactively search LinkedIn for candidates based on skills, experience, education and other criteria.
In addition to job applicants, employers may search for passive candidates who are not actively job hunting. For example, they may look up current employees at competitor companies who have the desired qualifications. Reaching out through LinkedIn is a way to attract talented professionals who are not on the job market.
Screening Current Employees
HR and management will sometimes search employees on LinkedIn to verify credentials listed on resumes and CVs. They may check that the education, certifications, skills and experience listed on an employee’s LinkedIn align with what was reported during the hiring process.
Additionally, employers may periodically monitor employees’ LinkedIn profiles for any updates. They may look for new skills employees have acquired, certification obtainment, or other professional development activities not reported to the company.
Performance Management
Employers may search employees on LinkedIn to gather insight for performance evaluations and promotion considerations. The depth of an employee’s LinkedIn network and their level of engagement on the platform can be indicators of their professional aptitude and impact.
Active employees who frequently post content, have robust connections and interact with their network may be perceived as higher performers compared to those with minimal LinkedIn presence. Their public profile provides additional information beyond what managers can observe through workplace interactions.
Risk Mitigation
From a risk management perspective, employers have an interest in monitoring employees’ external professional profiles. There are several potential risks that may motivate an employer to search staff on LinkedIn:
Safeguarding Company Information
Employers want to ensure employees are not sharing confidential business information online. They may monitor if employees are revealing client lists, projects, intellectual property or insider details that should remain private.
Disclosing protected company information publicly on LinkedIn poses legal, financial and reputational risks for organizations.
Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
Employers want to verify employees are not taking part in any external business activities that compete or conflict with their current role and responsibilities.
For example, they may look for indications an employee is doing freelance work with or promoting a competitor’s services. Any conflicts of interest discovered could lead to disciplinary action.
Identifying Misconduct
There is a risk employees may demonstrate behavior online that violates company policies. Employers may monitor for discriminatory comments, harassment toward coworkers or other concerning conduct.
Employers aim to mitigate potential HR issues and litigation risks by being aware of employees’ public profiles.
Preventing Reputation Damage
An employee’s words and actions online can negatively impact an employer’s brand and public perception. Employers want to prevent and address situations where employees may be posting inflammatory, offensive or controversial content.
They may preemptively search LinkedIn to identify any reputational risks posed by employees’ online presence.
Compliance
Certain employers are required to perform background checks on employees and monitor their external activities:
Financial Institutions
Banks, insurance companies and other financial services organizations must adhere to “know your employee” regulations. Employers must investigate employees, particularly those in sensitive roles, to mitigate insider threats.
Searching staff on LinkedIn helps provide visibility into workers’ connections, employment history and business dealings that could introduce risk.
Government Agencies
Government employers must vet workers with access to sensitive information or systems to minimize risks of fraud, espionage and other compromises. LinkedIn monitoring may be part of the background check process.
Certain agencies like the Department of Defense also implement social media monitoring programs to watch for security threats posed by employees.
Law Enforcement
Police departments and other law enforcement organizations search employees on LinkedIn as part of thorough conduct reviews. Ensuring officers demonstrate sound judgment and ethics publicly is key for maintaining community trust.
Competitive Intelligence
Searching for employees on LinkedIn enables employers to gather useful business intelligence about competitors. Employers may leverage LinkedIn to benchmark against industry peers.
Identifying Skill Gaps
Employers can search current staff at competitors to get a sense of the technical skills and certifications prevalent among talent in the space. This enables them to identify any skills gaps within their own workforce that need to be addressed.
Salary Benchmarking
Employers may browse employees of industry competitors to get salary ranges for comparable roles. This compensation benchmarking helps them set competitive pay rates that attract qualified candidates.
Gauging Company Growth
Growth trends like new hires, expanded leadership teams, and increased connections can signal a competitor is scaling rapidly. Monitoring competitor employees on LinkedIn helps provide perspective on their growth strategies and trajectory.
Technology Intelligence
The skills, software and other technologies competitors’ employees list on their LinkedIn profiles indicates which systems they likely use. This technology intelligence helps employers assess competitors’ tech stack maturity.
Conclusion
Employers search current and prospective talent on LinkedIn for a multitude of rational reasons. While it may seem invasive, in most cases it is legal and justifiable for employers to look up employees online. However, there are also ethical considerations around respecting employee privacy. Employers should be transparent about their LinkedIn monitoring practices and have clear workplace social media policies.
The prevalence of employer searches on LinkedIn emphasizes the need for professionals to thoughtfully manage their personal brand. Employees should ensure their LinkedIn profiles accurately reflect their capabilities and professionalism.
With a comprehensive, accurate profile highlighting your skills, accomplishments and endorsements, searching yourself on LinkedIn can actually benefit your career. You can proactively find and address any information gaps or opportunities to strengthen perceptions of your personal brand.