Employer Branding is the right choice to attract quality Top Talent, Social Hiring and achieve Business Goals

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Employer Branding has gained prominence in last 4-5 years. Companies are realising that it is not enough to continue with old recruitment and hiring practices , if they were to hire best talent from the market . 

Each hire in a critical role is an investment for the organization.  Companies want to make sure that there are fewer hiring mistakes and they hire the right candidates which fit the culture of the organization and is a super star employee.  The buzzword for 2018 is Candidate Experience. Candidate experience is as important as Employee Experience. Many a times , passive candidates don’t apply to opportunities because of the time consuming application process. Linkedin offers an easy apply button and many companies Recruitment systems i.e. ATS ( Applicant Tracking Systems ) are integrated with LinkedIn. What it means for candidates is the ease of applying to companies with the click of a mouse, they can submit their cv in companies database. Linkedin easy apply is just one example of providing a seamless experience to potential candidates at the time of hiring. 

Employer branding is the process of promoting a company, or an organization, as the employer of choice to a desired target group, one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain . 

Recruiters need to think and act like marketers to attract the best candidates. 

With the rise of different digital platforms , it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose how to advertise or market your jobs to potential candidates . Gone are the days , when candidates would apply to jobs without researching the company. Candidates research their potential employer on Glassdoor , read reviews, see ratings of Top Management as much as companies try to find about candidates.  Candidates want to know what it feels to work for your organization. What is the culture, what are the career and advancement opportunities, what kind of  learning does your company provide, what are the rewards for performers ,  what are the benefits and perks for working with your organization. In short, candidates assess their potential employers before applying for the jobs. Thats where lies the importance of employer branding. 

Companies rely on different source mix for diversity in hiring - example Career Sites , Employee Referrals, Job Boards, Social Media, sometimes external Recruitment agencies and Vendors. All these are potential options to reinforce your Branded messaging which is consistent as well as Authentic.

Employees stories make a really good option to indulge in Corporate Storytelling and showcase culture of your organisation. Stories of the employees when narrated in first person are much more appealing to external candidates than formal Corporate Brand message. 

Employees are adopting social media platforms , hence the Corporate Brand gets humanised. 

Effective employer branding is the combination of market research, advisory services, communications and marketing to achieve both a credible and desirable brand position. 

Finally, through talent acquisition and retention, the end purpose of employer branding is to stimulate business growth and achieve strategic business goals.

The Rise of Social Business

1. Social business in numbers



2. It is the People who create Value for your Business and Clients .

3. Social business is a powerful force of change in culture and
behavior that is transforming the way enterprises work to better
capitalize on our most valuable resource: people

4. 36% better customer service reported by companies using Social Tools
ESG Research Report, Social Enterprise Adoption Trends, June 2012

5. In the next 5 years, 57% CEOs expect digital channels to be the key way to engage customers.
IBM Global CEO Study May 2012

6. 65% of Executives use Social Business tools to understand market shifts
IBM Global C-Suite Study October 2013

7. 70% of Executives believe Social Business can fundamentally change the way business works
MIT Sloan Management Review,
Social Business Study: Shifting Out of First Gear,
David Kiron and others,  July 16, 2013.

8. The rise of mobile technology: With almost 75 percent of the worlds population owning a mobile device, information is not only accessible, but available at our fingertips.

9. According to a study done by Salary.com, 72 percent of candidates are using social connection tools to scour jobs.

10. 10 skills for the Future Workforce ( Marcia Conner)
http://marciaconner.com/blog/ten-skills/


11.  Twitter search  #IBMSWchat  for links & further resources on Smarter Workforce = Future Ready Workforce for Digital Era

12. In the USA right now there are over 3 million unfilled jobs, while in countries like Spain, youth unemployment stands at a jaw dropping 47%. The extent of the gap between what employers need and what the labour market provides in terms of skills and talents seems to be continuously widening.

13. The global skill gap is here to stay for as long as technological advances, globalisation and demography continue to redefine work

14. Executives at Wipro, for example, work with tens of thousands of colleges across India to train teachers to develop IT skills, build state-of-the-art curricula, and encourage students to become what they term work-ready

15. 10 ways to Future Proof your Career by Dr Lynda Gratton
This is 2011 article, however still relevant, for individual employees / professionals to prepare themselves for Future
 ( Timeless wisdom by Dr Lynda Gratton )

http://lyndagrattonfutureofwork.typepad.com/lynda-gratton-future-of-work/2011/06/the-10-ways-to-future-proof-your-career.html

15. Andrew McAfee  Social Technology as major Disruption to Global Economy

http://youtu.be/Y04lZ8F3GjQ


16. IMHO, Future Ready Workforce will constitute Individuals who are LifeLongLearners, who have the ability to learn, unlearn, relearn and reinvent themselves. Who are agile, and make  investment in self education and acquiring new skills.

Future ready workforce also mean networked and collaborative workforce. They know how to collaborate, create trust in virtual environment, reach out to experts across borders and locate expertise quickly at the tip of fingertips to create value for clients. 

Future ready workforce means individual employees may not have all the answers to client problems however have the skills to find the answers and reach out to experts.
Who knows what and who knows whom becomes utmost important , hence the value of networks.

Future ready workforce know how to manage work in a borderless economy.


17. Digitisation is a step change even greater than  the internet. Exponential technology advances, greater consumer power and increased competition mean all industries face the threat

of commoditisation. The winners will act now, and build a strategic advantage that leaves

their counterparts wondering what happened.



18. According to Ernst & Young research, other Generation Y

expectations include:

► Collaborative, networked learning: the average user spends

55 minutes a day on Facebook

► Fast, easy and fun communication: Generation Y adults

spend 15+ hours a week on the internet

► Visible peer recommendations in decision-making: 80% of

consumers believe peer recommendations, but only 14%

trust advertisements

► Immediate feedback: 34% of bloggers post opinions about

products and brands

► Environmentally aware: 96% of Generation Y want an

environmentally aware workplace

► Flexibility: 56% of Generation Y prefer to work flexibly and

choose when to work, and 79% prefer to be mobile rather

than static workers


19. Digital Business Model Creator/inventor Year of birth

Facebook  social networking Mark Zuckerberg 1984

Napster  peer to peer file sharing Sean Parker 1979

Spotify  digital music streaming Daniel Ek 1983

Skype  VOIP telephone network Janus Friis 1976

Twitter  microblogging social network Jack Dorsey 1976


20. The Rise of the Prosumer ( E&Y research)

A Prosumer is a term used for a consumer who is unusually interested in products/

services of a brand. Prosumers will dedicate their spare time to upload reviews and

comments and respond to other reviews and comments about the product. Some

prosumers will record YouTube videos to help other users with technical service

issues of a particular product. These individuals can be very useful sources of product

development ideas, or can be incentivised as a low cost provider of technical service to

other consumers.

21. The digitisation of everything How organisations must adapt to changing consumer behaviour (E&Y Research)

 Customers

► Improve customer experience

► Increase marketing, sales and service effectiveness

► Develop multi-channel strategy

Suppliers and partners

► Improve transaction speeds, lower costs

► Optimise the end-to-end digital supply chain process

► Improve supplier relationship management

► Optimise sales and operations planning

Employees

► Manage organisational change

► Develop social policies and governance

► Develop digital skills and capabilities

► Manage recruitment, retention and talent

Leaders

► Develop a digital strategy

► Assess market and competition

► Design operating model and organisational structure

The art and science of Recruitment

Indeed Report on The Art and Science of Recruitment 

P.S - I am Ruchi, Founder of HRGurukul. And I help businesses achieve profits and productivity gains by being a Trusted Business Advisor and integrating People, Process, Technology. 

I offer training workshop "People to Profits " for  managers and employees of Startups and SMEs . In case , you would like a 30 min free consultation call, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

My coordinates - 

Email ruchibhatia23@gmail.com

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruchibhatia23/ 

Training and Consulting Business

HR Gurukul training and consulting from Ruchi Bhatia

Employees want to work for companies that excel at social business

Organizations don’t tweet people do¹. Business Managers are faced with increasing use of Social platforms by their employees, customers and competitors. Managers still aren’t sure of the context to make better decisions about Social Web and its impact on them.
Business Leaders are challenged and they are eager to know, how to make a quantum leap to derive best value out of newer emerging technologies for best business outcomes. The Answer is Social Business.
This year’s MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte² global survey found clear evidence that

1. Companies across industries are creating value with social business
2. Employees want to work for companies that excel at social business.

What is Social Business³? How can an organization become a Social Business?

When companies move itself and its clients well beyond social media into a new era of collaboration, insight sharing, and lead generation it is called Social Business.”

When companies take full advantage of social media to drive business benefit while managing the potential risks associated with employee use of social media.
Companies which leverage only external Social Media platforms rely on uni-dimensional approach to managing business. Social Business looks at the ways people interact in Digital Experiences holistically (inside the firewall and on external Social Media platforms). The insights derived are applied to a variety of different business processes.
Social Business impacts all areas of a business eg. Human Resources, IT, Marketing, Sales, R&D, Product Development, Operations.
Technology implementation would be a small portion of the overall spends on the Social Business implementation. The most important aspect is Community Management and this is one of the most vital Capabilities, organizations need to develop in-house and allocate resources for. HR Leaders play a critical role to ensure their Organizational Development Function does not ignore this crucial aspect. Usually the path to becoming a Social Business is a phase-wised approach.
So how do you eat the Elephant? One bite at a time

1. Encourage your employees to become Digital Citizens
2. Failing early is allowed and ok too
3. Have a Strategy in place. Reactionary approach never works
4. Follow and Learn from Experts. Learn from the businesses and organizations that are doing it well
5. Find out what stage of the maturity continuum you fall and have a mid to long term plan to becoming a Social Business

Reference Links

1. http://www.amazon.com/Organizations-Dont-Tweet-People-Do/dp/1119950554
2. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/moving-beyond-marketing/#ref1
3. http://www.ibm.com/social-business/us/en/

P.S-  First published in People Matters
http://www.peoplematters.in/article/2014/09/09/technology/going-social-business/10221

Social Media is the talk of the Town

Social Media explosion is the talk of the town. Almost every business , industry, company is trying to tap into the opportunities that explosion in Social Media provides for improved business outcomes.
Leveraging Social Media has become imperative for companies to engage with customers, employees and business partners. Marketing & comms department has been the first to jump on the bandwagon to engage in 2 way communication models to reach out to customers. In the age of information overload, attention becomes the currency and Branding acquires centre stage.
How can HR remain immune or impervious to this excellent opportunity. Broadly speaking, when it comes to Talent Management - HR function is about Capacity planning, capability building, engagement and retention. What I see is rise in the HR Job roles that has components of Social elements embedded into it.
For example , if you are a L&D professional, you must be thinking how to utilise newer models eg Flipped classroom into learning process.
Recruitment is not left behind either. We have newer roles in Recruitment eg Recruitment Branding , Recruitment Marketing . After all the job of hiring managers is to sell the "work" ,Organisation "culture " to the prospective candidates.

Social networking phenomenon revolutionises the recruitment experience for both candidates and employers. Companies are rethinking their social media strategies to make recruiting processes more transparent and to tap into and engage with the talent pools. More and more companies are on the lookout for know how on how to leverage social networking sites eg Facebook, LinkedIn to advertise jobs, increase brand awareness, showcase Company culture and provide a glimpse to candidates about the working environment, growth , learning, career and development opportunities.
Both candidates and employers are using the digital footprints to research about each other and find data points for better decision making. Hiring can be viewed as a Match making process . More the data points, assumption is, better would be the decision ie final outcome for both employers and candidates.

In my experience, I see 2 kinds of recruiters & hiring managers. On one end of spectrum, we have recruiters who has invested in self learning , acquired new skills to use social networking for sourcing, engagement, building relationships with candidates. On other end of spectrum , few hiring managers & recruiters are wondering and still pondering over the risks. Social networking adoption Benefits far outweigh the risks, ask any candidate or HR Professional who has reaped benefits from this new medium. Technology is neutral. A fool with a tool is still a fool.  Recruiters and hiring managers must enhance their understanding on the value Social media and social networking adoption and invest in self education and self learning. They must learn from recruiters who are using Facebook graph search, Linkedin recruiters license and reaping great benefits to minimise agency dependency and reduce costs & generate value for organisation with fewer resources. They are the ones who are innovating on the field. These recruiters understand Social Recruiting . Social Recruiting as a concept is relatively new. Talent can not be hired, it can only be courted.Go figure - how. Simply put, Hiring in other words , is a long & extended conversation. For hiring managers, Hiring is about channel mix too. Employee Referrals is another process which can be disrupted using the social networking platforms. Much scope to bring Efficiencies and Effectiveness  into the Hiring process and to disrupt the existing models and evolve new Hiring Models. Employer Branding has nuances and implications understood by the privileged few. Employer Branding and Social Recruiting is bound to witness growth in coming years.

Sage advice from Social Business gurus ~  Get Social. Do business
As Dr Marshall Goldsmith says ~ what got you here! won't get you there.
If you are still wondering why, what, how ..then remember, Self education is the key. Follow and Learn from Thought Leaders. .  I tweet and share insightful stuff on Social HR through twitter (@rucsb) and my blog ~ HR Gurukul.

Bonus ~

What IBM Recruitment is upto -
1. Integrated Social approach to ATS ( Applicant Tracking System)
2. Employee Referral Program empowered by Social Referrals
3. ROI of Social Recruitment measured through  Influenced and Direct Social Hires
4. Hiring Processes enabled & powered through Analytics
5. HR Leaders Rely on Data than on Gut. Better Decision Making on part of HR Leaders. Improved Business outcomes.


3 Key Actionables to get started on Social HR (Recruitment) Journey
1. Invest time  in building your own Linkedin and Twitter Profile.
2. Socially Network with Thought Leaders in Social Recruitment
    Tony Rustell
    Matt Charney
    Todd Raphael
    Sarang Brahme
3. Invest in your Learning and Development. Join IndiaHRLive, IndiaHRChat, TChat, SocialHRSuccess  discussions on twitter . Connect with & Learn from HR Leaders and Practitioners. Learn about Social HR from  Meghan M Biro, Abhijit Bhaduri, Khalid Raza, Gautam Ghosh , Self Promotion Alert : Ruchi Bhatia

I can be contacted via twitter @rucsb






 
 
 

Social Business - A perspective !

Get social

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