Upcoming NED Podcast: Can Social Recruiting Lead to Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Issues?

Social media is changing the recruiting landscape. And while people are racing to figure out how to harness the power of social recruiting (and even define it), issues related to discrimination and equal opportunity employment are imminent. As you can imagine there’s information available on social networking sites that violates anti-discrimination laws. And, recruiting exclusively with social media can potentially lead to disparate impact. What does this mean? It means that it’s time to better understand the impacts of social media and the implications that it has on recruiting – and your recruiting program.

During this special episode of NED we’ll discuss recruiting via social media and the potential for disparate claims impact claims with Dr. Stephanie Thomas, the Director of the Equal Employment Advisory and Litigation Support Division of Minimax Consulting.

When: Friday, June 18^th at 8:30am PDT

Where: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newton-software

Dial in to listen live: (646) 727-1372

Listen anytime: http://www.newtonsoftware.com/blog/category/ned/

About Dr. Stephanie Thomas: Stephanie Thomas is the Director of the Equal Employment Advisory and Litigation Support Division of Minimax Consulting. She specializes in the application of economics and statistics to questions arising in employment decisions. Dr. Thomas has more than a decade of consulting experience, and has provided expert economic and statistical testimony in federal and state courts throughout the country. She has published several papers in professional journals and regularly speaks on equal employment topics. Dr. Thomas is the author of a blog, Statistical Analysis in Employment Law, and hosts “The Proactive Employer” podcast.

About NED: NED is a series of interactive, web-based discussions sponsored by Newton Software, makers of Newton, popular, easy-to-use applicant tracking software. NED showcases recruiting industry influencers and innovators who share their tips, tools, techniques and knowledge with our diverse audience. Whether you’re a recruiter, HR professional, business leader or someone generally interested in talent acquisition, we provide valuable information relevant to the business of recruiting. Tune in live or catch up when it’s convenient.

Newton Software’s Joel Passen Talks About Newton and the Future of Recruiting Software

This installment of The Proactive Employer with Dr. Stephanie Thomas features Joel Passen, the Vice President of Marketing at Newton Software. Topics include: Recruiting software best practices and trends, EEO and OFCCP compliance, and recruiting software analytics.

Favorite out take:

“Newton is pioneering this trend in the recruiting software space and other vendors will either have to adapt or will fade away. New vendors in the space will definitely perpetuate this trend. ” – Joel Passen talking about the new business model in HR technology: Providing easy-to-use, affordable, best-of-breed, collaborative products with a pure internet distribution model. “

Listen to the interview here:

http://theproactiveemployer.podbean.com/2010/02/19/hr-tech-recruiting-and-compliance-with-joel-passen/

Banner Ads: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Eye-Tracking Research

Based on eyetracking studies, researchers have determined that the heyday of the banner ad is long gone.  Since 1997, internet users have consistently been paying less and less attention to banner style advertising on content sites.  The ability to avoid banner ads has developed into a full blown phenomenon known as “banner blindness”.

Plain text, human faces and private body parts like cleavage are the three site design elements that remain the most consistent attention magnets.  While the general attention level for those three elements has held constant among internet users, the ability to visually filter advertising material has improved.  This phenomenon has pressured advertisers to use unethical tactics to regain interaction with their message.

Based on recent research, banner ads that mimic a site’s design are one of the most effective ways to attract a viewer’s attention.  This unethical practice blends the line between editorial content and advertising.  In some cases, the advertising material will mimic site forms and actually trick users into clicking through to the advertiser’s page.  This unsettling trend appears to be a clear sign that the banner advertising sector is struggling.  While unethical advertising may show effectiveness in eyetracking studies, it is important to note that ethical business practices will ultimately produce the best long-term results.

Based on the article: Banner Blindness: Old and New Findings