Reputation management is an issue that quite a lot of people are aware of, and are becoming increasingly aware of as it pertains to search engine results.
Back in the pre-web days, when someone was unsatisfied about a service or a product, the most they’d do would be to write a letter, tell their friends, and in some extreme cases stand outside the business telling anyone going in about their issue. All of which could dissuade someone from purchasing from your business. These days, all it takes is someone with a blog to put up a post about how they didn’t like your business, and literally within minutes there’s a listing showing up against your name when someone searches for your business. For instance, I had a bad experience yesterday at a local party place, which was the venue for my daughter’s 6th birthday party. Within 10 minutes of writing a blog post about the experience, it was ranking in the top 10 for their name.
So what does that have to do with crime? Well, I read in my local Sunday paper this morning about my local court system going online with the “best case management system in the state, if not one of the best in the country”. I took a look at their system, and the way it’s set up, it’s not going to be a reputation management issue for any companies, but other criminal systems that are out there may be. For example, if you do a site: search on the URL for the Virginia State Sexual Offenders Registry, you’ll see that there are over 20,000 pages indexed. That’s ~20,000 pages of Sex Offenders and Violent Sex Offenders, all with their place of employment listed in lovely spiderable text, and yes, they can rank for a business name.
What can you do about it? Well, firstly you should have diligent hiring processes in place, so you’re not going to get a surprise one day. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t hire people that have ‘paid their debt to society’, but you should ask the right questions to know that they’ve had to pay it. Secondly, and most importantly, you should be proactive in your optimization efforts. If you own your search space, then it’s a lot harder for these issues to rise to the top, plus it’s a lot less painless than having to de-optimize a negative listing, which will be visible to anyone searching on your name until you do…
October 1st, 2007 - 1:18 pm
Good post, Simon. This is a slippery slope. As you point out, we want to be a civilization that offers people a second chance if they have been convicted of a crime. I have hired people with a criminal background, but only twice, and in both cases, they told me about the conviction in the interview. I would have hired a third, but he had committed a financial crime, and the opening was in Accounting. I wanted to hire him, but with other things equal among candidates, how can I justify hiring the person convicted of a financial crime over a candidate who didn’t commit a crime?
That said, what does a traffic ticket every couple of years say about someone? Do we start creating behavioral clusters among job candidates, friends and others who go through some evaluation process when we first meet them?
There is a book in here somewhere…
October 1st, 2007 - 9:38 pm
[...] look focused to the point of being stoic. I get cranky when I feel like this. Anyways, the Search Engine Tigers have another example of why SEO is such an integral part of reputation management: Back in the pre-web days, when [...]
October 1st, 2007 - 11:05 pm
…and that’s really what I’m advocating George. I’ve known companies that didn’t ask the right question at the right time, and later on down the road found themselves with a criminal record showing up in their listings, not something that you want prospective customers / employees to see…
I’m not suggesting that we go all Gattaca on employees though.
October 3rd, 2007 - 8:12 am
Interesting article.
It seems that i have an american Namesake who was involved in some form of shooting related crime recently, the top 10 results for my name have a smattering of American (online) newspaper articles.
October 14th, 2007 - 9:32 am
A traffic ticket is a crime against the state, and one that results in a fine designed as a preventative measure to get people to drive more safely. For the most part, traffic tickets are “victimless” crimes in the sense that the person who is getting a traffic ticket is the person who pays the price (literally, in the form of a fine and higher insurance costs). Unless the job description involves driving or the perks include a company car, or the ticket is for something that indicates bad judgment such as driving while intoxicated, the employer can often turn her valuable mental energy to another topic with confidence that a traffic ticket every couple of years does not deserve much thought.
Sex crimes require more thought as they are crimes against other people. Even after convicted offender has served the sentence and is released from prison, the victim of their crime will often still be in a prison of her own in the sense that she will still be dealing with the effects of the crime itself. The type of physical and mental trauma associated with many sex crimes is lasting and while many victims become functional again, they rarely heal back into the person they were before the assault. So while people deserve second chances, with added thought and precautions employers can give these second chances while still protecting their employees and customers. Think about what you are hiring this person for: does the job require lots of overtime, or opportunities for the person to be alone off site or after hours with other other employees or customers? If so, this may not be the right fit but perhaps a second chance can be given in another position.
Bottom line: There are safety reasons, not just PR reasons, why employers should ask more questions and think about the consequences of hiring someone who has been convicted of a violent crime.