What is the difference between a social media enthusiast and a social media missionary? I almost hesitate to use the term “missionary†because of the religious overtones of that word, but in this case it is 100% appropriate. Many people who are knowledgeable about the major social media platforms are ardent supporters and can argue passionately about their belief that this is the wave of the future. Unfortunately, they are just as wrong as the ones who argue that it is all meaningless and a waste of time. To use social media for a critical business function such as recruiting there had better be a missionary for the cause running the program. A missionary is not just a believer. A missionary is someone who converts the non-believers and stirs up a passion for doing it right. Successful implementation of a social media recruiting program means not only knowing how to do it but why. It is more about business than it is about social media or recruiting alone.
There are many more social media evangelists in recruiting than there were just five years ago, but it is still a controversial topic. Experts disagree on the appropriate use of various social platforms and many only give lip service to the entire program. The worst enemies are the unintentional internal saboteurs that don’t get it and don’t want to get it. Early adoption of any technology means becoming conversant in all facets of its adoption, understanding the environment in which it operates, and a clear financial picture for success.
- It is not simply automating the existing process – We know intuitively that automating the old school processes only lets us do it faster and not necessarily better. A post-and-pray recruiting methodology grew out of newspaper ads that had a short shelf life and long lead time to collect data. Mimicking that process with job boards allowed us to do it faster, so instead of killing trees for paper resumes we used millions of electrons to produce unharvestable mounds of data. Automation of screening made the process more impersonal. Posting job openings to Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn and waiting for someone to notice and apply has changed absolutely nothing.
- It is more than just recruiting – The lifeblood of a company is to find, attract, court and hire talent to provide the workforce necessary to meet company objectives. Social recruiting adds other key aspects to the definition of recruiting. It brings together a closer marriage of the product, recruitment and overall company brand image. Each one affects the others. Recruiting managers that do not accept this partnership will experience difficulty in getting support and funding. Even without the use of social media, the electronic age exposes the private internal affairs of the company more than ever before. News about product failures, controversial employee actions, and the candidate experience makes social recruiting a prominent player.
- It is bigger than social media – The dialog with the outside world provides an opportunity to be recognized as key thought leaders in almost every aspect of the company operations. Providing technological, educational, and leadership ideas builds company good will that is attractive to candidates as well as customers. Social recruiting touches user groups as well as individuals and provides more clout than advertising and more intimate communication than with press releases. The company can be an influence on the environment in which it operates when its employees becoming recognizable nodes on a global talent community. Every employee becomes a recruiter of sorts by their social media contacts.
- It is a defensive tactic as well as offensive strategy – The fact that everybody else is doing it is not a good enough reason to jump haphazardly into the social recruiting world, but it is not to be ignored. There is something to be said for being recognized as being competitive with others that are searching for the same talent. Technology infatuates candidates and companies that leave the impression that they are behind the times are at a disadvantage before they even make contact. This is especially true if the company’s products or services are not the sexy state of the art industries that attract talent simply by projecting a hip image. Social recruiting equally entices engineering talent for copper wire manufacturing in Texas, fiber optic cabling in North Carolina, and snack food producers in New York.
Once the unbelievers are converted, the job of the missionary is not over. Social media changes so rapidly that a hastily learned concept that suddenly becomes obsolete can mean backsliding into the old ways of doing things. There will be a constant struggle to educate and retrain those that are willing to accept the challenge. Payoffs are difficult to earn, but the rewards are worth it. That’s why today we are driving cars instead of using high tech electronic buggy whips.
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