Attracting Talent to Your Organization [VIDEO]

Shane Creamer, partner at Granite Consulting, talks to HR Reporter about the current trends in recruiting and how to attract employees to a company.

Finding a Job on Google+

On July 22, 2011, Google+ hit 20 million unique visitors. Of these 20 million visitors, 60% of them are between the ages of 18 and 25 and 63% of them are male. As Google+ continues to grow, users are beginning to find various uses for the fledgling social network. One of these uses is recruitment and job search since most of the users are early adopters and industry experts looking for like-minded people. Here are some early tips for how to use Google+ for you job search.

Announce your job search
Let your network know that you are looking for a job by mentioning it in your "About" section or by posting a status update. Try to communicate your unique skillset and value to the company and job that you want while not appearing desperate.

Create a job search circle
Obviously, you do not want prospective employers to see your weekend party pictures or your  sarcastic status updates. One of the primary appeals of Google+ is that you can send out tailored messages to different circles. Create a circle for contacts at companies that you want to work with and demonstrate to them that you are professional and knowledgable in your desired field of work. When other users see who is in your circles, it will portray youself as connected in the industry.

Talk over Hangouts

Invite the contacts in your job search circle to discuss industry topics in a Google Hangout. If you are truly in-the-know with the latest industry issues, you will portray yourself as an expert and someone who is truly passionate about his or her work. Another tactic is to set up an informational interview through Hangouts. Hangouts can save employers time while adding value for little to no cost.

Follow relevant Sparks
Google's Sparks are a great way to stay informed on topics of your choosing. Sparks brings in great content from all over the Internet that you can then share with your network, particularly your circle of prospective employers.

Source: Mashable

Google+: A New Way to Recruit

With the arrival of Google+, many recruiters who have embraced social media are wondering, "Should I bother or is this another failed attempt at social networking by Google". While the user base remains intentionally small, there seems to be the sentiment among critics and users alike that Google+ has staying power. Some have tried to make comparisons with other social networks by saying that it is "Facebook for adults" or "Twitter with a better interface" but Google+ really is less of a social network and more of a means to share content.

At the moment, Google is still working on its platform for businesses (which won't be ready until late 2011) and have been actively disabling business accounts that have already been created on Google+. The reason, as Google Product Manager Christian Oestlien puts it, is that "how users communicate with each other is different from how they communicate with brands" Oestlien hints that the business version of Google+ will include deep analytics and the ability to connect with products. Google intends to offer a test trial of the business platform to a limited number of companies over the next few months, much like how the personal version of Google+ has been limited to invitees.

That does not mean that recruiters should wait until their company is on Google+ before joining the network themselves. The "Circles" feature, which is Twitter's Lists function, is a great way keep tabs on potential candidates and organize them into groups. For example, you can create circles for each job you are filling and place candidates in as many of the job circles as you wish. If you find a candidate that is worth pursuing further, you can set up a "hangout"to enable voice and video chat with that candidate or with the entire circle.

Google+ can also be a valuable resource for screening and identifying what candidates are truly passionate about. While Google+ allows for more private sharing of content and information than Facebook (by letting users selectively choose which circles to share with), it is fully integrated with other Google products showing images from blogs that the user maintains on Google Blogs and any +1s from Google Search. While you may not be able to see a candidate's scandalous party pictures and controversial status updates, you will be able to get a sense of his or her interests and passions.

Mobile & Gen Y Recruitment [VIDEO]

Talent Wars: An Arms Race in Tech [INFOGRAPHIC]

By 2015, 60% of the new jobs being created will require special skills held by only 20% of the population. In contrast, in 1991 less than half of U.S. jobs required special workers.

Why People Network With You [VIDEO]

(via Granite Consulting)

Employment Value Proposition (EVP) [VIDEO]

(via Granite Consulting)

The Who, Why, and How of Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

The average Twitter user is a female, Hispanic, 20-something college graduate. Although many companies want to attract diverse, young and educated workers, only 10% of the top 100 Fortune Global 500 Companies use Twitter to release job information. What this means is that there is tremendous potential for any company who embraces social media recruitment.

Why talent communities are the future of recruiting [VIDEO]

(via Granite Consulting)

Lessons from Catbert: Job Requirements

If the requirements are too high you not only discourage potential candidates from applying but you place undue pressure on qualified candidates.

The World's Worst Recruiter [VIDEO]

(via Granite Consulting)

The many different types of networkers [VIDEO]

(via Granite Consulting)

10 levels of intimacy in today's communication [INFOGRAPHIC]

As recruiters, it is important to understand and adapt to the correct level of intimacy when communicating with candidates across all stages of the recruitment cycle.

(via Pamorama)

5 Human Resource Lessons from the World's Most Admired Companies

Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies (WMAC) issue is out and once again, the top five seems like a familiar bunch: Apple, Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Southwest Airlines, and Proctor & Gamble. This is the third year that Apple has topped the prestigious list, two appearances shy of General Electric's record for most times as the "World's Most Admired Company". For the past ten years, the Hay Group has performed supplemental research to discover the best practices that make these companies so consistently successful.

Their 2010 study found that top organizations leverage their goodwill and give their employees the conditions needed to contribute and succeed. Here are ways ways that the WMAC achieves these objectives.

1) INVOLVE EMPLOYEES AT ALL LEVELS

Companies on the WMAC list are more likely to engage employees and ask for their feedback. In fact, 91% of the WMAC regularly reach out to employees for ideas on how to improve organizational efficiency, comapred to 76% of all companies. Not only does this generate great ideas for the company but it keeps employees motivated and aligned with the organization's goals. The vast majority of respondents from the WMAC (94 percent) believe employee engagement efforts reduced employee turnover, and 85 percent believe employee engagement efforts reduced employee performance problems, compared to 67 percent and 72 percent at peer companies respectively.

2)WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Half of the WMAC said that intend to focus on improving work/life balance over the next two years to avoid burning out and to retain top talent. This is compared to only 30% of peer companies who has the same focus. Successful managers recognize that people's lives are more holistic and that beng respectful of this fact leads to happier and more productive employees.

3)KEEPING SKILLS CURRENT

The WMAC make efforts to ensure that employee skills are updated to keep up with changing job demands. Employees benefit from personal and professional development while the WMAC benefits from greater employee productivity and effectiveness. Hay Group Vice-President Mel Stark notes that the WMAC "actually manage to pay less for talent than their peers – about 5% less; they tend to have less of a need to hire expensive outside talent for jobs, because they are better at grooming people internally and retaining employees. The lower costs of recruiting and training new people have a ripple effect across an organization"

4) MANAGING PERFORMANCE

Managers are encouraged to coach employees on an on-going basis, providing feedback and solutions. Employees have clear expectations and understand their role in the organization's broader objectives. Managers must be aware of employees' activities so they can provide advice and counsel as well as ensure employees are engaged and on the correct path. However, it is important to make the distinction between managing performance and smothering it with too much attention. While managers need to be there to guide employees in the right direction the employees need to be in the drivers seat.

5) LINKING REWARD AND CONTRIBUTION

The WMAC tend to attract and retain top talent in the long-term and many of their top management were developed internally.  

Mel Stark believes this is because "these companies do a better job of rewarding top performers – delivering the best pay increases to those who are truly deserving and holding the line on pay for marginal performers. Over time, this results in a compounded effect of top performers earning appreciably more than others.”

The WMAC have systems and processes that offer significantly higher rewards for their high-performing employees than peer companies. Although this is an incurred cost in the short-term, the long-term benefits far outweigh to increased compensation paid to employees.

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To arrive at the top 50 Most Admired Companies overall, the Hay Group asked 4,100 executives, directors, and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to select the 10 companies they admired most. They chose from a list made up of the companies that ranked in the top 25% in last year's surveys, plus those that finished in the top 20% of their industry.

(via Talent Management with quotes from Hay Group)

Reading students like an open Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]

(via Schools.com)

Social media can shape job seekers' perception [INFOGRAPHIC]

(via Career Builder)

The Social Media Job Search Checklist

In today's ever connected world, our lives are increasingly more public and susceptible to outside judgment. For those who are currently searching for a job, their social media profiles may actually hinder their chances if a hiring manager screens something that is not desirable. Not only is it important to optimize your social media profiles to avoid getting screened out, but a well-polished profile can also differentiate your application from countless other faceless candidates.

Regardless of whether you are currently looking for a job, you should continually work on maintaining your social media profiles in case a recruiter or hiring manager finds it while sourcing. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you...

...on LinkedIn...

...have a 100% complete profile?

...consistently update your status?

...have a full and diverse network?

...have a professional profile picture?

...have genuine recommendations from peers, managers, and colleagues?

...ask for introductions to recruiters or hiring managers at companies that you would like to work at?

...participate and highlight involvement in non-paid projects (open-source, community, volunteer, etc...)?

...list hobbies and personal interests related to life outside of work?

...link to your employer, blog or other projects of interest?

...join groups that are relevant to your desired profession? 

...ask and answer questions in LinkedIn Answers?
...add value to your profile page with applications?

...on Facebook...

...respect the overlap between personal and professional lives?

...post pictures of family and friends that are suitable for work

...update your status often with text, multimedia, and links?

...keep interactions non-controversial and respectful?

...join groups and like pages that are relevant to your desired profession

...have links to your other social media profiles?

...on Twitter...

...tweet frequently and consistently?

...have a decent following of industry people?

...keep a healthy balance between personal and professional tweets?

...respond and interact with other Twitter users?

...utilize conventions like hashtags and @mentions?

...on your blog...

...have interesting insights about your profession or industry?

...provide glimpses into your life outside of work?

...have links to your other social media profiles?

...have a link or page for your current resume?

...create blog posts regularly?

...stick to non-controversial topics and opinions?

...have a blogroll with links to other interesting blogs?

(via Mashable - Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test?)