The Marriage of HR and Social Media
Human Resources (HR) people work with human beings. Because of that perspective, HR people have not been among the first to jump on the social media bandwagon. However, it enhances their ability to recruit people. It is a natural.
Although HR has many different responsibilities, one of them, of course, is to protect the company for whom they work from legal issues. Another very large responsibility is to cultivate and protect the culture of the company. As time goes on, social media is becoming more clearly defined in business. This impacts the roles that an online presence will play for HR professionals. More and more HR professionals are using the Internet to find qualified candidates who not only look good on paper but also fit in well and have proven integrity. Additionally, businesses are encouraging their employees to use social networks to expand their list of contacts.
Finding a Balance Between Value and Productivity
When the Internet started to become popular, many businesses were reluctant to get their employees involved or in even allowing them to use it at work. They didn’t really understand that value that it could have for their business. Their short-sighted view made them think that it was only a fun, personal medium for connecting with friends. Of course, we now know that it is so much more than that. In many cases, the attitudes (and ignorance) of the powers that be in companies have not changed dramatically. However, this time, it is all about social media.
It is extremely important to truly understand the value that online interactions can bring to business. It is very important to educate HR professionals about all of the benefits that they can get from it. Many of the online tools that they will benefit from the most have little or no cost involved with them. This can be regarded by business owners as not being worthwhile because there is no purchasing fee. In the case of social media, that has nothing to do with its value whatsoever.
Another valuable aspect of social media is that it positively affects not only a company’s internal workforce but it also affects the entire industry. Companies can use social media to share valuable information with a very broad audience. This will have far-reaching benefits because the companies are building relationships that will draw people to them and eventually they will be doing business with them in some way. Hopefully, those people will stick around for a long time.
Social media is a convenient tool for HR professionals to use, however, it is critical to set up the proper metrics so that the results of using social media can be measured. There are many times in which social media can help to facilitate an HR process that would not be possible otherwise. There is definitely a great deal of value in that.
Resources whenever you need them
No matter which industry you are involved with, social media will help you to expand your network immensely. Being an HR professional is not an easy job. Being able to connect with as many good-quality people is a really big advantage. Having continual interaction with people results in stronger and stronger relationships. Social media also allows the employees in the company to position the business in a way that makes large numbers of others pay attention to the business and what it has to offer.
Embracing innovation
As technology develops more and more, it is extremely important for businesses to continue to embrace and take advantage of all of the new things being offered that will help them to grow the business. The advances in social media are so fast paced, it is important to stay connected on a very regular basis so that they don’t miss new opportunities as they are presented.
The concept of “think outside of the box” certainly applies when it comes to HR and social media. It is more important than ever nowadays for companies to come up with new approaches and new thinking that will increase their business dealings and increase their revenue.
Reexamining corporate values
Social media can dramatically alter expectations. Before the advent of social media, it was not always possible to connect with people all of the time. Of course, there is a possibility that that could work in the opposite direction. Even though it is possible to reach people 24/7, there need to be respectful boundaries put in place that don’t allow that to happen. This applies particularly to HR professionals.
Conclusion
The one thing that is for certain is that social media is not going away anytime soon. It is beneficial for all industries and all niches and anyone who does not embrace it and continue to grow with it as new technologies are introduced is doing themselves and their business a tremendous disservice.
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I have written about the human capital implications of social media fairly extensively over the past year. These pieces provide a nice complement to and extension of the ideas in this essay.
Courtney Hunt
Founder, Social Media in Organizations (SMinOrgs) Community
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Small Business Online Community
Discussion: The Marriage of HR and Social Media
As an HR freelancer I find social media invaluable in both engaging with my potential customers, whilst also sharing knowledge within the HR community.
Carolyn is right that in terms of recruitment, a wide network is a real asset in finding candidates. The hidden job market is still the most vibrant.
Posted by Les Potton Chartered FCIPD ACII
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: MyVerizon
Discussion: The Marriage of HR and Social Media
Social media like LinkedIn is great in a sense if you are just using it to recruit.But some companies are using it to, see if there employees are looking for jobs and some banks are demanding before they hire you to give them access to your page.It gets even worse on Facebook which is totally different from Linked In and should be treated that way.
Posted by Allison Harding
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: MyVerizon
Discussion: The Marriage of HR and Social Media
You both are right on point. Applying to companies has become very sterile using the Internet for applications. However, now through social media, Facebook, LinkedIn and others; an applicant can see a background on the HR contacts and hiring manager. Of course being out there means your own information is available too. So the key is to enjoy social media, but don't be too outlandish in your discussions/pictures… hopefully that isn't an issue.
Posted by John Kennedy
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: For Women Entrepreneurs
Discussion: The Marriage of HR and Social Media
Carolyn, When I read this, my first thought was you are not in the H.R / Employment industry.
H.R and the majority of us have long adopted Social Media from the beginning – in fact if you were to visit sites like ERE.net, Hirecentrix.com, and others, you will be able to determine for over a decade that not only did H.R / Employment industry embrace Social Media, they put it on the map 🙂
On these sites and many more, you will see training classes not only on Boolean for google, but also boolean on Twitter.. Many of my peers have more books/ articles/ webinars/ training on how to use social medium for recruiting – (sadly not enough on how to use it w/in the confinements of the law) – Sometimes when I see the volumeI often wonder if more are talking, re writing and promoting social medium than they are actually working in the industry.. but that is another rant..
There are some legal concerns though that come from adopting social media in the recruiting, and employment process. Especially using it for Recruiting, and even for reference checking. Both can ultimately lead to adverse impact and systemic discrimination problems that more and more companies are attempting to put extensive restrictions on the use of the medium in the hiring and firing process.. Especially since many States and also the EEOC are creating legal roadblocks as well for us.
That said.. Social medium, is still considered a prime way to source candidates; do investigative research before the interview; and discover information so that companies can consider even firing individuals..
MHO, I believe that as we see more continual lawsuits with regards to social media and employees, also friings Settlement reached in lawsuit involving firing over employee’s Facebook® comments we will see companies invoke more scrutiny, and policies in regards to social media in the workplace
Karen Mattonen
Posted by Karen Mattonen C.A.C., C.S.P
Excellent blog and comments by all.
Patti, Communications Director at Incentive Logic