Social Recruiting around the world: Part 2 A case study from New Zealand

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Matt Alder

Part two of my Social Recruiting around the world series features a real life case study from Richard Long the Manager of Talent Acquisition for Deloitte New Zealand. With so much talk, theory and speculation surrounding the role of social media in recruitment, it’s great to hear from a company that is actually putting things into practice and I’m really grateful that Richard is prepared to share his experiences. I also absolutely love his idea about “Community DJs”!

A bit about Richard – Richard Long is Manager, Talent Acquisition at Deloitte NZ and has been at Deloitte for about 4.5 years. His role is to lead Deloitte NZ’s recruitment team and develop talent acquisition strategy for the firm. With a background in marketing, he has been in recruitment for 11 years (mainly internal corporate recruitment). Richard lives in Auckland NZ with his partner Tracey and 2-year-old son Curtis. Outside of work and family he is into music in quite a big way.

“When I first started researching social media’s application to recruitment for Deloitte in New Zealand, I found I got confused by the enormous amount of deep analysis available on the topic. The more I read, the more confused I got – to the point where I felt I would never understand this thing called social media – even though I have been a keen user of Facebook, Myspace and other music related web 2.0 platforms like Soundcloud. It was not the technology that baffled me it was the thousands of articles of analysis and endless strategising.

One day, I had an epiphany – social media is simply about talking to each other. We can take that a step further when thinking about how social media can be applied to a firm like Deloitte’s recruitment – it’s about creating dialogue and engagement. I was lucky enough to be able to work with Paul Jacobs from Engage and it was Paul who framed social media to me in those terms and after that it seemed so simple, I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t realised this before!

The thing about social media I have observed is that many organisations would love to be in it, but are paralysed by issues including:
•    Endless research
•    Over strategising
•    Lengthy report and proposal writing to board and management groups
•    Fear of risk (what will they say about us??)
•    How will we measure it (we must have numbers!!)
•    Fear of failure
It is my belief that social media has actually changed business rules to the extent that the processes we may have gone through in the past to get initiatives like this off the ground no longer apply. Indeed if we try and apply those old rules we may fail. The reason; the landscape of social media and web 2.0 is changing by the hour and if you don’t draw a line in the sand and jump in with both feet a couple of things will happen:
•    Those who are in it will always be ahead of you
•    You will always be following – not leading
•    It’s difficult to understand unless you’re in it
•    You can’t see opportunities as they develop
Don’t get me wrong – I think you need a strategy and you need to understand the risks that apply to your business. However, you need to do it fast. It’s a movable feast – the old framework of research, proposal, sign off, project plan, development and implementation and measurement of your nicely structured, well planned and neatly implemented thing does not apply with social media. With social media you kind of do the whole thing at once – the project changes and develops along the way – how will we measure it? I’m not sure, let’s see what happens…

Social media for our business has been about handing over control to the user. Our approach to social media has been to hand over the reins to students and allow them to control the experience. I really didn’t want a Facebook page that consisted of my team telling students what’s great about Deloitte NZ. I wanted our Facebook page to communicate who we are as people and to give students a taste of the unique culture of Deloitte New Zealand – communicate the human face of Deloitte, as Paul (Jacobs) likes to say. The theme of our page is “up close and personal with Deloitte New Zealand” and that’s exactly what is – up close and personal with Deloitte New Zealand. How else could students understand who we are?

As a student, you could look at the Big 4 firms and say ‘well, they pretty much look the same to me – what makes them different to each other?’ I think that statements fair enough – we’ve always said it’s our people and our unique culture. A business’ culture is a very difficult thing to articulate to an audience via static media. That’s the beauty of a platform like Facebook – it’s all about dialogue, engagement, community – culture!

We used Facebook primarily because I felt I understood it better, I wanted to get started and most of our student target market said it was their primary social media platform. I also like the way Facebook allowed you to interface many other platforms and applications which I felt allowed for more possibilities in terms of providing a rich user experience.

I wanted the page to subtly reflect our graduate recruitment brand (visually) for the sake of identity and consistency but I didn’t want it to appear overly engineered or corporate. If it looked to corporate or slick I felt it may put our savvy Gen Y audience off who will be pretty well tuned in to corporate pages they felt aren’t genuine, infiltrating their Facebook space!

Additionally, I wanted the content of the page to be user driven – driven by internal Deloitte users and external fans of the page. I wanted to create dialogue between the students and Deloitte people contributing to the page and also between the students themselves using our page as their communication platform. In this way we built our community. The primary thing we are always asking ourselves whenever we post or launch something new on the page is ‘will this create conversation?’ I think if the answer is no, then you really have to ask yourself if it has a place on the page. So we’re no longer just talking employer brand – we are no communicating employee brand (I stole that term from Bill Boorman – I really like it)

Just on the measurement thing, I didn’t really know how we were going to measure success when we first started. First we were looking at fan numbers – the magical 1000 fans number appeared as a target (as I write this we are sitting at 966 fans after 4 months). However as we’ve progressed I’m more inclined to think success is measured by the number of quality engagements and conversations we are having on the page. I am still figuring out how to report on this…

I believe that to get the most from social media you have to be constantly pushing new ideas, launching new applications and developing new ways to engage your fans. The old WIIFM (what’s in it for me) is a very good acronym to keep in the back of your mind when developing your social media plan and strategy (quickly!). Why would I, a young intelligent student with many companies vying for my attention decide to become a fan of your page, keep visiting and most of all – contribute my own ideas, opinions or comments? Because the content is fresh and innovative and I get something out of it I don’t get anywhere else.

Recently we hosted the first of a series of live streaming video chat sessions through Facebook by mashing Ustream (streaming video platform) and Facebook. Fans could view a panel of our Consulting team via live streaming video on Facebook, ask them questions by typing them into a comments box and the panel answered them live. Thus, the fans control the direction and the content of the show. It was very successful and we have more lined up. If you are interested, the next one is on Feb 16th at 5.30pm (NZ time) http://bit.ly/aenpPT We claimed a world first for recruitment in using this approach – it has been used by pop stars like Shakira and Mylie Cyrus (so Paul tells me, his musical tastes are different to mine I would like to point out!) but as far as we’re aware it’s a first for recruitment.

A final note – recently I’ve noticed the term Community DJ being used to describe people whose business is social media. Initially I didn’t understand this title and was suitably cynical as often those in the recruitment business can be – I think it’s healthy… However, the more I get to know social media, the more I see synergies between the title of Community DJ and working with social media.

A DJ plays their tunes to a dance-floor full of people (community). The success or failure of the night is down to the DJ’s ability to understand what’s happening on the floor and take the crowd (community) on a journey/experience. The DJ needs to understand their audience and listen to what they’re telling him/her in order to know what direction to next take their set. All the while gradually and subtly building the floor – drop the wrong tune at the wrong time and you’ve lost the floor – it’s called a groove. I think social media is all about hitting a groove and holding it there in a social sense – so Community DJ? I think it’s a pretty good description of the role really!”

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Coming Soon (Matt does audio)

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Matt Alder

Press the play button or listen to the Audio Boo version by clicking here instead

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Social Graphs and the future of recruitment

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Matt Alder

If you’ve seen me presenting at all during the last 18 months you’ll know that I’m convinced the future of recruitment lies in technology unlocking the power of people’s social graphs to turbo charge referral recruiting. When it finally happens it’ll be absolutely revolutionary in our sector. There are considerable privacy and technological hurdles still to negotiate before it becomes a reality but Google’s latest social search initiative is going to bring it a lot closer. Watch the video to learn more…….exciting times!

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The Recruitment Tweetup has a drinks sponsor

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Matt Alder

Social Media WeekDelighted to welcome Brave New Talent as the drinks sponsor for the next week’s #RTU. There are still some places left for next Thursday’s event but they are going fast so signing up now would be a good idea if you want to attend.

The Recruitment Tweetup is a quarterly event organised by Matt Alder (MetaShift) and Jamie Leonard (TheLadders). The aim is provide an informal setting to do real business in the social and digital recruiting space. We’re delighted that February’s event will be part of Social Media Week London

Looking forward to seeing you all next week

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The Recruitment Tweetup and Social Media Week

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Matt Alder

Social Media Week Yes believe or not it’s that time again. The next Recruitment Tweetup will take place in less than three weeks time on Thursday 4th Feb. After a brief flirtation with Canary Wharf last time out we’re firmly back in the centre of town and have a completely private area booked at a great pub near Holborn station. This will be the fourth Recruitment Tweetup and we’re committed to not only making it a forum for people to connect and do proper business but also to making sure it is always free to attend.

We are also absolutely delighted that this Tweetup will form part of Social Media Week, a global initiative which is running simultaneous events in six cities throughout the first week of Feb. More details of the other London events can be found here

Our drinks sponsor will be announced next week and with nearly half the available places already gone, we’d recommend signing up here as soon as you can if you’re planning to attend

Finally sorry about the mistake in the email invite if you received it. Eventbrite went a bit mad on me and claimed the Tweetup went on for two weeks! It doesn’t, it is only on the night of Thursday 4th Feb

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Social Recruiting around the world – Australia

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Matt Alder

One the best things about emerging social technologies is that they are making the world of recruitment suddenly seems a lot flatter. International networking is now something everyone can do and I think it’s great that people are sharing experiences and ideas across many different geographies.

However while there is much discussion, identifying the experts who have genuine insight can be rather problematic. With this in mind I’m starting an occasional series looking at the development of social recruiting through the eyes of experts I know and trust who will writing about their own market.

Kicking things off is a guest post about social recruiting in the Australian market written by my old friend and former colleague Dave Drury. There are huge differences between the digital recruitment markets in the UK and Australia but I think there are also some very interesting parallels coming through in what he writes

About Dave

Dave Drury is a digital expert based in Sydney whose career focuses on digital recruitment and retention. With 14 years experience, Dave has worked with clients from around the world, and takes pride in being part of the digital evolution in the employment marketing sector. He is currently Head of Digital at leading marketing and communications company Adcorp

Dave’s guest post

Traditionally the Christmas and New Year season is when Australians are more exposed to their social networks then other times throughout the year. At this time the sun is out and we look forward to a barbeque, beers and backyard cricket with our friends and family. Whilst these social traditions are unlikely to change in the near future, a new wave of social communication is being accepted and embraced in Australia – online social networks.

Online social networks are transforming the way knowledge is shared, conversations are started, relationships are strengthened, companies are promoted, and jobs are found and filled. Whilst online is only one part of an integrated recruitment plan, it is becoming increasingly more integral. For online recruitment the talent acquisition process of attracting,  engaging, communicating and hiring prospective candidates using online social media tools can be called ‘social recruiting’ – a term that will become more familiar in Australia throughout 2010.

Today’s online social networks are certainly alive and kicking for individuals in Australia and have been for several years. Networks including facebook, YouTube, and myspace are common knowledge for most people within metropolitan and larger regional destinations. Most people (15yo – 65yo) will have had exposure to all, and some interaction with at least 2 out of 3 of these. Twitter, Ning, bebo, flikr, and LinkedIn are less known but the uptake is certainly growing. And there are numerous niche social networks that seem to be sprouting every other week. It is not surprising that generations X and Y lead the adoption rate across the board, with baby boomers taking a little longer.

Traditionally, Australia has been very familiar with and accustomed to a transactional approach to recruitment advertising – place an advertisement in the right medium and the traffic will respond. Whilst this mentality is dissolving and it is understood that there is far more strategy and media saturation required for results today, the notion still very much exists through job boards and offline communication vehicles. It is candidates, not companies, who are driving the shift in what is quickly becoming a social network saturated environment as the primary destination for talent.

Companies are certainly aware of social networks, however most (even today) are intimidated by the unknown, more concerned with mitigating what negative dialogue might be displayed rather then leveraging the good, ignorant of the opportunity to positively influence conversations, and happy to sit on the fence and see what happens. As an ex CEO of mine used to say, “If you sit on the fence for too long, you’ll get sore balls.” Mind you, fences in Australia are often made from timber palings so this comment certainly has some validity. I digress.

With many sister companies of those here in Australia being in the United States, Europe or the UK there is always a watchful eye to see how social networks are used to influence the recruitment process. Whilst we keenly learn from our global siblings, Australia constantly strives to be recognized themselves for benchmark employment solutions on the global stage. If Australia (and New Zealand) is going to continue to compete for talent with the rest of the world (eg: Health, Mining, Education sectors) then knowledge and experience of social recruiting must evolve considerably from where it is today.

In 2009, the early adopters of many corporate sectors (Retail, Professional Services, Mining, Education, and Travel to name a few) began to dip their toes in the social recruiting waters and no doubt received affirming results for their efforts. Many employment solutions included corporate career sites combined with one or several of the following:
•    Videos integrated from YouTube
•    Jobs integrated on corporate careers sites
•    RSS feeds
•    Company blogs
•    Company facebook pages
•    Facebook used as an alumni
•    Graduate twitter groups
•    Myspace sites to support campaigns
•    Viral eBay campaigns

Social networks have certainly been used in Australia, but the execution of calculated social recruitment strategies is rare. That is, setting up a managed and monitored social recruiting strategy that considers each target audience separately and aligns that audience with carefully selected social networks and online media that both individually and collectively deliver on predefined outcomes.

Recruitment consultants seem to understand the opportunity that exists through social networks and are beginning to execute conversations using them. Linkedin would be the professional network of choice here and is ideal for recruiters to target specific candidates based on skill set, experience, location, etc. Whilst beneficial to recruiters, there is a responsibility for candidates to protect their personal online brands so as not to unwillingly expose their profiles. This is all part of the learning process that comes with owning and managing data in the online realm.

Whilst there are a few wet feet, there is still much to learn about social recruiting in Australia. One of the recruiting challenges for 2010 for employers will be to execute well-constructed social recruiting strategies. Employers today are really only limited by their lack of knowledge and experience in what truly is a new way of recruiting. There are certainly other micro limitations however the fear of ‘not knowing what you don’t know’ and the failure to proactively act on this is greater than all else.

Employers in 2010 will be looking toward stability and growth after a tumultuous 2009. Those that want to move forward should embrace social recruiting now and evolve with it. Those that choose to remain sitting on the fence…

Dave Drury
January 2010
http://www.twitter.com/dave_drury
http://au.linkedin.com/in/davedrury

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Recruitment predictions for 2010

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Matt Alder

With a very challenging 2009 finally drawing to an end, now seems like the perfect time to make some predictions about what we can expect in the world of recruitment during 2010. Before I do that though I wanted to briefly reflect on the last 12 months.

Although it may well be remembered for a number of other things, 2009 was certainly the year that the term Social Recruiting began to enter the broader recruitment lexicon. There has been a huge amount of talk about how social media will change recruitment and unfortunately much of it is just self-serving rubbish.

With this in mind my heros of 2009 are ERE who put on two excellent Social Recruiting Summits to unpick what is actually happening by bringing people together to discuss genuine case studies. I attended both events and they were real highlights of the year for me, with the opportunity to meet some truly great thinkers and practitioners. November’s summit illustrated just how quickly the companies embracing social recruiting are making progress and I’m now absolutely convinced that what we’re seeing is a genuine revolution and not just the latest fad

So what’s in store for 2010? Here are a few thoughts: -

The Recruitment Market

A quick Twitter poll I did the other day revealed that most people are rightly cautious about 2010 and I would predict that we are in for another challenging year. Corporate recruitment will most probably pick up but this will be potentially overwhelmed by acute difficulties in the public sector.  While some people will still do well; it could be a very painful year for those in the industry who aren’t innovating quickly and effectively enough.

Social Recruiting

The next 12 months are going to tell us everything we need to know about how much time it’s going to take for Social Recruiting to move through its adoption curve. There are lots of smart companies who have been using a quiet 2009 to plan social activity for 2010 and I’m really looking forward to seeing much experimentation, a growing body of case studies and more great events to discuss them. I’m not looking forward to the inevitable proliferation of bandwagon jumping and snake oil selling which could make “caveat emptor” the most used Social Recruiting phrase of the year!

Job Boards

The future of job boards seems to be a much discussed topic at the moment and something I’m going to be writing a bit more about next year. The key thing is that the debate shouldn’t be a live or die one; it’s all about the shades of grey. Job Boards are not some kind of unified entity, they are all different depending on the industries they serve and countries they are based in.  With the pressures in the marketplace and the growth of social recruiting, 2010 should be an interesting year for many of them. As well as some inevitable market consolidation I’m expecting to see more innovation in the next 12 months than we’ve seen in the last ten years

Newspapers

By this time next year we’ll know whether pay walls work and once we do it’ll certainly move the debate about the future of newspapers forward. I could be wrong but I’m expecting the default “but we’ll always have newspapers” camp to be slightly less hardcore in 12 months time

So all in all 2010 may well be challenging but it certainly isn’t going to be dull!

Have a great Christmas!

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Alder and Sumser on the future of recruiting

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Matt Alder

Matt Alder Top 100 Influencers In the midst of announcing the launch of my new business on Friday I heard (via Twitter of course) that John Sumser had included me in his Top 100 Influencers in HR / Recruiting. For those in the UK not familiar with the great work that John does, I would recommend checking out his own site as well as the Top 100 Influencers site where you can find out more about the project.

It’s such an honour to be included in a list with so many great people and I’m glad John decided that being British didn’t disqualify me! Probably the most interesting part of all of this though was the discussion we had via Google Wave about the future of recruiting……

Sumser – So, Matt. What is the most important thing in the future of Recruiting?

Alder – Difficult to name just one thing so I’ll indulge myself and talk about two!

The first is the change in behavior social technologies are starting to drive. The interesting thing is that it isn’t actually a change at all it’s actually a return to more natural ways of human interaction. Mass market advertising and large anonymous corporations have only been with us for a relative short time in the context of human history. It is a much older and more natural behavior for people to find jobs via recommendations from people they know. The emerging dynamics of the social web are combining this “old” behavior with “new” technology and I believe the effects will be revolutionary in our space

The second leads on from this and is the end of recruiting as a siloed activity. I believe that developments in technology, culture and the economy are rapidly advancing the pace of organisational change and in order to recruit and retain top talent companies will need to see recruiting (however it does eventually evolve) as a key holistic part of their organisational DNA

Sumser – When you talk about ‘recommendations from other people’, you don’t mean an expansion of the referral system, do you? It seems to me that smart organizations will be able to harness their member’s social networks to do a more targeted form of recommendation. Many of the current referral programs are seriously plagued by the fact that there is no quality control or requirements expression process. Do you think organizations will evolve toolsets to harness networks? How? What will they look like?

Alder – Yes exactly. I’m fascinated by tools I’ve seen that map people’s social graphs. Sociology and the theories of networks and influence were never things I’ve looked into as deeply in the past. The more I learn and the more I look at the power of social graphs the more I realise just how important this will be to the recruiting industry. The point you make about the current state of referral schemes is an interesting and valid one, I really don’t think that there are very many set up to fully exploit (or even partially exploit) the true potential that is now out there.

A lot of companies that I’ve worked with struggle to get their existing technology to track measure and reward the referrals they do get so I think there is a very long way to go! I’m certain that we will see an explosion of tools, technologies and methodologies in this space over the coming months / years. Difficult to say what they will look like in detail as the needs they will fulfil will vary a lot across industries and geographies

Sumser – I’m starting to see a number of initiatives to bring a new order to HR and Recruiting. Is that just happening in the states and Australia or are you feeling the rumblings in the UK as well? What do you suppose it takes to change the institutional structure? Does it really matter?

Alder – I’ve not seen much evidence in the UK to be honest and the past tells me that those kind of initiatives end up being somewhat limited in their reach and effectiveness over here. The way things seem to truly change is for particular individuals and companies to set bench marks that others follow because they work and deliver the value companies are looking for

That said it’s interesting to see more informal collaborations becoming effective. There is a group in the UK called the Forum for In House Recruitment Managers (The Firm) which started as a LinkedIn group. It now has over 500 members and they hold regular face to face meetings and workshops. I would envisage self organised groups like this having huge amounts of influence in the future Is there anything similar in the US?

Sumser – I don’t really see much in the way of physical organization like that here. Partly, I think that’s because Recruiting is really a regional thing. I’m very tempted to suggest that the regional nature of recruiting and HR (regional being the combination of industry and neighborhood) will be one of the forces that reshapes the profession in years to come. You’re experimenting with an array of social media as recruiting tools. What are you seeing? What’s working? What looks promising?

Alder – What I’m seeing and hearing is a lot of talk and a lot of theorising and a lot of people using social media to talk about social media. While I’m convinced this will change quickly there isn’t a huge amount of recruitment activity that fully utilises all the new methods available. That said there are some interesting things going on, I have clients who are experimenting with Twitter both on a feed and conversational basis and the early results look interesting. Ironically, although it sounds like missing the point, using advertising within social media seems to work very well for certain types of campaign and we’ve seen a lot of success with highly targeted campaigns on LinkedIn and Facebook. I also think there are some pretty good technologies being created specifically for our space. Although they aren’t quite in the UK yet I think companies like Jobs2Web will do really well over here. It’s a shame that there isn’t a huge amount of similar recruitment / HR innovation currently with UK based technologies. Perhaps thought the exception that proves this rule is the London based TwitterJobSearch….their proposition has a long way to go but the concept behind it could turn out to be a very interesting one

Sumser – I’m starting to hear serious rumblings about the integration of software silos through social media. I think that means figuring out that the universe of stakeholders includes lots of people who wear multiple hats. Employees become contractors and vice versa. Contractors are customers, potential employees can be investors, customers, channel partners. Customers roles stretch across the same lines. The tendency to organize our operations based on internal organization is under serious pressure that will only get more intense. Places like Dell, Microsoft and Google are starting to show signs of awareness but they’re the vanguard. How do you suppose that recruiters operate in a world of seamless community? How do messages get coordinated internally?

Alder - I think it is inevitable but there is a huge amount of catching up to do. I always thought it was crazy that existing customers of a company would have to re-introduce themselves by re registering with the recruitment system if they wanted to find a job there. I also think it’s crazy that many companies end up in bidding wars with themselves on Ad Word campaigns because of a lack of co-ordination between departments. I think the future will be about aligning communication systems, software systems and culture to offer an integrated authentic view. Until companies can catch up with themselves the pace of change will driven by the consumer / job seeker. Recruiters and Recruitment department that can work ahead of the game and proactively de-silo themselves will be the most successful in the future Reply Edit

Sumser – So, if you were going to give some advice to an ambitious young person who wanted to make a difference (and have a successful career in the industry), what would you tell them? Reply Edit Oct 20

Alder - Two things…keep an open mind and network well. The pace of change in this industry is only going to increase and while it’s important to take learnings from the past, holding on to outmoded ideas and institutions isn’t going to get you very far. Social technologies have quickly made industry networking real time and global. Each new connection is another potential set of opportunities, go for it!

Sumser – Thanks, Matt.

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My Announcement

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Matt Alder

Metashift After dropping subtle and not so subtle hints on Twitter for the last week I’m absolutely delighted to announce the launch of MetaShift, my new consulting business. I’ll be continuing to work for Penna on a consultancy basis but as of next Monday will be taking on my own additional clients and projects. In the true “Beta” nature of modern business this is really only a soft launch at this stage. Over the next few weeks I’ll be working on my proposition, launching the new website and exploring how I can help companies address the challenges of Social Recruiting and the other seismic changes happening in our marketplace.  In the meantime I’m delighted to finally be able to talk about my plans!

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Social media and HR – arch enemies or vital partners?

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Matt Alder

This article was originally published on Changeboard.com

The recent ban by Portsmouth City Council on their employees accessing social media sites such as Facebook while at work, has provoked much debate in other companies and organisations.

I suspect that a large number of HR departments up and down the country are looking at the issue in more detail than ever. Retailer magnet Theo Paphitus encapsulated the social media detractor’s point of view very well when he said this in a recent interview: “At Ryman, we had to knock this problem on the head about a year ago, when it became obvious that too much staff time was being eaten up by this nonsense”.

What HR departments might be less familiar with though, is the strong case for the integration of social media into the workplace. Tony Hseith of Zappos, has this to say, “If you don’t trust your employees to tweet freely, it’s an employee or leadership issue, not an employee Twitter policy issue” While he might not be as well know in the UK as the Ryman’s Dragon, the recent sale of Zappos to Amazon for the best part of a $1 billion illustrates that he also knows a thing or two about running a successful business. Indeed it’s not a coincidence that Zappos is considered by many as the best place to work in US.

What this tells me is that producing a sensible, successful corporate policy on social media usage is very difficult if you don’t use it yourself. It’s very easy to jump on the bandwagon of negativity if you have no idea what the advantages could be for your department and your company.  If you’re struggling for a place to start then it’s well worth considering some of key benefits of social media for the HR profession

Information intelligence

Over the last two years there has been a proliferation of blogs covering HR and recruitment issues. Information can be updated in an instant and breaking news now travels in seconds rather than hours or days. Relevant industry conversations take place daily on sites like Twitter and useful content is continually being uploaded to sites such as YouTube and Slideshare. Is this market intelligence you can afford to miss?

Networking

LinkedIn and Twitter offer the opportunity to expand your professional network like never before. Organisations like “The Firm” (The Forum for In House Recruitment Managers) are also proving this isn’t just happening in cyber space. After starting life as a LinkedIn group they now have regular events, which allow corporate recruiters to meet and network in “real life”.

Recruitment strategy

Recruitment budgets have been slashed and the recession is making it less likely that the very best people will be tempted to move role. Against this backdrop, “social recruiting” is giving many companies a cost effective and dynamic way to evolve their recruitment communication strategy.

Communications

Social media is also driving a corporate communications revolution for many organisations. Major CRM systems such as Salesforce.com are integrating Twitter and Facebook so that customers can communicate with companies directly via these channels. Secure network services such as Yammer are making internal communications more informal and useful while social networking and wiki technology are finally dragging the corporate intranet into the 21st century.

The aggressive consistent growth of the social web should be proof in itself that we are dealing with revolution not a fad and progressive companies like Zappos have already integrated it deep into the culture of their business to great success. As similar positive case studies emerge expect the debate to become more balanced and social media to start being seen as the force for corporate good rather than something that should just be banned.

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