Category Archives: Social Recruiting

July 5, 2016 · 4:00 am

Employer Branding Now

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Universum, the global employer branding and market research organization, recently published a new report on the state of employer branding practices. It’s good. If you’re unclear about what employer branding is, this report is for you. If you’re involved – at all – with talent acquisition, this report is for you. If you’ve created your EVP (employee value proposition) and are headed into activation, this report is for you. Because talent is everything in today’s hyper competitive global marketplace, employer branding is becoming a critical part of talent strategy.

The report, Employer Branding Now, is a comprehensive review of what leading organizations around the world are doing to become more successful in connecting with the talent they need. Without giving away the store, the following graph shows how overall investments in recruitment channels are shifting. No surprise that investments in social channels are increasing, along with employee referral programs and alumni networks. On the other side of the coin, it’s probably not surprising that print advertising is sinking rapidly. And while you may have thought job boards were dead, that just isn’t the case. But check out the third-party recruiter channel. Are you surprised?

Universum EBnow

Food for thought here, I think!

The report is the outcome of a yearly survey of approximately 2,500 employer branding managers from around the world. The respondents represent a wide range of industries, and include 100 of the FORTUNE 500.

The actionable insights that conclude the report give helpful direction to those in the thick of employer branding activation, as well as those just starting to work on their EVP:

  1. Create closer alignment between employer brand priorities and talent priorities.

  2. Fully leverage the power of EVPs to deliver greater employer brand focus and impact.

  3. Balance brand consistency with talent segmentation and local targeting.

  4. Invest in quality social media content (no longer a side order, now the meat of the day).

  5. Invest in analytics – effective employer brand strategies are increasingly numbers driven.

The report is delivered in a colorful and easy to read eBook format. It’s a good read with attractive and easily understood graphs and data points. You can get it here.

 

Full disclosure: I chair Universum’s North America Board.

 

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Filed under China Gorman, Data Point Tuesday, Employer Branding, FORTUNE Magazine, Global Human Capital, HR Analytics, Human Resources, Recruiting, Social Recruiting, Talent Acquisition, Universum

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September 22, 2015 · 10:15 am

It’s All About the Recruiters

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Jobvite’s annual Recruiter Nation Survey is out today. In its eighth year, the survey was conducted in July 2015 and completed by 1,404 recruiting and human resources professionals in a wide range of industries.

Much of the survey data is not surprising: use of social media tools by recruiters is strong and growing; referrals are still the most effective source of quality hires; hiring activity is up; the hunt for talent will remain or get more competitive in the next 12 months. No surprises here.

Here’s a surprise, though: only 4% of recruiters DON’T use social media tools in the recruiting process. But the tools used go way beyond Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter.

Jobvite 1 Sept 2015

While referrals continue to be the most effective source of good hires, the frequency that other sources provide similar results is interesting. It looks like job boards are the Scott Walker of candidate sources – they started out strong (57% of recruiters reported using them in the 2009 report) but are fading as time passes.

Jobvite 2 Sept 2015Buried on the last page of the survey analysis is some data that I found interesting having to do with what recruiters are putting in their budgets. With the rise of the RPO sector, and a seemingly robust executive search/staffing sector, only 13% of recruiters are increasing their spend in the use of outside agencies. That seems counterintuitive to me. Employment branding is the other category surprise with fully 46% of internal recruiters increasing their spend. That verifies that employment branding is a thing.

Jobvite 3 Sept 2015There are lots of vendor whitepapers out there. Many do a good job of sharing useful data and analysis that prove to be useful at the practitioner level while burnishing their corporate brand. This one does both. It also has some pretty terrific graphics and the visual style is engaging. It’s 16 pages long and is a quick read. Download it here.

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Filed under China Gorman, Data Point Tuesday, Employee Referrals, JobVite, Recruiting, Recruiting Technology, Social Media, Social Recruiting

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December 23, 2014 · 4:30 am

Social Recruiting: It’s All About the Mobile

Data Point Tuesday69% of recruiters expect competition to increase in 2015. The demand for highly skilled workers is on the rise, with no indication of plateauing anytime soon. With the fiercely competitive nature of talent acquisition, what can organizations do to make sure their recruiting and organizational talent management functions are up to speed? JobVite’s 2014 Social Recruiting Survey highlights trends, tools, and practices that are making a splash in recruiting effectiveness right now. The annual survey was completed by 1,855 recruiting and human resources professionals across most industries. To succeed in this hyper competitive market, JobVite found that recruiters plan to invest more in social recruiting (73%), referrals (63%) and mobile (51%). JobVite’s key message however, may be that recruiters won’t find just one platform that overwhelmingly wins the quest to engage with candidates. Rather, successful recruiting efforts will involve showcasing the employer brand and engaging with candidates across multiple platforms.

We’ve said it again and again at Great Place to Work®, and JobVite says it also: culture matters. When recruiters were asked what steps they take to compete against other employers, the #1 response was that they highlight company culture, followed by better benefits, and flexible hours. Dec 23 2014 Highligh Company CultureRecruiters stated that they would increase their investment in a number of recruiting platforms in 2014, with the biggest investment in in social recruiting (73%). This will continue be an important area of focus as organizations move into the New Year. Investment in Recruiting Platforms73% of recruiters report that they have hired a candidate through social media. 79% report that they have hired through LinkedIn, 26% through Facebook, 14% through Twitter, and 7% through a candidate blog. It’s also absolutely true that employers will review candidate’s social profiles before making a hiring decision, with 93% of recruiters surveyed doing so. Candidates’ social profiles carry weight, and unfortunately it appears more negative than positive. 55% of recruiters state that they have reconsidered a candidate based on their social profile (up 13% from 2013), however, 61% of those reconsiderations have been negative.

Postive Negative Neutral ChartSocial recruiting delivers results, so if your organization hasn’t seriously invested in this as a method for finding talent, it should be considered. Recruiters surveyed stated that since implementing social recruiting, quality of candidates has improved (44%), time to hire (34%), and employee referrals (30%). Despite the success of social recruiting, only 18% of recruiters consider themselves to be experts at social recruiting.

Social recruiting skill level chartInvesting in social recruiting doesn’t necessarily mean investing large sums of money either. 33% of recruiters surveyed stated that they don’t spend anything on social recruiting, and 41% state that they spend between just $1-$999.

Monthly Spending Graphic

JobVite also notes that recruiting is “going mobile” as much as every other B2C activity is. 51% of recruiters stated that they plan to increase their investment in mobile recruiting in 2015. They report using mobile across all aspects of recruiting, from posting jobs, searching for candidates, and contacting candidates, to forwarding candidate resumes to colleagues. Job seekers are heavily mobile too, but there is a disconnect between their mobile usage and recruiters. While 43% of job seekers use mobile in their job search, 59% of recruiters report that they invest nothing in mobile career sites. Those that are investing in mobile though, are seeing the benefits. Investing in mobile improves time to hire (14%), improves quality of candidate (13%), improves quantity of hires (19%), and improves quality/quantity of referrals (10%).

So. The lessons to be learned here for talent acquisition professionals are pretty simple: social, mobile recruiting provides higher quality candidates, reduces time to hire and increases employee referrals. Bottom line? It’s all about the mobile.

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Filed under China Gorman, Company Culture, Data Point Tuesday, Great Place to Work, JobVite, Mobile Recruiting, Social Recruiting, Workplace Culture, Workplace Studies

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