Do you really know the truth about who you are hiring? Developments in blockchain might help!

Having been in business for over 40 years, I truly understand the importance of hiring the right people. A bad hire can be an expensive proposition in so many ways. It can really have a negative impact on you, your reputation, and, in some cases, the viability of an organization. If you are a hiring manager or in HR, you know that it is challenging and not everyone you hire will work out. Finding that shiny, red apple is not easy. Your goal is to hire the most qualified individuals with the right credentials to help you and your organization as quickly as possible.

The question is, however, how do you know you can trust an expert before hiring them? Recommendations? Interviews? Gut feel? It’s difficult. And a huge responsibility because a project or company's success depends on having the right people.

So, when you have the shortlist from which you have to commit to one who may make or break your project, how do you decide?

• Take the word of a recruiter? The recruiter has provided you with a list of possible candidates. You probably don’t know any of them, but you hope that the recruiter has carefully vetted the candidates and has provided you with stellar individuals who can excel at the job. More importantly, the recruiter has your best interests at heart and is just not rushing to fill the position to collect a commission.
• Place your absolute faith in the interview process and your HR colleagues’ diligence?
• Appoint an internal candidate because they have a record within your company? Somebody will tell you about their performance (but do you really know their true motives for this referral?)
• Trust LinkedIn or other online data? (Perhaps good for a first impression, but good enough to be staking your project or company on it?) 

But you have to make a decision. So you take the risk to trust the process and your personal perceptions. 

The scale of that risk is far, far greater than most people realize. Here’s the terrifying truth:

• The fake degree industry is exploding. Authors Allen Ezell and John Bear, in their 2012 book titled, " Degree Mills: The Billion-Dollar Industry That Has Sold Over a Million Fake Diplomas", calculated that fake degree sales easily exceeded the billion dollar mark in the last decade. In their work, Ezell and Bear discovered that more than half of all people claiming a new PhD have fake degrees.  Recently, BBC News announced that more than 40 fraudulent websites had been shut down in a major crackdown on the sale of fake degrees.
• Well over half of all candidates lie on their resumes. Lying is on the rise because few checks are ever made* especially with older candidates. A CareerBuilder survey of 2,500 hiring managers found that 56% had caught job candidates lying on their resumes. And this excludes even more whose lies were never discovered.
• Easy to fake rating systems. Most quality metrics online rely on 1 to 5 star rating systems that are easy to fake and highly subjective. A common practice is for parties in dispute to agree to remove all records of a failed assignment instead of publishing a bad review.
• The ‘dark’web. I recently heard a story of someone's torturous search for a freelancer to build a website: of the five candidates selected from a respected on-demand platform, three of them lied about being US citizens. All of them showed work in their portfolio that they had not authored. Even more suspiciously, every one of them refused to switch on the video during the Skype interview with various excuses such as “it was dark” and it would be impossible to see each other! 

This situation is not just wrecking results, it’s unsustainable

The STEM fields’ need for project-based, highly specialized work is increasing; 60% of engineering vacancies and 40% of science/technology vacancies are difficult to fill due to a lack of skilled candidates. In addition to this shortage of specialist skills, talent loss after two to three years is increasing. For how long will organisations be able to afford 45-60 days recruiting processes, shortening job tenure, 15%-20% recruiting fees and the high costs of verification?

According to an Accenture report, some global corporations like Procter & Gamble , are now exploring alternative solutions for integrating more freelancers. Others, like PwC with Seriesx , are working on new solutions for verifying professional and academic backgrounds. It’s good, as it shows that they are aware that a new solution is needed. My question is: can and should every company have its own solution to such a shared problem in a workforce that is drastically changing?

The concept of work is rapidly evolving,  HR’s challenge is not just a matter of matching demand and supply of skills. And it’s not only a matter of verifying, controlling and managing credentials. New generations, in fact, demand transparency, meritocracy and independence. Organizations cannot avoid considering that 21st century workers seem to be perfectly positioned to understand and choose the way to achieve what they want.

It’s up to organizations to follow this evolution of work. They need to build and establish a relationship with their new “liquid workforce” made of internal and external resources rewarded them and contribute to grow their own value. Human beings ‘ work of 21st century is going to be meaningful work; machines will be providing the rest.  A new partnership between organizations and individuals providing flexibility to organizations and freedom for individuals may be needed. To build this partnership a clear reciprocal understanding is crucial, and the transparency provided by some of the developments in blockchain technology may be key.

Blockchain Technology

These are exciting times in the field of blockchain technology. New applications are emerging almost on a daily basis. Human resources is no exception. Solutions are being brought to the forefront in many areas including those that address concerns over hiring the right candidates and ensuring that the credentials they present are authentic.

I was just recently introduced to a startup, TiiQu coming from TQ ( Trust Quotient) , that is focused in this area who is building a blockchain based unifying ecosystem for organizations, individuals, and institutions designed around trust. It's all predicated on a concept known as a “decentralized professional passport” . It is as a portfolio of proofs of an individual’s claims. Plans for this company are to move from verified facts to AI-driven predictions. The goal is to ensure that companies really know the truth about who they are hiring.

These are exciting times ………..a new labor market has arrived and is growing exponentially. Perhaps developments in blockchain technology will allow us all to manage this shift and thrive.