Do you ever wonder how many hours are spent in verifying the credentials of candidates — many of whom have already been employed and have previously been vetted? While no one has an accurate figure, hundreds — even thousands — of hours per year are wasted in firms with even moderate hiring volume. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a way to eliminate the need for constant re-verification? Wouldn’t it be nice to quickly know with certainty that the skills, qualifications, and experience the candidate lists are what they actually have?
As we move into the gig economy, new issues arise making it even harder to verify worker claims. Workers may have many different assignments and may develop a variety of skills and experiences that are hard to document and verify. They may have also taken self-learning or online programs and through those have gained new skills and abilities. As the contingent workforce expands, the task of verifying credentials and experience will become more difficult
Blockchain may come to the rescue — at least some leading edge thinkers are placing bets on its importance to the future of HR and many other disciplines. It is best known as the platform for buying and selling Bitcoins. It was developed for that purpose, but it is also being used in other areas ranging from the law to HR. In HR it is being used to verify credentials such as education, previous employment, skills, and other data frequently required by employers potentially eliminating resume fraud and increasing the integrity of the recruiting process because of its inherent security.
Numerous firms are developing blockchain solutions. , a Singapore-based start-up, has developed a job matching service where all data is in the blockchain. Indorse, a reward-based, decentralized, professional social network, is built on the blockchain, and verifies skills in a secure manner. connects profiles, reputations and networks into one sharable source using blockchain technology and is able to link various blockchains together.
and an alliance to create a blockchain system to automate resume authentication. Ascribe specializes in protecting copyright data, and I would imagine that background screening firms, ATS vendors and others will soon be joining this revolution.
What is Blockchain?
A blockchain is an encrypted digital ledger of records that are organized into groups of data called blocks and distributed over a network. The blocks are located on servers called nodes linked together, hence the term “chain.” In effect, Blockchain is a way of decentralizing and sharing information across a network while the owner remains in control..
Whenever a new transaction occurs, the blockchain is authenticated across this network, before the transaction can be included in the next block on the chain. So, the agreement of each node is required to add the block into the chain. Only certain entities such as a specific person or corporation, have a digital ID and can add specific types of information (your college grades and degree, for example). Each node on the network has the same information, and all nodes must agree.
The blockchain creates trust because a copy of the chain showing every transaction is held by the entire network. If someone tries to cheat the system, they can be identified. The data in a block cannot be changed or deleted only added to and if anyone were to attempt to make a false entry, the other nodes would not allow it and the false data would be rejected.
A personal ID from a blockchain is totally secure and can be used in lots of ways from signing legal documents to verifying employment or experience.
Benefits of Blockchain in Recruiting and HR
· It will eliminate the need for background checks, reference checks, educational and experience verification and so on.
· It will protect employee data from falsification and random change without the approval of everyone in the chain.
· Individuals will have control over their own data.
· It’s transparent and immutable. Data cannot be erased, only added. Anyone with the right key can access the data.
· It reduces wasted time and effort that add little to no value.
· Onboarding will be streamlined, especially for high volume, high turnover positions
Summary
Blockchain may seem hard to understand, but just think of it as a secure database that is unhackable because teh data is replicated over and over on many computers and noting can be added or removed or changed without all the nodes agreeing. A hacker would have to convince hundreds of nodes to change data and would need verification to do that. I believe 2018 will be the hear of the blockchain and new applications for it will sprout monthly.
