Recruitment 4.0 The Power of Crowds

(pic by EA)

Recruitment 1.0 and 2.0 was about job pushing, advertising jobs in papers, internet job boards and placing vacancies with recruitment agencies 

This type of recruiting has cost and continues to cost companies lots and lots of money. In my experience it also sends employers into an angry panic, I was once told by a really angry employer that “He hates recruitment agencies!” I personally felt that what he really hated was being in a place of no control. On one hand employers panic because they have to fill the position immediately on the other hand they become angry about the cost it’s going to involve.

Employers have to want to change if they want to stop throwing money at recruitment, the angry employer that hated recruitment agencies will continue to have hatred for them for years to come as he is one of many that will not change. Similar employers have always recruited like this and even though their veins are exploding with pressure, somehow they must love the stress, the waste of money and have a secret pleasure in slating recruitment agencies! 

However there seems to be a glimmer of hope and some employers are seeing the light

(stats from the “graduate recruiter”)

89% of employers plan to recruit staff via social media 

55% will increase spending on social recruiting

1/3 of Employers plan to cut back spending on the more traditional methods (job boards, newspapers, agencies) 

25% of employers want to start engaging with 1st yr students to start building talent communties 

By 2014 70% of large companies will use gamification for at least one Business process, probably recruitment.

These employers that are starting to embrace change are moving away from the old models of recruitment, model 1.0 and 2.0 and are dipping their toes into models 3.0 and 4.0  

Recruitment model 3.0 is about employment branding and building communities that active & passive jobseeker can go to frequently

Recruitment 4.0 is about the value of these communities and understanding that people love to be rewarded especially publicaly so recruitment 4.0 is is about looking at clever ways to reward within your communities. 

I’ve already spoken about Gamification (check it out here) and this is going to play a huge part in Recruitment model 4.0 as will crowd sourcing. 

Crowdsourcing is all about outsourcing tasks to a large group of people online and offline.

Crowdsourcing lends itself beautifully to talent communities as these communities are there due to your industry or the careers within your industry. There is power in networks it’s then up to you to make them effective.

Within your community you could ask them to design a new logo for your company the winning logo wins a 6 month contract to work with your graphics team 

Unilever has recently dropped it’s ad agency in favour of using it’s talent community for ideas 

Within your talent community of employees, managers, jobseekers, passive and active you can ask them to help develop the company’s employee value propositions (EVPs), and the employer brand etc. Use social media like  micro-blogs, blogs, social networking sites, polls, etc to reach out and engage with the community. The community will more likely buy into a shared, collectively-created vision. They will interact with the company’s brand and they will feel a sense of ownership, even if they don’t work there (yet).

Crowd sourcing will have talent within your communities working for you whether that be as an employee, freelancer, creator, a spectator,or a job seeker. Micro payment or rewards may be given and the community can even effectively recruit for you.  

Recruitment 4.0 flips the the panic, anger & huge costs of the recruitment 1.0 & 2.0 method into  something  calm, engaging and Zero cost. You did read right zero cost because you will eliminate costs attached to method 1.0 & 2.0, you will not be hiring out of panic, so no costly mistakes. You will have a community of top talent so you can cherry pick, your own employees become hiring managers within the communities which gives them a sense of increased value which in return helps to retain good staff.

Follow me on Twitter @jobhopjulie 

Tomorrows work place >>> why it’s changing                          

By 2020 Millennials (Gen Y)will account for 50% of the global workforce, attracting their talent to your organisation is imperative for your survival.

But how are you going to compete with the world? We’re not just talking about the U.K we are in fact talking about the world because this generation see the world as a much smaller place and will have no hesitation in leaving the U.K. Millennialls actually think it’s their right to go and work abroad & experience different cultures. 

China, Russia and India want our talent and considering we already have a shortage of it, how will we make sure we do not lose anymore from the U.K? 

I see that two things must happen

1. Know your Employment Brand 
2. Know how to communicate with Millennials

Your Employment Brand has never been so important. If you don’t know what it is then you need to find out quick and how do you do that? Ask your employees, they own your employment brand. 

I say more about employment branding here but just ask yourself about your own company “why would I want to work here?” 

Look at it’s culture,it’s story, the ethics, what training you provide, the environment, the support, the opportunities.

Having a good employment brand will attract talent even before they’re on the job market. Children as young as 12 already say that they want to work for Google or Apple or are joining the XBox Live talent community

If you’re thinking that these are attractive because they’re technology companies then you’re right, millennials love technology. If you think you can’t compete because of that you’re wrong because others have, you just need to know their language and be able to communicate.

So what do you do with a Millennial that is obsessed with technology, you offer them more technology! This is a shock to some organisations because I hear horror stories of technology being limited, social media being banned. Millennials have grown up with the ipad, laptops, smart phones, social media xbox, instant information, this is what makes this generation unique, if you take it away from them they wont be working for you for too long. 

If you’re worried that an employee isn’t going to be productive then you have an employee issue it’s not because of technology. Millennials shiny stuff is their technology the more you make it available to them then them more attractive the proposition is to them.

Working environments need to change to adapt to a collaborative style of working, they are digital creatives and love to brainstorm. Millennials will work hard but will feel stifled in a boring rigid office, you want them engaged so you need to offer a stimulating atmosphere.

Millennials are committed to personal growth and learning so you have to give them the ability to learn. They will learn quickly and they will expect to grow quickly, they will be looking to climb the career ladder in months not years so you have to be prepared for that. 

If you don’t invest in them they will have no hesitation in going to work with your competitor or even set up themselves and do it their way, as they’re very entrepreneurial. They’re high achievers and are natural leaders so you must plan for that, even if it’s a simple earn your stripes system, Millennials have to see that they are climbing the career ladder.

If you expect your employees to clock in and out then you want be attracting any Millennials.They will produce more work in shorter hours and they will question why do they have to start at 9am when they’re more productive from 10am. They want respect and trust, if they can get the work done whilst at home then they will ask “why do you want me to travel all the way in?”  which they won’t ask over the telephone but with a tweet! 

Whatever you promise them then make sure it’s honoured, to a millennial a promise means so much, they trust you not to break it, if you do then there’s always social media! 

Millennials really value mentors and that is the best approach is to mentor them, rather telling them what to do. You can learn a lot from them and in return they want to learn about leadership, industry, leadership, self management.

Every talented Millennial is a passive candidate unless you can give them reasons to want to stay. 

Follow me on Twitter  @jobhopjulie

Julie Bishop  Founder of JobHop  

Yesterday I listened to a speaker who completely spoke my language, who inspired me and motivated me not to give up with my quest to make employment human again.

The event was held at The Space in Norwich & the speaker was Mal Fletcher, social futurist, speaker and broadcaster. The topic was social change and Mal is the chairman of 2020plus, a London think tank on social change and leadership innovation.

Within Social Change there are many subjects which Mal touched upon and I will put a post about those on our Norwich Social Media Wk site but for JobHop I’ll just cover what was said that relates to employment.

What is obvious is that change is happening and employers need to start putting some plans together for the age of connection.

Employers need to be thinking how they are to engage with the Millennial generation and if they haven’t got a strategy in place now for that to happen theres going to be trouble ahead.

By the millenial generation we mean the under 30 age bracket, there’s been the Boomer generation age 50 -60’s ( the make love not war generation) the Gen X 30’s - 50’s ( how do we make it happen now generation) and now the Millennials, the under 30’s ( shaping the future generation) 

I repeat the message: If you haven’t got a strategy in place that includes the millennial generation there’s trouble ahead, well actually the message was “Your plan is screwed” 

The Millennial generation are the “Futurists” , the digital generation, they are digital natives, they’ve had a head start on this digital era. If you’re my age, lets just say Gen X, try having a game on X box , hold a conversation on the phone, eat a sandwich & sort out a bit of HTML coding on a website all at once! It’s not easy, for this generation is comes naturally.

As employers you need to be investing in this generation, getting their attention as they leave college and nurturing that talent within your organisation. 

If you invest in their skills then you will receive their loyalty, you’ll have given them a story and Mal speaks really passionately about having a story.

Only the other day I was speaking to a Millennial and she was saying how she started at the company on work experience, she was then taken on and absorbed all the training & knowledge that the company could offer. The story was that she very quickly climbed the ladder and is now a very loyal, passionate Managing Director of the company, what a story!! 

Mal says that Millennials are loyal to a good story and once that happens then WOW! make them the face of your company, they are your advocates, let them spread the word round like Wild Fire. We then get into Employment branding which I’ve spoken about many times before and you can read an earlier post on that here.

Over the next few years Business as we know it will change and Millenials will be the driving force of that. Mal says that you must have a digital team and you must get Millennials to run it, if you want to speak where people listen then you MUST be involved in Social Media. Barrack Obama understood the viral collectiveness of the Millennials and it’s time that Businesses also understand it.

Businesses have to realise that the Millennials bring collaboration and collaboration is an engine for change. 

I remember queuing up at Woolworths to get the new Adam and the Ants single ( Gen X ) Millennials download everything, it’s the age of the Wiki, collaboration & sharing. There is one thing that they would queue for though..Technology! Technology is the new Rock and Roll!

Businesses will become digital and collaborative, one warning of advice from Mal was “Don’t let your technology get out of date” 

Companies need the Millennials digital skills and in return mentor them and grow their talent in other areas. 

But for businesses wanting to attract talented Millennials a change must happen. Trust is a small word but some employers find it so hard to do. Millennials are in the era of Trust.. ie Ebay, it’s normal for them to trust the other person online to pay. If employers don’t trust their employees they will walk and that means trusting your employees to use technology within the workspace. Instead of having Social Media guidelines, many companies just ban Social Media use within the work place.!!  Remember that isn’t a social media issue thats a performance issue, just like someone using the phone all the time for purely non work activities.

If you don’t trust your staff then how can you expect loyalty? 

Employment is going to be very different and only those with the ability to change will survive. 

Mal Fletcher is currently on tour around Europe I would urge everyone to go and hear his message about Social Change, it will change the way you think for sure.

Attracting Talent using Social media

Employment Branding 

Attracting talent using social media 

When job seekers want to find out more about your company, do you know what they do?

If you said they go to the company website then you’re a little bit right because a few might tap in the whole URL address into a search bar but the majority will GOOGLE your company name! And yes, you’re web site should come up in the search ( if it doesn’t tut tut!) but now anything being said about your company can appear. Google isn’t just a search engine anymore it’s a social search engine and relies on relevance. If relevant people are saying relevant things about your organisation then it will appear in the search rankings. 

So what will a strong employment brand mean? 

It will mean that your organisation becomes like a magnet, attracting top talent 

It will mean no more pushing jobs

It will mean reduced recruiting costs

It will mean saving time 

It will mean not being bombarded with unsuitable C.Vs

It will help you with retaining talent 

It will mean a good message is being heard 

What do people think of your organisation when they hear the name?

Would it receive the same reaction as Google, Apple, Innocence, a cool place to work? 

Virgin, Zappos, Sheraton, adobe, America Express, Starbucks, Microsoft, KPMG, all of these companies have talent scrambling to get in.

So why should top candidates work for your company? 

Find out from your own employees why they love working for you, is it the flexible working hours, the great training, the fantastic career prospects, the creche facilities, the company ethics?

Survey your employees and start building case studies, if you get any negative feedback then use this opportunity to turn your employees into ambassadors. Every employee that talks about their experience whilst working at your company contributes to your employer brand.

"Employees have always owned the brand; they just haven’t had the tools to broadcast their opinions to large audiences as they do today."  Dr John Sullivan 

Your employment brand is not owned by you it flows from your employees and is spread by them and with social media it will spread faster than you’ve ever known it. 

You must let all your employees know that they are brand ambassadors and that they must represent the company brand when they're at work and when they’re not at work. 

When candidates source information about your company and come across positive comments from employees,it’s becomes apparent that they’ll be joining an organisation that they can trust. 

A couple of tips that help with employment branding and to give candidates a better insight to the organisation are:

1. Have a culture Blog

Where employees can blog & vlog about their work activities, company social events,    fund raising days, anything that is done in the name of the organisation.

Zappos does this brilliantly check them out http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/inside-zappos 

1. Video Tour

Video is so powerful and your candidate will emotionally connect with your organisation if you do it well. Take them on a tour round the company, have different employees chatting, go to different departments, show how your employees unwind..you might have a TV room or have a gym. Show the environment, are you surrounded by lovely countryside or are you lucky enough to have a station across the road and a convenient bus stop.

So remember ask yourself the question “Why should top candidates work for your company?” 

There’s a new name for head hunting and it’s called social recruiting, it’s about being engaging and building talent communities 

If you’re a recruiter then I’m assuming that you’re familiar with Linkedin, getting your head around Facebook, have a few followers on Twitter and you're most definitely using Job Hop! Recruiter’s know that usually the most desirable candidates are the ones that are currently employed, social media gives you the ability to reach the talent that “are not actively looking”, powerful ay! So right now tweeting your #jobs and #careers are working a treat, you’ve connected with some top talent & are building some great relationships and you’re asking is there anything else you should be doing?  There are so many tools out there that will help you connect with candidates and show you how they’re communicating, too many to mention so I’ve just included a few favourites. 

www.bullhornereach.com   has now more than 35,000 recruiters on this platform & a network of  more than 20 million social media profiles.When anyone within your recruiter network of contacts updates their profile it shows up on your dashboard alerting you to a move might be on the cards.If they’ve been in touch with any other recruiters you will also be notified. It’s easy to put on jobs which are then posted to job boards and sent out across Twitter, Facebook and linkedin.There are great analytics, showing you how many views your jobs have received and the relevant traffic sources. Onlooking job seekers can find out more about you via your public profile and any sharing of articles, videos, blogs etc via Bullhorne will help with your recruitment branding.

www.activeinterview.com Perhaps you want a better insight to your candidate before inviting them to the office, the perfect product is Active Interview. Of course you can you use skype and many recruiters do these days however active interview allows you manage everything in one place. You can provide your candidates a questionnaire prior to the on line webcast, have a public questionnaire so candidates can opt to take part and  they can even attach their c.v’s. You can interview 15 candidates for free and  opt for an upgrade if you like it and want to continue using it.

The other nifty tool that I’ve come to love is www.zoho.com  This great applicant tracking system keeps everything simple, is very effective and frees up your time to concentrate on sourcing talent. With just a few clicks you can post jobs to multiple job boards, review c.v’s,reach and organise candidates and book in interviews. Source, engage, manage, how simple is that!    

So get rid of any recruitment headaches and try out the recommended tools  

you can follow Julie on Twitter @jobhopjulie