The Rise and Rise of Social HR: 3 Ways Social Media is Changing How We Attract Talent

by Oliver Shiel, Digital Marketing Manager at Core HR

Digital has changed how the world works. Tomorrow’s HR departments will no longer worry about paper timesheets or have to deal with repetitive payroll queries thanks to today’s HR Technology.

With that, HR is becoming increasingly more digitalised. The use of social media has become the norm and the term Social HR is now used to describe the practice of using social media for HR functions, most notably recruitment, but also including employee engagement.

1)      Recruitment and Social Media: A match made in HR Heaven.

Recruitment has evolved as a result of social media and smart HR technology. LinkedIn, the world’s first social media networking platform for professionals now has a massive 356 million members and is used by 93% of recruiters. The suite of solutions offered has grown in sophistication, LinkedIn doesn’t just allow organisations to advertise job openings, now recruiters can also reach out to passive candidates using advanced search criteria. A trend that is becoming increasingly more popular amongst business who are looking to recruit the best talent.

New HR technology is not worth its salt if it does not integrate with social media. Integration allows HR and recruiting professionals to be more effective when searching for talent without having to make a significant increase in investment.

2)      Employer Branding: Using social media to attract the best. 

The branding of your organisation is not just a concern for your marketing department, it’s now an HR responsibility too.

Social media offers talent pools visibility into companies and how they treat their employees like never before. A recent survey found that social media is now the most important factor in employer branding and it is easy it to understand why. Looks at the likes of Google who do an excellent job of showcasing Life at Google online.

However creating a great employer brand goes beyond working in pimped out offices! Creating a clearly defined culture and engaging employees is key to promoting the benefits of working for your organisation.

3)      Employee Advocacy: Get your workforce involved in the conversation.

Employees are your biggest asset, and it has never been clearer when utilising social media. In fact, according research from SocialEveryone, 100 employees, on average, command a network of friends and followers of over 90,000 people, which can generate 13,000 brand impressions per month. That’s powerful!

In another recent report, LinkedIn found that top performing companies have a socially engaged workforce. Employees who are happy to shout out about where they work instantly makes your organisation more attractive to prospective employees.

A socially engaged workforce acts as an army of brand ambassadors and can give your organisation a competitive advantage in the never-ending battle to recruit and retain top talent.

Social Media rocks, but…

The power of social media in HR is undeniable… However, HR departments need to ensure that they work in conjunction with the professional responsible for their social media presence as things can go very wrong if used incorrectly.

Not only that, it is vital that HR also have a social media policy in place to ensure that employees who use social media have guidance on how they can engage and communicate with the business online.