A SHRM Discussion With Will Staney
Recruiting has evolved.
What used to be a world consumed by job boards, applications, automation and job hunters is now a place of social recruiting – one where referrals, analytics and integrated recruiting rule. Candidate expectations have shifted drastically, too. Today, 47% of workers were born after 1980. And by 2025, more than 75% of workers will be of the “social media generation” and will have grown up with real-time social communication as the norm. Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Skype, YouTube and other apps, social networks and websites have reinvented the way that job seekers search for and apply to jobs.
It’s these expectations and rapid advancements in social technology that have allowed social to influence the way we recruit.
Here are five main aspects of talent acquisition that are being completely disrupted by social media:
Sourcing and Pipeline Talent
Paper resumes are a thing of the past. Finding candidates has never been easier than it is right now with the rise of social technology. Because 96% of the online population is on at least one social network, having a multi-channel sourcing strategy has never been more important.
With social technology, the world has become smaller. It’s important to recognize, however, that while new technologies make it easier to find talent, this boost from social media is also making sourcing for talent much more complex and candidates even more segmented. In turn, the role of “sourcer” has evolved to that of a marketer, technologist, detective and the best salesperson at the company.
Employer Branding and Talent Attraction
Employer branding is maturing into a profession of its own. Social has made employer branding extremely complex, which means you need a dynamic content marketing approach to your recruiting strategy. Employer branding today is all about content, so tell your story! Post on social media, create videos with employees and bring it all together. Be consistent with your branding, promote your social accounts wherever and whenever you can, showcase employee videos and have live social feeds on your Glassdoor profile.
Candidate Experience and Engagement
Before social, recruiting was transactional and impersonal. But now, social and mobile applications can be easy and extremely user-friendly. People have always been talking about your company, and social technology and online communities have transformed talent acquisition by enabling candidates to join the conversation. Engage talent and gather insights to help make your company culture something worth tweeting about! In today’s connected and mobile world, candidate expectations are high, which means recruiters need to focus on making their lives easier on mobile.
With social also comes the need for transparency. Real-time communication is absolutely necessary. Engage with your audience and encourage them to learn more about your company and brand. In short, it’s all about building talent communities and shifting away from reactive recruiting environments towards the present.
Talent Acquisition Technology
Social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest have completely transformed how we think of recruiting technology. CRM technology is now fused with social technology, from capturing social profile data to conversations and engagement. The time for candidate relationship management is now – capture rich living profile data that can be stored and utilized for strategic recruitment initiatives. The ability to create internal databases of social profiles, competitor intelligence and past applicants is at our fingertips.
A rising trend in talent acquisition technology is towards open Web sourcing tools. Technology like this simplifies the vastness of web sources to a single search of aggregated information on talent, making sourcing more efficient and saving recruiters time in identifying top talent.
Recruiting Analytics and Metrics
The great thing about social media is that every bit of it is measurable. It’s no longer just about time-to-fill or cost-per-hire – recruiters have to start thinking about engagement metrics, reputation, brand impressions and source analytics. You need help from employees and leadership to make your social strategy successful. Getting employees engaged and signed on as ambassadors is a must to succeed, and so is communication from leaders to the organization as a whole explaining the mission and plan.
Check out the presentation I just gave on this topic at #SHRM14, complete slides available here.
Author Bio
Will Staney is Glassdoor’s Head Talent Warrior.
