Will 2014 finally be the year Social HR comes into prominence?
Several indicators point in that direction. The world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn, with some 250 million members, continues to grow and add new features and functionality. Social recruiting heavy-hitter Bullhorn also announced its best quarter-to-date at the end of 2013 citing significant growth of its Applicant Tracking System. Furthermore, results from Jobvite’s 2013 Social Recruiting Survey revealed that 94% of recruiters plan to use social media in their recruiting efforts and 78% have been successful in doing so thus far.
So what should organizations and HR managers have their eye on this year?
- Social referrals. Leveraging employees’ social networks to acquire top talent is a trend that will grow in the months to come. Take a look at this infographic highlighting the level of trust individuals have in different media channels. Not surprisingly, “Social recommendations from people I know” leads all others with a 92% trust rate! The connection is clear: if John works for XYZ Corp and endorses them on his various social media profiles, his friends and followers are likely to trust his review and thus, consider XYZ Corp as their own employer. HR professionals should exercise caution however, suggests Laura Schaulat, Director of Customer Strategy and Insight at Oracle Corp. In this blog, she recommends following the Golden Rule and easing into social media conversations when interacting with potential candidates.
- Employee Engagement. The level of employee engagement within a company directly impacts its profitability, customer satisfaction scores, employee absenteeism and turnover. These are pretty significant implications and a recent Gallup survey paints a bleak picture of the current employee engagement scene.“70% of American workers are ‘not engaged’ or ‘actively disengaged’ and are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces…” Gamification and enterprise social platforms are two potential ways going social can enhance an organization’s level of workplace engagement.
- Social Education. If you’ve ever completed a “mandatory training” hosted on a traditional Learning Management System, you know how much mindless clicking goes on just to arrive at the inevitable pass/fail quiz. Why not consider a more stimulating and engaging approach to continuing education? You could have employees complete a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). You could also encourage employees to follow and contribute to industry relevant tweet chats. With a quick search, you can find MOOCs and tweet chats on practically any subject area with credible industry leaders as hosts. The benefits of these education “venues” are powerful—help employees obtain the information they need to grow in their roles while being actively engaged, maybe even entertained!
What are your thoughts about the future of Human Resources and social media integration? If your organization needs help getting social in 2014, Contact us today!
