While times have been tough recently, according to research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG in January, the growth of permanent staff placements is at its fastest since July 2007, demonstrating that businesses are starting to recruit again. However, organisations are still operating on a lean budget so taking a cost-conscious approach to recruitment is essential.
Using social networking in the recruitment process, or social recruiting, is a cost-effective way to target the emerging generation of workers – according to Gartner "if done well, using social media helps attract difficult-to-find candidates, shortens the hiring cycle and reduces cost to hire."
Having said this, while Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are valuable recruitment tools, there are a number of issues that businesses need to consider so that they can be used effectively, in a way that protects a company's brand and reputation.
Why use social recruitment?
As employers find that their workforce is aging, there will be increasing competition to attract and retain a new, younger generation of workers. Add to this the current economic climate, where there are more applicants than jobs, and identifying external talent becomes very challenging. With pressure on the HR department to do more with less, using social networking can be a cost-effective way to attract and engage with new applicants. It also helps make your brand stand out by embracing change and staying relevant, as technology and the way we communicate evolves.
Tapping into a source of new candidates
Since the arrival of social networking sites many businesses have treated them with suspicion and often made it the responsibility of the HR department to police their use internally. However, the tide has turned and organisations are now embracing social networking with open arms as a way to attract and retain talent.
Some businesses are using social networks to create career micro sites on their corporate website. This allows the company to start a discussion forum which can attract candidates and encourage them to look for vacancies. Organisations should also strongly consider having their own presence on sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter as part of an overall social recruitment/social branding strategy. This offers prospective applicants a chance to interact with the company on a less formal basis and ensure that they stay ahead of the competition when it comes to attracting talent.
Best practice
While finding candidates using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is becoming increasingly popular, businesses need to set best practice guidelines to ensure that they are using these tools properly. The key is to make sure that social recruitment is aligned and integrated within the organisation's existing recruitment processes and technology. This means that it will need to be managed carefully so that the experience of applying for a job through the likes of Twitter or LinkedIn matches the experience of applying via the company's career site. That is, the time taken to review the CV and give feedback or schedule an interview remains the same no matter where the CV originated from. This takes a serious commitment to using social recruitment and is not a decision to be taken lightly. A bad candidate experience could have a serious effect to employer and even corporate branding – especially in consumer-driven sectors where candidates are potential customers.
Traditionally, HR departments have found it an administrative burden responding to every candidate, when managed poorly it can create a negative impression with unsuccessful applicants. By combining social networking alongside the latest online recruitment software, organisations can develop a more personal relationship with all candidates and ensure good candidate relationship management, even if there are no current vacancies.
Done correctly and with the right processes and technology to support it, social recruitment will enable businesses to centralise and streamline their recruitment processes, improve their brand image, tap in to new candidate markets, reduce the cost to hire and enhance the online candidate experience.
Are you ready to commit?
Clearly, social recruitment is not something to be entered into lightly. Understanding where to start with social recruitment is a question of understanding the audiences each social media tool attracts and how you will integrate them into your overall recruitment strategy. Implemented correctly social recruitment has many benefits, such as reduced recruitment costs and the ability to tap into a younger generation of potential employees. As the economy starts to recover and organisations start to recruit again such benefits will be difficult to ignore.
Richard Doherty is group vice president of solutions at Jobpartners
