Smartphones: An Effective Means for Employee Recruitment

SoLoMo – Social, Local, and Mobile – is not a trend; it is happening right now on this moment. If a company does not have a clear SoLoMo strategy or a mobile-optimized website by now, the company has fallen behind in competition.

I am an optimistic person and thus believe many companies have already taken SoLoMo seriously. Otherwise, they have probably been defeated by their competitors who embrace SoLoMo. My real concern is that not every company has an integrated SoLoMo strategy. Often, companies pay close attention to SoLoMo’s effect on sales and marketing. A true integrated strategy, however, must include every facet of business operations into considerations.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported a story that highlighted the SoLoMo’s impact on employee recruitment. According to this report, mobile devices will outpass desktops/laptops and become Americans’ preferred method for accessing the internet by 2015. Among the Fortune 500 companies, 167 (33%) have already had career portals that are optimized to fit in a smartphone screen. A year ago, only 65 companies did so.

McDonald’s and Macy’s are the two examples cited in the report. McDonald’s launched its mobile career site back in 2008.  At that time, three million people visited the mobile site and 24,000 actually submitted an application on the mobile site. By 2012, McDonald’s received two million applications, with a record of 30 million visits of its mobile career site. Today, McDonald’s mobile career site brings over 10% of applications to the company.

Macy’s tested its mobile-optimized career page in 2011 with selected positions like software developers and marketers before the company rolled out a mobile page for hourly employees in 2012. Today, Macy’s receive 20-25% of applications from its mobile career page.

Recently, Convenience Store Decisions and Humetrics conducted a national human resource (HR) survey with nearly 100 convenience store chains, representing 12,000 stores in the U.S. The results also support SoLoMo’s impact on HR operations, including:

• The two most effective recruiting tools for hourly employees are in-store ads or outdoor signage and employee referral program. For salaried positions, internet job boards and company websites become the two most effective methods.
• Social media are being used in recruitment by 28% of respondents, significantly higher than what was reported in 2012 (2%).
• The usage of CraigsList for recruiting hourly employees increased from 21% in 2011 to 25% in 2012 (Craigslist also has a mobile app).
• Only 5% stores are using social media sites for screening now, but another 5% plan to add checking social media sites as a screening method in 2013.
• About 22% suggested they will adopt new training technologies, such as e-Learning, Webinars, learning management systems, smartphones, iPad, PC, among many others.

Another market-research report by Nielsen found that 63% of Americans use mobile devices to access social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn (Weber, 2013). Mobile devices indeed provide a great means for companies to reach potential candidates. To embrace SoLoMo, some employers also use QR codes and text-messaging in mobile recruiting.

One challenge of doing mobile recruiting, however, is that mobile-optimized career sites might not be as easy to navigate as the sites on laptops/desktops (Weber, 2013). Regardless, SoLoMo in HR is happening now.

Do you think SoLoMo will play an even more important role in HR? How about its impact on other areas of business operations? How can businesses respond to the SoLoMo movement? Referring to your personal experience, for what purposes do you use mobile devices? Do you believe your smartphone can help you find a job in the future? Why or why not?

Relevant Discussion: 
SoLoMo for Social Media Strategists

HR Challenges Created by Social Media 

Hiring Created Minds as the Chief Innovative Officer  

References:

Kleiman, Mel. (April, 2013). The 2013 convenience store human resources study. Convenience Store Decisions, 24(4), p. 26-30.

Weber, Lauren. (April 24, 2013). How your smartphone could get you a job: McDonald’s, Macy’s customize their career sites, but most companies aren’t moving fast enough. The Wall Street Journal, retrieve online on April 24, 2013 via http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578441130657837720.html

The picture was downloaded from teczealots.com

Do We Have the Rights to Talk about Work or our Boss on Social Media?

It is not new to hear people got fired because of their updates on social networking sites. In one extreme case, a man got fired even for his random thoughts posted on Facebook. So, is it legal for companies to fire employees because of their updates on social media sites?

Employees have the rights to discuss face-to-face on “protected concerted activity” as outlined by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). For example, employees can talk about their wages and work conditions with co-workers. According to The Lodging Magazine (2013), the answer to whether employees have the rights to talk about work or their boss on social media sites depends on whether the employee’s update is considered as protected concerted activity.

The article in The Lodging Magazine reported two cases with the published decisions from NLRB. One case involves in an employee’s sarcastic comments about the employer. This employee is not protected because NLRB believes that the comments were made “solely by the employee without any discussion with other employees.” In the other case, an employee responded to a co-worker’s criticisms of her job performance as well as the performance of other co-workers. This employee was fired, but NLRB ruled in favor of the terminated employee because the employee’s behavior is “a call to group action that related to their working conditions.”

Even though it is noted that the decision made by the NLRB may turn out to be invalid because the Supreme Court by the Administration is still pending on its decision on whether the NLRB “lacks a quorum and is unable to conduct business,” employers are advised to keep such decisions of NLRB in mind. In the end, the article lists six suggestions for employers’ considerations (direct quotes):

• Eliminate policies that require employees to maintain confidentiality over wages, bonuses, or commissions.
• Review social media policies for non-specific terms that need further definition or stricter language.
• Adjust overly broad language that prohibits employees from discussing company policies, schedules, safety, dress codes, work assignments, other staff, or management.
• Eliminate or change language that prohibits posting of company logos, company name, identification of employee with the company, etc.
• Where legitimate issues are involved, define information that the company considers confidential (private employee data, guest information, strategic marketing plans, financial particulars).
• Consider a disclaimer at the end of the social media policy that makes clear that the policy is not intended to restrict an employee’s Section Seven Rights under the NLRA.

My suggestion to individual users is to think before posting any negative comments about work or their boss. They may ask themselves: besides venting my feelings about work or my boss on social media sites, how does my update help solve the issue? Are there other places for me to vent my feelings? Are there other places I can seek solutions (e.g., the HR Office, the corporate HR Manager, the NLRB, etc.)?

I agree to the article that managers need to revisit their companies’ policy. Ideally, I believe that the best solution to “stop” employees from bad-mouthing the company or their supervisors is to nurture an organizational culture that value employee feedback. If employees know their employer listens to them and shows genuine interest to them, they tend to be more open to their managers about their feelings and thoughts. If their issues are solved, they will not need to vent their feelings on social media sites any more. What do you think?

References:

Ryan, Andria, & Lominack, Reybun. (2013, March). Word to the wise: the National Labor Relations Board is weighing in on social media communications and employee rights; Here’s what hoteliers need to know. The Lodging Magazine (The official magazine of The American Hotel + Lodging Association), p. 20-21.

We Are Being Analyzed on Twitter for Marketing Purposes

Most of us know that the Big Brother is watching us on social media. So, whether or not we want to be watched is out of the question. The debate turns to: To what extent should we be monitored? And more importantly, are we being watched for a good reason?

Twitter, for example, will soon allow advertisers to target users based on their “assumed” interests and hobbies, according to this Wall Street Journal video. Twitter is able to do that because it knows what users like by analyzing their tweets, favorite tweets, retweets, interactions with other users, keywords in Twitter search, the following list, and the follower list.  

In fact, other big players in the market like Google and Facebook have been running targeted ads for a while, but I still think this could be good news because marketers will have an additional medium to reach target customers --- users on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter are different in many ways in my opinions. Besides, this could an important move for Twitter before it announces the IPO (initial public offering).  

Today’s technology allows marketers to closely watch consumers about just everything, from body temperature, motions, and heartrates in a shopping trip, to their shopping routines. I am not sure if consumers are happy about that, but I believe many marketers are. Would you agree? 

The business implications of monitoring internet users’ online behaviors, however, can go beyond marketing. HR is another good example. Social media has become a very important tool in recruitment and employee selection. Hiring managers can now analyze a job candidate’s online presence before making an offer. If a job seeker does not know how to present himself/herself with 140 words or how to leverage the power of social media in job search, s/he would miss many good opportunities.

If you are a HR professional, how do you use technology in managing an organization’s human capital? If you are a job seeker, what tactics can you use in job search on social media?

Besides Marketing and HR, what other departments can use social media for their advantages? How?

References:
The Twitter logo was downloaded from https://twitter.com/logo

Using Social Media in Communication: An Interview with Keren Ritchie

Today, I conducted a Skype interview with Keren Ritchie in my social media class. Keren received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is currently a M.I.A. (Master of International Affairs) degree candidate at Columbia University. Her experience in social media ranges from non-for-profit to for-profit organizations. So, what are her thoughts on using social media in communication?

Keren’s Work Experience in Social Media

• While there is not much difference among organizations as an effective social media strategy can work for different entities, businesses in general allow more freedom and creativity in using social media for communication; government agents are more careful regarding the content being communicated.
• Social media policy is very important for every organization, but surprisingly, few organizations she worked for had established clear guidelines of using social media. “Many companies’ social media policies are more reactive; a good social media policy will allow organizations to be more proactive in responding to what is happening in social media.” As a result, whoever can develop social media strategies and write social media policies is “golden” in job search.
• As to which department should write the social media policy for the organization, Keren pointed to the Communication Department. I believe that social media should be included in an organization’s integrated business strategy because social media can be used in PR, HR, Marketing, and more. Accordingly, if the Communication Department oversees an organization's social media activities in different departments, it will work. Otherwise, the executive committee that develops integrated strategy should draft the social media policy for the organization. What are your opinions on this issue?

Trends in Social Media

• Many companies are “afraid” of social media because they don’t know how to use it. Seeing the opportunities and advantages of using social media in business, more companies will realize the importance of social media. They must use social media in order to stay competitive --- Avon is a good example of failing for not being able to catch up with the social media trends in competition.
• Organizations should hire at least one dedicated person to manage their social media channels. If budget is an issue, a manager should oversee such activities. Small business with limited resources is advised to use those “widely-reach” platforms with built-in integrated applications (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube). Without a dedicated person who consistently updates relevant content on social media, it is difficult to engage the audience.

Using Social Media in Job Search

• Networking is still the key, especially for those vacancies that are not even publicized. LinkedIn and other social media tools can certainly help people build a network online, but the “personal connections” cannot be completely replaced by a virtual network.
• Students and job seekers are advised to acquire the following transferable skills: having (and being able to demonstrate) strong communication skills (verbal and written), knowing the relevant trends of the field, paying attention to details, multitasking/multi-talented (e.g. having the skill sets of writing, administration, and strategic planning), and the ability of know-how (e.g. using WordPress and making YouTube videos).
• Graduate school is a great place for networking. Alumni are often very helpful, for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Thank you, Keren for sharing her valuable advice of using social media in communication. What additional suggestions will you give to us?

Please visit http://sfy.co/qTg to read more about our Storify story for today’s interview.

HR Challenges Created by Social Media

Last week, I published a paper in Hotel Business Review (HBR) about the HR challenges created bysocial media. I believe that social media has made significant impact on almost every HR function, including job analysis and job design, recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation plans, performance appraisals, discipline and retention management, social responsibility, and ethics. Here, I am not going to restate my discussion in HBR. I, however, would like to hear your thoughts on this topic by asking some of the questions I raised in the paper.      

HR Challenges

• When companies are adding social media in their daily operations, what responsibilities should be added or deleted from current positions?
• What positions or departments need to be created or eliminated?
• Is it necessary to re-design a company’s organizational structure? If so, how can it be done?
• If it is necessary to create a position called social media manager, what tasks and responsibilities should be included in the job descriptions?
• To whom should a social media manager report to?
• Recruiting and selecting candidates on social media could be effective, but how can companies screen candidates without collecting their sensitive demographic information? Are companies able to defend their hiring decisions in front of EEOC (equal employment opportunity commission)?
• How much training should be provided to those who manage a company’s social media accounts?
• If some internal-communication content (e.g. benefits) needs to be shared on social media for targeted employees, how can it be done? Who should manage the content?
• How do companies design the rate structure for social media officers?
• Since the ROI (return on investment) of social media effort is not easy to measure, how do companies evaluate the performance of a social media officer?
• When every employee is “visible” for competitors on social media, what can a company do to keep its top talent?  
• What is a company’s social media policy?
• Who should manage the content about social responsibility and ethics? PR? HR? Marketing? Or a new department called Social Media or Communication?
• What can companies do to ensure that the content about social responsibility and ethics are communicated effectively and efficiently on social media?
• …

What other questions do you have? To help companies cope with these HR challenges, what suggestions will you offer?

In the end, I believe that companies must put every functional and operational department, including HR, into consideration when they are planning for a comprehensive social media strategy. Do you agree?

References:

The picture is downloaded from ArrowPartnership.com

Can a Person’s Facebook Profile Predict Job Performance?

Last week, several mainstream media networks reported a new research finding about Facebook --- it can predict job candidates’ performance at work. What is this study about?  

The study recruited three raters (1 professor + 2 students) to evaluate the Facebook profiles of 56 college students with jobs. Six months later, these raters’ reports were compared with the employee evaluations conducted by the actual supervisors. The study found a strong correlation between those two sets of evaluations in “conscientiousness,” “agreeability” and “intellectual curiosity.”

In addition, profiles of “students who traveled, had more friends, and showed a wide range of hobbies and interests” received more favorable evaluations. Raters did not rate against students who posted partying pictures. Instead, raters perceived students with partying photos as “extroverted and friendly.”

I think this is an interesting study even though I have some concerns about the research design and the generalizability issue of the study. My question is can we draw a conclusion that Facebook profiles can predict job performance? The relationship exists when Facebook profiles are correlated with Facebook users’ personality and then when certain personality traits are correlated with job performance, as suggested by Dr. Don Kluemper (the principle investigator of this project at Northern Illinois University). It seems to me that certain “personality traits” are the true indicators of job performance. Facebook just provides a platform for job candidates to “show case” their true personality.

To think deeper, what do those research findings mean to HR managers and job seekers?

For HR managers, would it be better to just ask candidates to complete a personality test/assessment rather than checking their Facebook profiles? First of all, not everyone use Facebook or make their Facebook profiles public. Second, companies are taking a risk of screening candidates with their Facebook profiles because of the rich demographic information revealed on Facebook. If personality test and Facebook profile can yield similar results, why bother to take the risk?

For job seekers, it is important to know the job search tactics on social media. One must understand the mechanism of social media and use it for his/her advantage. What do you think?

References: 

Leslie Kwoh at The Wall Street Journal online.

The Wall Street Journal Video
 


The Fox News Video
 

Tactics of Seeking Jobs on Social Media

Recently, HOSTEUR™ published a paper of mine entitled “Seeking Jobs on Social Media: Are You Ready?” (p. 13 – 17). The paper answers three research questions:

1. What is social media?
2. How do companies use social media in recruitment and selection?
3. What can job seekers do in responding to companies’ social-media strategies in recruitment and selection?

People who follow my blog probably know the answers very well. In today’s discussion, I would like to summarize and quote some of the tactics I discussed in the paper. I would like to open up for comments because what you share may help a job seeker find a job.    

• Understand employers’ expectations. Job seekers must know the characteristics or qualifications that recruiters seek in candidates.
• Design an appropriate personal brand that fits in employers’ expectations and the job seeker’s career goal. Job seekers need to answer: “What do I want the recruiters or hiring managers to know about me?”
• Join the professional organizations/groups on LinkedIn and participate in discussions. That means initiating intellectual conversations and answering other group members’ questions. It is very important that a job seekers shares useful information in the network.  
• In addition to the popular social networking sites, create an account in other professional communities on the internet, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Inc.com (a community for small business). Why? They will help optimize the search engine results.
• Use the same name and title on every social media site. This will help search engines identify and bring up the right profiles at once.
• Cross-reference one another on a person’s social media profiles. The question is: “Do you have an information hub for all your profiles?” The hub could be blog, a personal website, a LinkedIn profile, etc. Let the recruiters and hiring managers to navigate the profiles from one to another.  
• Build a network with industry experts, professors, co-workers, references, people who share the same interests, and people encountered in professional occasions. Whom we know matters!   
• Before building a personal brand, search a person’s name on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. See what people talk about the person on the Internet and social networking sites. If there is an issue, fix it or even hire an agent to help clean up the negative content.
• Build a strong personal brand on social media by frequently posting relevant comments or discussions that support the job seeker’s personal brand. Over time, the job seeker should be known as an expert in a specific domain.
• Ask professionals who are familiar with the job seeker’s work for endorsement on social media. The recommendations can help a job seeker to validate and promote his/her personal brand.
• Because very few employers want to hire a negative person or a questionable candidate, a job seeker must be very careful when posting negative comments (unless they are constructive), complaints, or those pictures/comments that do not project his/her personal brand.
• Pay attention to the hidden messages conveyed on social media. Do you think your pictures indicate who you are? Pictures taken at the award ceremonies are always very helpful in supporting a resume or what is highlighted on the application letter. 
• It is all right to show a candidate’s true personality in some ways. In some degree, job seeking is similar to dating. While companies are looking for candidates who fit in the organization’s culture and jobs, job seekers also want to find the jobs they like. If a candidate “pretends” to be somebody else and gets a job offer that does not match the candidate’s personality, s/he will very likely end up hating the job and leaving the company. Rather, a job seeker should target the positions or companies that match his/her personality and be true to oneself.
• It is important that a job candidate uses a professional profile picture and keep their profiles public to some degree. If everything is “hidden” or “private,” how would a job seeker amplify the power of social media?
• Be very careful of the questionable content posted on the internet. If that’s something you don’t even want your family to know, probably it is not a good idea to put the content on the internet.
• It takes time, or even a very long time, before a person can establish a strong personal brand online. So, everyone should all start practicing now regardless if s/he is looking for job or not.

References:

Kwok, Linchi (2011, Fall/Winter). Seeking jobs on social media, are you ready? HOSTEUR™, 20 (2): 13-17.

The picture was downloaded from LIBN.com 

Relevant discussions:

More Employers Are Using Social Media in Screening Job Candidates

Privacy vs. Efficacy: Which One Would You Choose? (Using Facebook in Job Search)
One Has No Choice But to Manage His/Her Online Image
Background Check on Social Media: Now Is a Serious Business
Using Facebook for Background Check
Social Media and Job Search I
Social Media and Job Search II

Social Media and Job Search III

Personal Brand and Social Media
Managing Your Online Reputation
Ways to Clean Up a Person’s Negative Online Reputation

Will Résumés Become Passé?

In 2010, I shared a news article about seeking jobs by playing video games. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that more companies recruit and select candidates without even asking them to submit a résumé. Will résumé become passé? 

According to my 2010 discussion, some companies, including Caesars Entertainment, have utilized social gaming to assess candidates’ professional skills. Candidates can win prizes if they are good. The best prize? It is probably getting the attention or a job offer from potential employers.  

The Wall Street Journal provided more examples. IGN Entertainment uses a similar approach of social gaming by posting a series of challenges online for candidates. In addition, candidates must submit a video to show their love of gaming and the companies’ products. 

Union Square Ventures, the New York venture-capital firm which invests in many technology companies like Foursquare and Twitter, requires candidate to provide the links of their online presence. The company is expecting to see a Twitter account, a Tumblr blog, and a short video demonstrating the candidate’s interest in the job. “We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think,” said by Christina Cacioppo, a Union Square associate who blogs about the company’s hiring process. 

Because people use social media in almost every minute of their lives, candidates “expose” rich and descriptive information about their likes/dislikes. Companies can then better judge a candidate’s “fit” with the organizational culture and the position based on the “extra” information that they could not find from a résumé otherwise. 

There are certainly legal considerations of using social media in recruiting and selecting candidates. Meanwhile, many candidates may not feel comfortable of sharing their “personal information” with other. To my knowledge, however, EEOC has not stopped companies from using social media in that regard. Even if EEOC does, there is a solution for employers --- to hire a third party agent to screen candidates’ social media profiles without collecting any “sensitive information.

Today, there are still many companies using résumés in recruitment and selection. Companies that are forward-thinking might have looked into the tools available and see if social media can provide a better solution for attracting and selecting top talents. For job seekers, it might not be a bad idea to let potential employers know their “authentic” personalities and true passion because supposedly, they are also looking for the right fit for their career.

Do you think companies should assess candidates’ fit and qualifications by looking at candidates’ social media profiles? What considerations should be taken if social media is used? If you are looking for an internship or job now, what will you do to better prepare yourself when more companies are looking at candidates’ social media profiles?

Relevant discussions:

More Employers Are Using Social Media in Screening Job Candidates

Privacy vs. Efficacy: Which One Would You Choose? (Using Facebook in Job Search)
One Has No Choice But to Manage His/Her Online Image
Background Check on Social Media: Now Is a Serious Business
Using Facebook for Background Check
Social Media and Job Search I
Social Media and Job Search II

Social Media and Job Search III

Personal Brand and Social Media
Managing Your Online Reputation
Ways to Clean Up a Person’s Negative Online Reputation

 

References:

Silverman, Rachel Emma. (2012, January 24). No more résumés, Say some firms. The Wall Street Journal. pp. B6. Also available online. 

The picture was downloaded from the Small Business Development Center at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.