Executive Summary
Today, nearly everyone has a visible online footprint. The average person voluntarily shares dozens of data points publicly online, sometimes with great detail. By evaluating this behavior, organizations gain insights into candidates’ cultural fit and potential risks for damaging behaviors, helping employers understand a candidate’s workplace impact before employment begins.
The organizational impacts of even modest levels of employee misconduct are profound. With even a small rate of misconduct setting off a domino effect of consequences for productivity and talent retention, organizations in which just 5% of workers commit misconduct suffer a 40% reduction in productivity. These same organizations also risk losing their most valuable employees, who become 54% more likely to depart when these are the workplace conditions.
Fama’s 2024 Misconduct Benchmark Report reveals key insights into workplace misconduct trends. The preliminary findings show a 50% increase in misconduct from 3.2% in 2023 to 4.8% in 2024, with the severity of incidents for flagged candidates increasing and each averaging 18 misconduct instances in 2024, up from 10 in 2023.
Statistics like these are highly concerning. They underscore the far-reaching implications of misconduct, extending beyond individual behavior to impact broader organizational effectiveness, stability, employee morale, and safety. In their latest research, Mercer has also recently identified misconduct as one of the top five people risks. It highlights how risks in candidate hiring and employee retention are changing in today’s digital-first environment. This digital-first environment is also driven by the demographic shift in the workplace, as 50% of today’s workers are digital natives, with this number expected to increase to 75% over the next five years. The importance of behavioral intelligence, extending to a candidate’s online footprint, is a powerful tool for HR leaders in identifying workplace misconduct and risk.
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