More and more businesses are turning to social media recruitment. Read on to find out why.
Social media is no longer for social use, at least, not in the personal social sense. Businesses are putting resources into harnessing social media for various purposes, and they should: there are over 2.7 billion social media users globally – a number that is continuously increasing as urbanisation and internet coverage broadens.
And while the use of social media for sales and marketing purposes have been in effect for quite some time, over the recent years more and more businesses are also starting to utilise it in recruitment efforts.
Last week’s Happy Hour for HR Talk Series session by Salarium featured Talentview CEO Anj Vera, as she talked about attracting talent using social media and discussed the practical and measurable processes of executing a recruitment campaign using social media channels.
But is using social media as resource for building your team a good idea? The following reasons point to “yes”:
1. Social media use is continuously growing
From January 2016 to January 2017, social media use has grown 21 per cent globally. This means that in a span of one year, over 482 million people has started using social media worldwide. This is a fact that businesses cannot afford to ignore – employees, current and potential, are most likely on social media, engaged by various online platforms either through web or mobile. It makes sense that businesses direct recruitment efforts to candidates they want through platforms that these candidates use.
2. How people use social media is changing
Social media is not just for entertainment or for connecting with people anymore; every year, for example, more people are turning to social media as their main source of and distribution platform for news. There are many things that people rely on social media for, including product and service reviews and recommendations, “insider” information, and company and/or brand reputation. People trust their social media networks and often takes into account what the majority of their online network is saying. A business with a good social media reputation is more likely to attract potential employees.
Your employees are your brand ambassadors, for better or for worse
-Anj Vera, Talentview CEO
3. You are present in social media whether you are officially on any platform or not
Those current employees recently mentioned, inadvertently or otherwise, puts your brand in the online social media map. Any work- or product-related post your employees share is a reflection of their experience as a member of your team and serves as an advertisement of your company’s culture to potential employees. If your employees are happy and fulfilled, it is likely to be reflected in their posts and attract the interest of talents. On the downside, unhappy employees may use their social media channels to express their ire (as some businesses experienced in previous years) and cause wanted candidates to rethink their applications.
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4. …so it is better that your business is officially on at least one social platform
Because while your employees may be a great ambassador for you, any official announcements (job opportunities and such) and responses to the more technical inquiries are better coming from an official company entity. Having an official social media presence is also helpful in case there are issues or controversies that you can directly address; while you cannot control the virality of posts, good or bad, you can always attempt to manage and salvage anything within your sphere of control.
Do you have another reason to add? Do you agree with the points mentioned in this article? Or do you have an altogether different idea when it comes to using social media for recruitment?
Post your number 5 in the comments and let us know about your thoughts and experiences in social media recruitment.
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Happy Hour for HR Talk Series is a monthly event organised by Salarium and held in Makati City, Philippines. It features HR experts and provides a venue for HR practitioners and startups to discuss topics and issues relevant to human resources development.
Feature image credit: bobaa22 / 123RF Stock Photo
The post Social media recruitment should be your next step; here are 4 reasons why companies use social platforms to build their teams appeared first on e27.