Recruiting top talent is always a challenge for growing companies, and the recruitment landscape is only becoming more complex. But did you know that your managed service provider (MSP) can help ensure your recruitment, onboarding, and retention efforts are efficient, as well as secure?
Businesses increasingly relying on robust IT infrastructure to stay competitive and agile; so, it’s no surprise that technology, including artificial intelligence, is playing a bigger role in recruitment, onboarding, and retention. As businesses rely on sophisticated HR technology for recruitment, such as applicant tracking systems and automated résumé screening tools, it is important to consider how data security, compliance, and infrastructure can be impacted by introducing these tools. But balancing technology in recruitment with applicant data privacy is a challenge. And 51% of millennials and 53% of Gen Z respondents in a recent survey are somewhat or very concerned about their online privacy.
Recruitment Technology
There are many different tools being used for the recruitment process in today’s business environment that improve applicant engagement and talent management. While hiring managers often leverage the potential of AI and virtual interviews for qualified candidates, the most common tools are recruitment CRM (candidate relationship management) systems and applicant tracking systems. While using an applicant tracking system (ATS) can help streamline recruiting and hiring, simplify interview scheduling, and improve candidate engagement, the company is storing quite a bit of personal data about the applicants as a result. Protecting this data is not only an ethical consideration but a legal one throughout the recruitment process.
Data Privacy and Recruitment
If your company has decided to use an ATS to improve your hiring process, data privacy needs to be one of your top considerations. The data stored in your recruitment CRM is often of the most personal nature, and with more organizations embracing global recruitment, many different data privacy regulations may come into play that impact your ability to maintain compliance. Failure to sufficiently protect the data privacy of your potential candidates can result in fines and sanctions, and it can also prevent you from attracting the best talent because of a lack of trust.
What Is Recruitment Compliance?
Recruitment compliance refers to the steps a company takes to ensure that their recruitment processes and activities adhere to relevant laws, regulations, policies, and ethical standards. To protect a potential candidate, it ensures that the entire recruitment and hiring process follows legal guidelines and meets industry standards to avoid legal issues and promote fair and ethical practices.
Compliance Requirements for Recruitment Tech Tools
Calgary businesses that handle and store job applicant information must ensure that their data collection and storage systems are secure and protected. The systems should only collect the information required to make a hiring decision – in other words, you don’t need to store personal data, such as birthdates and social insurance numbers, when those details are not necessary for decision making. In addition, regardless of the privacy regulations your business must comply with, you should obtain clear consent from the applicant for storing their information and give them an avenue through which they can request that their information be deleted.
How to Stay Compliant While Recruiting
Key aspects of recruitment compliance include:
Canada Hiring Laws
- The Canadian Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment and services within federal jurisdiction
- The Employment Equity Act, which requires federally regulated organizations and businesses to provide equal employment opportunities to four designated groups:
- women
- Aboriginal peoples (Indian, Inuit, or Métis)
- people with disabilities
- members of visible minorities
- The Canada Labour Code, which governs strikes and lockouts, occupational safety and health, and some employment standards
Data Protection and Privacy
According to the International Comparative Legal Guides (ICLG), applicants are protected “under two federal privacy laws: (1) the Privacy Act, which covers how the federal government handles personal information (“PI”); and (2) the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), which covers how businesses handle PI.” In Alberta, data protection is further covered under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
Documentation and Recordkeeping
Proper documentation of the recruitment process, including job postings, applications, interview notes, and hiring decisions, is essential for compliance and may be required in case of audits or legal challenges.
Recruitment compliance is critical not only for legal reasons but also to maintain a positive employer brand and reputation. Non-compliance can lead to legal consequences, financial penalties, and damage to the organization’s image.
How to Protect Candidate Data
The competition for top talent continues to grow; so, implementing an ATS for your Calgary business may make good business sense. In doing so, you should also consider implementing best practices that will help to ensure the security of the data you collect from applicants. We recommend these steps:
Create a Data Privacy Policy
Your recruitment data privacy policy should describe how data will be collected, where it will be stored, who will have access, and how it will be used. You can work with your MSP to develop your policy and to ensure that you have sufficient security measures in place to help meet your data privacy requirements.
Obtain Explicit Consent from Job Applicants
Before collecting a drop of information from any applicant, be sure you obtain their clear and explicit consent for collecting, storing, accessing, and using the information they provide. Make sure your system allows you to record their consent.
Provide Comprehensive, Ongoing Employee Training
Provide to your employees comprehensive training on data privacy and the use of private data in decision making. Make sure your employees are aware of the data privacy laws to which you may be required to adhere.
Control Access to Data
Not everyone in your organization needs access to the data stored in your recruitment program. Access should be limited only to those people who are responsible for the hiring decisions in your organization – HR leaders, hiring managers, and department heads, for example. In fact, you can restrict access to most of the information collected and use anonymized data for the hiring process.
How Managed IT Services Protects Your Calgary Business’s Recruitment Efforts
Today’s recruitment efforts, from the smallest Calgary businesses to the largest organizations, rely on sophisticated IT infrastructures to successfully recruit, hire, onboard, and retain top talent. Under-performing IT systems slow down the process and cost your business access to the best people. Your managed IT services partner can help to ensure that your recruitment CRMs are secure, optimized, and running.
How The ITeam Supports Calgary Businesses’ Recruitment Strategies
The seamless integration of technology has become imperative for sustained growth. As organizations strive to remain competitive, the role of managed IT firms is extending beyond that of traditional support functions, becoming one in which the managed IT firm actively contributes to critical business processes, such as recruitment strategy. Leveraging their expertise in cutting-edge technologies and strategic IT management, The ITeam plays a pivotal role in optimizing and streamlining the recruitment process for Calgary businesses.
Cybersecurity
We safeguard your business from attack by providing proactive support, 24/7 monitoring, and rapid remediation. Your business is always protected. We can immediately identify and correct issues, providing remote and onsite maintenance.
Email Filtering
Even with ongoing email security training and regular warnings about phishing and spoofed emails, people will still click on email attachments and links. Email filtering can help keep most of those emails out.
Lifecycle Management
The ITeam takes a proactive approach to managing IT assets, including managing the life cycle of hardware and ensuring updated licensing and patching of all software.
Data Backup and Recovery
We work with every business to understand their needs and develop a customized business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plan. By doing this, we ensure that your data is on hand when you need it, no matter what happens.
Offsite Backup
Our reliable, efficient, cost-effective, easy-to-use, and secure backup protects your data. Backups are created and uploaded to the cloud on a regular basis to help minimize any major data loss between backups and during malicious attacks.
From ensuring your infrastructure is ready for the implementation of recruitment technology and AI-powered tools to ensuring data security and providing scalable solutions, we empower businesses to navigate the complexities of the talent acquisition process with efficiency and agility. This collaborative approach not only enhances the overall recruitment experience but also positions businesses to attract and retain top-tier talent in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
The ITeam works diligently to not only ensure that your IT infrastructure is operating like a well-oiled machine but also to ensure that we’re focused on the challenges of your specific industry, including new technologies, such as recruitment software. From compliance and governance requirements to unique trends in your business, we customize what we do to fit your needs. There are many aspects of a well-rounded approach to IT service management, and The ITeam strives to meet every need of their clients through proactive planning and execution. Comprehensive services range from remote maintenance to fully managed cloud hosting, with limitless benefits for your business. Get in touch today to learn more.