Verifying an employee’s LinkedIn profile is an important step for any employer. LinkedIn has become the premier professional social networking site, and having an accurate, up-to-date profile is crucial for job seekers and employees alike. As an employer, you want to be sure the profiles of your staff are legitimate and showcase your company authentically. Verifying profiles adds an extra layer of trust and security when using LinkedIn for recruiting, marketing, and engagement.
Why verify LinkedIn profiles of employees?
Here are some of the top reasons to verify your employees’ LinkedIn profiles:
- Confirms the person’s identity – Verifying profiles ensures the account belongs to the actual employee. This safeguards against fake or impersonating profiles.
- Validates employment at your company – The blue “Verified” checkmark will confirm to viewers that the person indeed works at your organization.
- Builds credibility – Verified profiles give extra credibility and authority, which reflects well on both employee and employer.
- Strengthens company brand – Having all staff verified gives a consistent, professional appearance across your company’s LinkedIn presence.
- Boosts trust and transparency – The checkmark signals to customers, partners and site users that team members are verified, real employees of your business.
- Improves employee endorsement – Coworkers and management are more likely to endorse verified employees, as it adds legitimacy to the endorsements.
- May aid recruitment – Prospective hires can see that you verify employee profiles, which can boost your employer brand and reputation.
In summary, verifying employee profiles elevates credibility for your personnel, your organization as a whole, and the material published under your company’s LinkedIn page. The blue check gives peace of mind that staff profiles genuinely represent your business.
How employers can verify profiles on LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers a simple verification process for employers to confirm their staff members’ accounts. Here are the key steps:
- Navigate to the LinkedIn Company Page – Go to your organization’s LinkedIn page and access the “Admin Tools” section.
- Select “Verified by (Your Company)” – Choose this option to launch the verification tool.
- Enter the employee’s profile URL – Paste the URL of the team member’s profile you want to verify. Make sure they have updated the employment information in their profile to reflect working at your company.
- Confirm authorization – LinkedIn will check that you have authorization to verify profiles for your company and may require additional verification.
- Verify the profile – Click the “Verify” button once LinkedIn has confirmed your authorization. The profile will now feature the blue verified checkmark.
- Repeat for other employees – Follow the same steps to verify additional team members at your organization. You can verify profiles one by one or in bulk using a CSV file.
It’s important to note only an authorized company administrator can verify profiles – general employees do not have access. Also keep in mind that if a staff member leaves your organization, their profile will need to be unverified. LinkedIn designed the verification tool exclusively for active employees to confirm their current place of employment.
What does a verified profile display to viewers?
When someone’s LinkedIn profile is verified by their employer, here is what visitors to their profile will see:
- Blue checkmark icon – The iconic blue checkmark will appear next to their name, signaling a verified profile.
- “Verified” banner – Beneath their name and checkmark, there will be a banner reading “Verified account”.
- Employer details – The profile’s experience section will showcase confirmed employment details, including the person’s current position and tenure at the verifying company.
Additionally, when colleagues and connections view that member’s profile, they will observe a notice explaining the account has been verified by the employer. This elevates credibility and trust for the profile.
Pro tips for employer verifications on LinkedIn
To get the most impact from verifying your staff members on LinkedIn, keep these tips in mind:
- Make verification part of onboarding – Add profile verification to your new hire checklist so every employee gets confirmed right away.
- Announce it internally – Let your team know you have enabled LinkedIn verification and encourage them to update their profiles.
- Promote it externally – Broadcast that your company verifies profiles to build trust and your employer brand.
- Remind staff to update profiles – If employees change roles or departments, remind them to update their LinkedIn profile accordingly.
- Develop a verification policy – Draft guidelines on who is eligible for verification and how to maintain it if changes occur.
- Unverify departing employees – Don’t forget to remove verification from profiles when staff members leave to avoid misrepresentation.
- Use images thoughtfully – Profile photos with your company logo or branding can enhance verification. But use them tastefully and avoid over-branding.
- Re-verify periodically – Consider re-verifying all employees annually to clean up outdated profiles and reinforce your commitment to verification.
Pitfalls and risks to avoid
While extremely beneficial, there are some potential downsides of LinkedIn verification that employers should keep in mind:
- Time investment – Proactively verifying profiles takes time and dedication from your team. Be sure to budget resources.
- Process kinks – At first, there may be hiccups as you figure out effective processes. Document best practices as you optimize workflows.
- Policy confusion – Employees may misunderstand policies around verification eligibility, maintenance, etc. Clearly communicate rules and reasoning.
- Forgotten updates – If job changes aren’t reflected in profiles, verification becomes inaccurate. Remind staff to update their profiles.
- Unverified attrition – Ex-employees with lingering profile verification undermines trust. Diligently unverify departing staff.
- Over-promotion – There is a fine line between touting verification and overdoing it. Don’t let it dominate your employer brand messaging.
- Misrepresentation – Erroneous verification could be misleading if based on wrong information or false claims.
Avoiding these pitfalls comes down to having clearly defined policies, conscientious administration, and proper employee training. Do that successfully and your LinkedIn verification efforts will pay dividends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does verifying profiles cost anything?
No, LinkedIn provides profile verification free of charge as part of its Company Page service. There are no fees associated with verifying your employees’ profiles.
Who can verify employee profiles at our company?
Only an authorized LinkedIn Company Page administrator can verify profiles. Typically this is someone in marketing, HR/people ops, communications or a similar department. General employees cannot verify profiles.
If we verify an employee profile, does that mean we endorse all their content?
No, verifying a profile simply confirms someone’s current employment at your organization. It does not imply endorsement of all the opinions, recommendations, and content shared by that individual.
Do verified profiles automatically get more engagement?
There is no direct boost in algorithmic reach or engagement purely from gaining a verified checkmark. However, it does lend credibility which makes followers more inclined to interact with that employee’s content.
Can we choose which employee profiles to verify?
Selectively verifying only certain senior, client-facing or tenured staff while excluding others can create perceptions of favoritism. Most best practices recommend verifying all full-time staff uniformly.
What is the turnaround time for newly verified profiles to display the checkmark?
In most cases, LinkedIn verification takes effect almost instantly once approved. The verified banner and checkmark should appear within minutes on the employee’s profile.
If an employee leaves our company, do we need to unverify them?
Yes, it’s important to diligently unverify former employees so profile verification accurately reflects current staff. Failure to do so could be perceived as misrepresentation.
Do employee profiles need to display company branding to be verified?
No, branding like logos, colors, etc. is not required for verification – simply accurately listing your company on their profile is sufficient for the checkmark.
Is there a limit to how many employee profiles we can verify?
There is no hard limit from LinkedIn on the volume of profiles you can verify for a Company Page. It’s designed to accommodate verification of all full-time staff at any size organization.
Conclusion
Verifying your employees’ LinkedIn profiles is a smart move for elevating credibility, strengthening your employer brand, and instilling trust. While requiring some time and diligence, the benefits far outweigh the effort. Ensure executive buy-in, document clear policies, implement efficient procedures, and train staff for maximum impact. With strategic management, verified profiles can be a valuable asset for your company’s LinkedIn presence and recruiting success.