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At the beginning of COVID-19, many businesses had no choice but to adopt a remote operating model. Two years later, the situation has begun to improve and businesses are returning to the physical workspace. However, several companies have opted to keep remote and hybrid agreements in place. 

Hiring remote employees has several benefits, including a larger talent pool to choose from. Unfortunately, it also increases the challenges associated with searching and assessing candidates to determine if they are a good fit for your company. 

How can you ensure that you onboard the right remote employees without making costly mistakes? 

Hiring Remote Talent Is Not Easy 

Acquiring remote talent has several associated challenges. Evaluating candidates is a significant issue for many hiring managers. According to a Workable study published in 2020, for example, over 40% of participants expected evaluation to be one of the three most difficult aspects of remote hiring.

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Evaluating remote candidates is difficult for several reasons, including: 

• Limited information about a candidate without references to contact; 

• The requirement for different soft skills, such as being a self-starter. 

Another remote hiring challenge is keeping candidates interested and engaged. Ignoring this point could result in you missing out on someone who might have been a great fit; almost half of candidates have declined a job offer because they had a bad recruiting experience, according to PwC. 

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Several factors can impact the remote hiring experience and keeping candidates engaged. For example, time zones can hamper communication and result in a lengthy hiring process—during which the candidate might have found another job opportunity. 

Other challenges associated with engaging remote candidates include:

• Uninteresting job descriptions 

• Not communicating what you need from the candidate

• Failing to communicate the benefits of your workplace

• Failing to provide the support they require during the onboarding process 

The Impacts of Poor Remote Hiring on Business Performance 

Hiring ill-fitting team members has consequences, including the possibility of having to replace someone and restart the hiring process. 

In the Muse’s Shift Shock survey, 80% of participants said that leaving a job that doesn’t meet your expectations within six months is okay, and 41% of individuals revealed that if a job turned out to be not as expected, they would give a new role 2–6 months before looking at moving elsewhere. 

High employee turnover is a costly process for companies. As noted by Gallup, you can expect to pay between one-and-a-half and three times how much an employee earned annually to replace them. If you need to repeat the process frequently, you can see how it adds up fast. 

Hiring remote employees that aren’t a good fit for your company means that engagement will likely be a challenge. A lack of engagement leads to lower productivity, which impacts your bottom line. According to HubSpot,  lost productivity costs businesses in the US over $500 billion annually.

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5-Step Checklist for Hiring the Right Remote Talent 

Now that we’ve outlined the extent that poor remote hiring practices can cost your business, you’re ready to move toward making better decisions. Before hiring your next employee, implement the following five steps: 

1. Refine Your Job Posting

When you publish an ad for remote workers, you’re competing with thousands of companies worldwide. As such, your posting must stand out. Your job posting must get to the point. Make it clear what you’re offering and what you require from candidates. Also, be fully transparent about what candidates can expect if they land the job. 

Visuals are increasingly important online. Including some in your ads might help improve engagement. CareerBuilder found that openings with video received 34% more applications. 

2. Consider Your First Impression

When hiring a remote candidate, trust your gut feeling. First impressions are important. Give serious consideration to how the interview went before offering a follow-up interview. If there are lingering questions, communicate them to the candidate as soon as possible. Some of the answers may provide more clarity than you were looking for.

3. Candidates Should Be Able to Work Independently

Hard skills are crucial. However, talent isn’t all you need in a candidate. Going remote means employees are moving into a work arrangement in which they need to function more independently—motivation and time management skills are key.

4. Ask for Proof of Work and References

Online, anyone can pretend to be an expert. Social media profiles are useful, but not everyone wants to build a presence—and you shouldn’t discount talented candidates because they aren’t on LinkedIn or Twitter. Make sure you ask for proof of work they’ve produced and relevant experience in the field. Many professionals have a portfolio they can share. 

You might also consider getting a second or third opinion to determine how well your prospective hire will perform on the job. Get references from candidates to find out what others have said about them. 

5. Give Candidates a Trial Run 

Before making a final hiring decision, try to discover how employees will perform tasks specific to their role within the company. Depending on the job role, paying a candidate to do sample work will help you gauge better whether or not their skills are a good fit. Alternatively, you can opt for an initial trial period and make a decision based on how they perform over a lengthier period. 

Trials and test projects are especially useful for hiring candidates for entry-level remote openings, as many won’t have in-depth work experience or a large professional network.

 Hiring the Right Remote Employees Takes a Lot of Effort 

Hiring remote employees can significantly broaden your talent pool, bringing in a diverse range of talented individuals to your company. Businesses need to ensure their hiring process is effective by putting in the effort to vet out the best remote talent.  

Use this checklist to ensure you hire the right candidates without wasting your time and resources. Jobcast helps companies engage candidates from social media. Check out our pricing plans to find the best fit for your business. 

The job market has been drastically changing in recent years. More people are leaving their jobs and searching for new or better opportunities. In 2021, an average of more than 3.95 million workers in the U.S. quit their jobs each month. This mass exit presents a chance for a company to source new talent for their teams.

One method of announcing job opportunities or open positions is to post them on social media. Facebook and Instagram are two platforms where people spend a lot of their time, both for business and personal reasons. So as a company, it’s important to have an active social presence. And if there’s a need for further justification, check out the following reasons:

Reason 1: People Are Looking for Jobs on Different Platforms

According to a poll conducted by CareerArc, 86% of job seekers say they use social media for job searching. Whether it’s LinkedIn or Facebook, people are not always going to the traditional job listing websites to find their next career opportunity. Instead, they are looking across a variety of platforms. For this reason, businesses should consider posting open positions on their social pages.

Reason 2: Save Business Time and Money

It can cost a company thousands of dollars to post and fill an open position. However, by utilizing social media, a business can cut some of those costs. One way is relying on current employees to spread the word on their personal pages. Think about it; a person can have upwards of one hundred connections on their social accounts, and that’s a whole pool of potential candidates that you can get in front of.

Additionally, it’s not just a company’s employees who will share about an opportunity; page followers and friends will also share this news with their network of people. This group of people again has a large number of connections that might contain the one perfect candidate to fill an opening.

Reason 3: Build Reach of Business Brand

Company culture is becoming a top priority for job seekers. Scrolling through an organization’s social pages will allow individuals to get a peek into daily activities and business values. This is a preview for outsiders to see what they may get into while working for a company.

Managers can post employee-generated content and content highlighting benefits and business initiatives. This type of content, in addition to other daily posts, will help boost a company’s appeal to job candidates and give them a leg up in attracting the right people for their jobs.

Closing Thoughts

There are many other reasons to use a business social media page for recruitment. It’s important to keep active pages and provide updates, not only for page followers but also for potential employees. That way, a business can hook new talent quickly for their open jobs.

As more individuals seek out new job opportunities, businesses have the chance to find their next team member. With people leaving their current positions at a higher rate, organizations that post open jobs on their social media will have a chance to get in front of these individuals.

Author Bio: Sara Carter is a co-founder of Enlightened Digital. She enjoys spending her days writing about technology and business, writing code, or chasing her kids and dog.

Earlier this year, Facebook started experimenting with a new website design. Pages became wider and design elements became larger. The reviews were mixed but Facebook proceeded with their plan to completely switch to their new web interface by September 2020, and switch they did! When you now visit facebook.com, you will be greeted with the new Facebook!

Around the May timeframe when Facebook was rolling out the new design to some users, Facebook App Developers (including Jobcast Engineers) noticed that their Facebook apps were getting cropped at 800px height. That was a problem for many Facebook apps that needed to display a lot of content on a single page. Jobcast experienced this problem as well, and our Page Tabs looked something like this:

Notice that the list of jobs above are cut off at the bottom. This problem was reported to Facebook Engineers and at first it looked like Facebook was going to fix the problem. App Developers (including Jobcast) were anxiously waiting for this fix. Fast forward to November 2020 and there still isn't a fix by Facebook with no indication that there ever will be. So Jobcast decided to do something about it. We can't change the 800px height limitation, as that's in Facebook's control, but we decided to add a vertical scroll bar (when necessary) to the Jobcast app so that users can at least access the full content on your Careers Tab. We also removed anything that increased the height of the page that we didn't deem absolutely necessary. We did this to minimize the amount of scrolling that users would need to do. The items that were removed are:

• Top banner image

• Bottom banner image

• Admin controls near the top of the page

• "Powered by Jobcast" note at the bottom of the page

This fix isn't ideal (we would much rather have Facebook Engineers fix the vertical height problem), but your users will at least now be able to see and read your jobs in their entirety.

This is how your jobs now appear in your Facebook Tab. Most of the content should now appear within the 800px height:

If the content on the page extends beyond the 800px height that Facebook has allowed us, then a vertical scroll bar will appear that will allow users to scroll down to the bottom of the content:

Note: These changes only apply to Desktop web users of Facebook, as Facebook still doesn't allows 3rd party apps to appear on Facebook Mobile.

Retaining top executives should be a priority for any organization. Not only is this beneficial when it comes to productivity, it is also better for the company’s coffers.

According to the MIT Sloan Management Review article “Getting New Hires Up to Speed Quickly,” a Mellon Financial Corp. study found that companies end up spending more money whenever they take in new employees. This is because new hires are expected to have learning curves when it comes to accomplishing tasks, thereby affecting productivity and possibly leading to loss of income.

According to an Industrial Distribution article, the National Association of Colleges and Employers says that when businesses recruit and hire a new person in a company of fewer than 500, they spend $7,645 on the average per hire. Think hiring costs, job posting fees, and training, among other things. It is more expensive to hire people than to keep current employees.

With this in mind, it makes sense that an organization would be more focused on building up their talented executives by creating a healthy work atmosphere with positive employee engagement. When hard work is recognized and rewarded, employees will be more motivated to stay and grow with the company.

A healthy organizational structure and development can help drive talented individuals toward doing quality work and becoming great contributors to the company’s growth and success.

In this article, we will discuss the reasons why employees leave and how we can prevent our top executives from vacating their positions.

Reasons Why Employees Leave

To retain top executives, we must first understand why employees quit. There are many factors that contribute to an upward trend in employee turnover, and below are some of the biggest reasons:

• Dissatisfaction – This could be due to lack of employee development and growth opportunities, unsatisfactory salary and benefits, or poor employee management.

• Better Opportunities Outside – The business world is a competitive arena, and chances are that if an employee feels dissatisfied in a certain area of his or her employment and sees a better opportunity elsewhere, that employee will leave.

• Work-Life Balance Issues – People have lives outside of work, and when there is a great imbalance between the two, it can cause them to leave the company and pursue a more compatible or flexible work opportunity.

How to Retain Top Executives

Employee retention is one of the most important ways to gain ROI in any business and below are some of the ways to get your top performers to stay with the company for many years.

Effective Recruiting

The first step in managing employee retention is during recruitment. There should be an alignment between the applicant’s and the company’s mission, vision, and values. The more in sync they are, the healthier the employer-employee relationship.

An employee who believes in the company’s goals is more likely to stay longer, so careful filtering should be conducted during the hiring process. If the applicant is following a proper executive resume example, it should be easy for the recruiter to check and cross-reference important items during the interview, with the goal of finding a candidate with similar goals and values as those of the organization.

Employee Development

An unchallenged employee is an unhappy employee. It is important that the company partner with the employee regarding growth and advancement and that such goals be established and made clear to the employee. Adult learners are goal-oriented, and by motivating them to reach higher goals and learn new things, they will be more encouraged to stay.

Continuous learning and development should be enforced, which will allow the employee to upskill and move to a higher position.

Recognize Talent and Hard Work

Build self-esteem and confidence by appreciating your employees’ hard work. Positive feedback is a highly effective way to reinforce positive behaviors. If your employees feel good about themselves, they will be motivated to become even better.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Much has changed within the past couple of years, and companies need to keep up with trends and current events, so their employees can continue to feel safe and relevant. It is also important to be aware of your top performers’ current needs so that the company can find ways to help them overcome challenges.

It is essential that organizations become more open to flexible work schedules, work-from-home arrangements, and remote work, if applicable. This is a great way to avoid work-life issues, which can lead to resignation.

Offer Compensation and Rewards

People who are satisfied with their pay grade are more likely to stay longer with a company. Needless to say, the company should offer competitive compensation, benefits, and other rewards.

Employees might love their job, but if not well compensated, a resignation could be inevitable.

Regular Employee Engagement Activities

Engaged employees are less likely to leave the company to find better opportunities. The more engaged an executive is, the better that person understands his or her role in the company’s success, and this is something the employee can take pride in.

Come up with strategies and activities that promote employee satisfaction and motivation.

Employee retention is a lot like customer retention. We go to great lengths to keep our customers happy so they will continue doing business with us. Why not do the same for our top executives?

Post written for Jobcast by Linda Ross.

Your hard work is finally paying off: after reaching milestone upon milestone in your small business, you feel like you are ready to grow and hire your first employee. This is a benchmark that should be celebrated! A successful small business will eventually grow, and you will have to hire someone else to help you run your expanding company. Hiring your first employee can be nerve wracking. You worry if you are doing things right, about finding the right person to hire, and about on-boarding someone new. These are all legitimate concerns for someone who spent hundreds of hours building a business. You want to make sure that each step you take brings you forward and does not set you back. If you’re not exactly sure what to do before hiring your company’s first employee, do not worry. We will discuss some of the important items that you need to consider during this important stage in your business. If you are hesitant about adding a new person to the team, you may need to evaluate your current situation to determine if it is necessary. Below are some signs that you need that extra pair of hands on your team immediately.

Signs That You Should Hire Your First Employee

• You are unable to take in new customers – A major sign that you need to expand is when you have to decline orders or accept new customers simply because you are unable to physically fulfill orders in a timely manner. This simply means your business is growing and it may be time to hand some of the tasks off to someone else so you can focus on more important business matters.

• Quality of service or product is compromised- When you spread yourself too thin, there is a big chance that something is being compromised down the line. Usually, it is the product quality. You cannot do everything on your own and expect to cover everything perfectly. This is a clear sign that you need some help and hiring an employee can allow you to balance things out again.

• You skip breaks and vacations in favor of your business – Like they say, all work and no play makes the CEO a cranky and irritated person. As a business owner, you need to stay motivated and energized and this is hardly possible if you are not getting the rest and relaxation that you need. Sooner or later, the business is going to feel like a burden, and it could go downhill from there.

What to Do Before Hiring Your Company's First Employee Now that you are certain about this move, and have identified the type of employee you’re taking in, let us take a look at some key elements that need to be taken care of prior to hiring your first staff.

• Prepare the Job Description for the Role - Before you hire someone, you need to identify the role and scope of the work. This will not only help you identify skills to look for in a candidate, but this helps to set the proper expectations in both parties.

• Draft Salary and Benefits - Ensure that you are offering a competitive salary for the role that you are filling. Do a quick market check, and make sure everything is clean on paper. Highlighting growth opportunities and practical benefits can help in attracting quality candidates.

• Identify the Recruiter - Finalize who will conduct the screening and the interview process. Who will contact prospective applicants? Who will review the applications? Do you need help to figure out if you want to see a functional resume so you know what is standard for your industry? Lastly, you also need to identify who will conduct the job offer. You can either do these things on your own or you can outsource this process to a recruitment professional. The most important thing is to ensure a seamless process. You don't want to leave an applicant hanging or miss out on an opportunity to hire someone great simply because you forgot to call.

• Prepare On-boarding Process - To make the transition smooth for both you and your new employee later on, make sure you have an on-boarding process in place. Make a list of all the tasks assigned, a time frame for shadowing, and of course discussions on company background, mission, and vision. This way, you and your new staff can start off from the same page.

• Prepare All Legal Documents - To ensure that both you and the new employee are legally protected right from the start, all legal documents should be in place. Seek legal advice to ensure that all terms, clauses, and pertinent paperwork are in place.

• Payroll System - Perhaps most importantly, you will need to set up how you are going to pay the salary. You can hire an accountant, bookkeeper, or outsource to a payroll service. You can also learn to set this up on your own. Regardless, you need a system ready before you hire your first employee.

Hiring your first employee is the milestone you have been waiting for. This information will support you through this new and exciting phase in your business journey. Congratulations! Post written for Jobcast by Linda Ross.

It has been established here on Jobcast how Facebook has become an effective platform for recruiters. This is especially true now, with more job seekers turning to Facebook for job postings than ever. Companies that are not active on the popular social media channel are missing out on opportunities to attract the best talent. However, some organizations that do have a presence on Facebook may not be utilizing it the right way. As discussed previously on this site, the ideal content ratio for job postings should only be 25%, while the rest must focus on other relevant topics. These include tips on how to get hired, as well as fun or lifestyle content. With only one-fourth of your material dedicated to job postings, recruiters must make sure that these career-related posts count.

Videos and Images Over Text

When it comes to content, video is king. Facebook statistics from Social Media Today reveal that video posts have 135% greater organic reach than photo posts. If it’s within budget, recruiters should utilize the video format to capture the interests of potential talent. For instance, the video content could use creative motion graphics to show the responsibilities handled by a certain position. If videos are not possible, then opt for photo posts since they are a better alternative than pure text posts. Social media users are generally more visually oriented, so videos and images should take priority in terms of the type of content a company should put out.

Clear and Compelling Messaging

A “We’re Hiring” Facebook post should follow basic advertising fundamentals, as a company may have only one or two seconds to pique the interest of a candidate. This means content with broad messaging won’t be very effective. A good hiring post should be able to clearly convey key points, such as the specific position needed and the exact location of assignment (in case your company has several branches).

Sharing Insider Information

When it comes to attracting job seekers, recruiters are not limited to “We’re hiring” posts. They can explore other types of content, like testimonials from employees. A post could highlight an employee’s experience as well as his or her growth within a company. One could also focus on content about the work environment or behind-the-scenes stories. This information can help job candidates visualize their future in the business, thus increasing the chances of them applying.

Speaking the Language

Consider the audience. If the recruiter is tasked to look for millennial candidates, then the content should include topics that interest them. The Globe and Mail shared some insights on how companies can recruit millennials, stating that they should emphasize mentorship and career development. Millennial job seekers are generally eager to hone their craft, and thus would be interested in companies that can provide them the necessary resources and training. For instance, a marketing company may share information about sponsorships for employees’ continuing education and personal development. This could be a great way to lure talent who are hungry to learn.

Ad Targeting

Utilizing Facebook Ads is perhaps the most efficient way to reach top talent. Facebook has numerous features that make it easier for recruiters to specify the users they want to serve their ads to. However, Facebook has a constantly evolving algorithm, and it may take a while to come up with a definitive strategy that yields the best results. Social media specialists Ayima suggest several key Facebook targeting steps you should consider, such as choosing an audience that’s neither too niche nor too broad. Ideally, recruiters will want to talk to people who are most likely to engage with an ad, and defining a relevant audience can help them achieve that. Once the target user profile is decided, recruiters can leave it to Facebook’s algorithm to reach potentially valuable audiences for your posting.

Keeping these tips in mind can improve the quality and performance of a company’s recruitment posts on Facebook. That said, recruiters who don’t work to maximize this massive platform’s potential are already way behind.

Article composed by Charlotte York
 for jobcast.net

When you want to improve employee communication with stronger communication tools, it's time to look at ways to prioritize communication. 2018 is going to be the year your company grows, and you have to prepare your HR department with the tools necessary to meet the growing demands on their time. When your HR department is able to complete effective communication, time is saved. Employees can ask questions, request time off, or receive their work schedules through text messaging, emails and phone calls. When you want 2018 to be the year your company improves communication, it's time to listen, pay attention, and take advantage of technology.

Make Scheduling Easier

If your HR department is responsible for scheduling a large number of employees into various shifts, you can make scheduling easier. If you have an employee who needs to call out at the last minute, this can be done through text message marketing. When you have a shift that you need to fill at the last minute, a quick blast out to all of your employees will get the shift filled fast. You won't have to waste time calling each employee when you can send out a text message instead.

Make Meetings Run More Smoothly

When your HR department is setting up trainings or open enrollment meetings, preparation can make everything go more smoothly. Text messages are opened 98% of the time, and it is the most efficient way to get information to your employees. To maximize the effectiveness of a training, you can send out material to your employees to review before the meeting occurs. In order to keep your employees focused and make the job of your HR department easier, send out relevant texts before the meeting to keep everyone up to date with information.

Improve the Speed of Onboarding New Employees

Recruiting efforts can be made easier for HR, as well as onboarding new employees in 2018. When your HR department can receive and send text messages to potential recruits, gathering information to complete applications is easy. For new employees, managing new hire paperwork can be done through text messaging to allow for a faster, more efficient onboarding process.

Stay Organized and Keep Employees Safe

If you want to close for the day because of unsafe road conditions, let all of your employees know within minutes through SMS. When you send out a group message, you will keep everyone informed of the news to stay home. You will be organized, and each employee will know to stay at home and remain safe. Text messaging saves time and reaches everyone fast.

Open Up Lines of Communication

A company can only be as strong as the employees it hires. The leaders in your company need to have various ways to listen to employees. When two-way communication is allowed between workers, HR and administration, the lines of communication get stronger. Employees are able to voice concerns, while the HR department can send out surveys to ask for feedback. When in person meetings aren't possible, phone calls, SMS, video conferencing and emails will all increase communication. When you are ready to revolutionize how your HR department communicates in 2018, consider the technology available. Your employees are already using text messaging for their personal communications, and the ability to text with work is the next logical step. Phone calls are easier on mobile devices, and employees with mobile email can answer questions even when out in the field.

About the Author

Ken Rhie is the CEO of Trumpia, which earned a reputation as the most complete SMS solution including user-friendly user interface and API for mobile engagement, Smart Targeting, advanced automation, enterprise, and cross-channel features for both mass texting and landline texting use cases. Mr. Rhie holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. He has over 30 years of experience in the software, internet, and mobile communications industries.

In a world consumed by social media, where much of our lives are spent online, human resources departments need to ensure that they make the most of social media for a variety of duties that they need to fulfil.

Social media is incredibly popular, with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram reaching milestone after milestone and still growing, while professional social media sites such as LinkedIn also continue to experience a successful growth story.

Facebook recently surpassed two billion monthly users, with almost a third of the world’s population using the site, while LinkedIn has around 467 million members who showcase their professional profiles or online CVs, and companies all over the globe are given a platform to interact with these users.

With those tremendous numbers in mind, it makes sense that human resources departments would be able to leverage social media in fundamental ways.

Talent acquisition

Any HR professional will attest to the difficulties they face when trying to find candidates with the skills and experience needed to fill a specific position within their company. Social media can play a key role in making this process more efficient, making it a proficient and convenient talent acquisition tool.

Employers need to embrace the advantages that social media affords their HR departments, specifically with reference to recruiting, as this can be accomplished on a much wider scale than traditional methods through the use of professional social networking platforms such as LinkedIn.

Cost effective and incredibly intuitive as a recruitment tool, social media allows a company’s human resources team to engage with a wider audience, target a quality pool of candidates and improve on the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts.

The simple truth is that a company wanting to be found by a large pool of talented candidates, or wanting access to that same pool of individuals, cannot ignore social media.

LinkedIn – Heaven-sent for HR professionals

While traditional recruitment methods often only target individuals who are actively looking for a new job, social media sites such as LinkedIn give the recruiter access to connect and communicate with a far larger, more diverse set of people who potentially fit the description of the ideal candidate.

With LinkedIn, for example, company pages can be used to post available jobs and users can apply directly to the company through the platform, with the process running seamlessly once a few simple details are made known about the position in question. This can be particularly valuable for positions that are hard to fill, as the way in which LinkedIn works ensures that the best candidates for any particular job are made aware of the position and its suitability to the person based on their skills, experience and ability within a chosen industry.

Job opportunities listed on LinkedIn can easily attract numerous applications from excellent candidates, based on the profile of the company and the details about the specific job. LinkedIn members also have a ‘Jobs’ tab at the top of the page to easily search through available work opportunities, ensuring that the best candidates are only a click away from finding out about a great position that some HR department has posted on the site.

This system is incredibly intuitive, and helps HR professionals to complete one of their most important tasks with robotic efficiency and very little effort. Even people who are not actively looking for something new in the job market can’t help but be informed about interesting available positions in their industry through newsletters from the site or their LinkedIn newsfeed, and that can end up being a win-win for both recruiter and the person who may decide to apply and set up their next career move.

Vetting candidates

While job seekers are monitoring company profiles on social networks in order to assist their decision-making, HR professionals should be doing the same to prospective candidates who they are considering for a position at their company.

Social media provides HR with a modern way to vet potential candidates. Screening applicants through their social profiles speeds up the hiring process and provides a better idea about who the candidate is. This assists in determining that the candidate will be the best fit for the position and the culture of the business.

Used well, social media as an HR tool can provide an excellent return on investment, thanks to lower costs and higher productivity associated with using social media to effectively recruit people.

Not just about using social media as a direct recruiting tool

In addition to the obvious assistance that social media provides in talent acquisition, human resources professionals can use the popular communication and business tool for other purposes that positively impact their companies in terms of reputation and corporate communication, indirectly assisting with recruitment strategies.

While some companies initially considered social media to be little more than a distraction for employees, many are now realising the power that lies within a system that is so closely intertwined into the fabric of our modern digital society, to the point where we carry these networks around with us all day on our indispensable mobile devices.

The realisation of this kind of power has meant that companies are increasingly appreciating the need to have an active and engaging corporate presence on social media in order to attract top professionals for open roles.

Reputation, culture and communication

One of the ways in which firms can attract top talent is by using social media to display the kind of corporate culture that will encourage top candidates to consider working at the company.

An organisation’s culture plays an important role in attracting and retaining quality talent. People looking for jobs aim to understand the culture of a business before they commit to joining, in order to see whether they will fit in with the culture and have the best chance of professional success and happiness.

Social media is a great communication tool, and many job seekers will look to company pages and profiles on various social media platforms to get a feel for the culture of the business. Communicating the company’s values and culture through social content is an important duty for HR managers to carefully consider and implement.

Social media provides a subtle yet powerful way in which a corporate culture can be publically displayed. Posts regarding team-building efforts, office gatherings, health and wellness initiatives or performance incentives can give job seekers an understanding of what working for the company will be like. Peoplehr blog is a good example of that where you can find all such kind of posts.

Creating a team-building hashtag on Twitter, posting photos from the office party or using an article on LinkedIn to congratulate high performing staff can all be effective ways to demonstrate an organisation’s culture through social media.

Successfully managing the reputation of an organisation is another of the tasks that fall onto the shoulders of HR managers. An active social media presence in itself can present a company as innovative and engaging, and this is precisely what a company should aim to do as part of reputation management.

Nobody wants to work for a company that has a bad reputation, and many job seekers will turn down a job with a company that they perceive negatively, even if that person is unemployed. For this reason, HR should be monitoring social media for mentions, especially when it comes to what former, current and potential employees are saying about the company.

When appropriate, an HR representative can take part in the conversation, but special care should be taken when controversial or negative conversations are being dealt with. Companies need to monitor their social channels closely to ensure that their positive reputation is maintained.

Even if a company has an excellent corporate culture internally, monitoring and responding to negative mentions, comments and other social media content directed at the company is crucial to maintaining a good reputation and safeguarding future recruitment possibilities.

Social media has undoubtedly transformed the way we communicate in our personal lives, and now companies are beginning to realise the strategic value that social media can bring to talent acquisition and other important HR functions.

About the Author

Peter Pedroncelli is a South African journalist based in Johannesburg with a specialisation in media studies. He writes and edits content for a variety of magazines and websites on topics related to social media and business.

An all-star employee will have the skills and the drive to exceed your expectations. They’ll also have the personality to fit in well with your company culture. They can help to grow your business, embody your brand and become part of the next generation of leaders within your company.

But attracting talent like this is easier said than done. Here are a few tips for hiring an all-star employee:

Promote Your Brand The companies with the best talent have a knack for promoting their brand. They sell their business as a great place to work – somewhere the company culture is second to none and where employees are able work on cutting edge initiatives within dynamic teams. You need to promote your employer brand if you want to attract all-star employees.

Create a Talent Pool If you’re on the lookout for top talent, the search should never end. Create a talent pool of previous applicants and allow people with an interest in your company to register their details too. It might be that the right opportunity isn’t available for a candidate at the moment but one could arise further down the line.

Offer Opportunities for Creativity and Initiative The best applicants love an opportunity to flex their creative muscle and work on their own initiative. Whilst this is unlikely to be possible all of the time, be sure to let applicants know that there is time designated for a little exploration and experimentation during each working week. This is an appealing factor for potential employees and may also give your company the edge as a little creative thinking could lead to your company’s next big idea.

Provide Employee Perks Employee rewards are a great way to improve employee morale and win over a top candidate too. Sure, big things like a decent pension plan, health insurance and child care vouchers are important. But a few smaller perks never go amiss. Complimentary snacks, fun team-building days or even just showers at the office for those who run or cycle to work can all make your company seem that bit more attractive.

Be Ethical Workers these days want more than just a day job and a pay packet. They want to feel like they’re helping to make a difference. Try to be forward thinking in your approach to business. A recycling initiative or links with a local charity or an ethical approach to conducting business could help you to attract top talent. These are the people who will care that their work contributes to the good of communities and environments.

Be Flexible Increasingly people aren’t prepared to be a slave to their job. Companies and employees alike should be striving for a good work-life balance rather than high levels of stress that lead to a burnout. Flexibility with regards the working hours and days can help employees to achieve this and can help you to attract that all-star candidate. To put this into practice you could let employees work from home sometimes,introduce flexible working hours or encourage employees not to answer emails away from the office.

Embrace Diversity Remember that not all candidates fit into a designated box. By embracing diversity you could open up your company to a whole host of potential employees with the ability to further your business and drive success. Workplace diversity has been shown to reap a number of rewards for businesses who are prepared to make it a priority.

To hire an all-star employee, you need to look at your business from the ground up. Your company culture, your employer brand and your recruitment style all play an important part in getting those top candidates through your door.

Sarah Kearns is a hard working mother of three daughters. She is a Senior Communications Manager for BizDb, an online resource with information about businesses in New Zealand. She loves cooking, reading history books and writing about green living.

Although a resume is a way of conveying your qualifications, it's also a way of showing your personality. The world of resume has changed in the recent years. In the past, a common resume technique was to keep it at a specified length or to exclude certain types of information. Nowadays, however, many of these so-called “rules” no longer apply. Here are some other myths that have recently been debunked:

1 Page Max

While maintaining brevity is important, self-editing yourself is not worth it. Back when resumes were handled in hard-copy form, employers and recruiters admonished job seekers to keep their documents to a single page. Obviously, you don't want something that is extremely long, however, with digital technology, making something longer isn't as cumbersome now.

The one-page resume can now be officially retired. With employers using applicant tracking systems, they can quickly and easily scan long documents for key information. Some information may even expect resumes to be that length.

Presentation/Formatting Doesn't Matter

The beautiful elements of creating a resume is the aspect of it that allows you to show off who you are. While doing this in an excessively formatted way is going out of style, adding some attractive elements is key. To stand out from other candidates, it's key to add imagery that makes your resume look styled.

Your best bet is to take some time and care with the presentation of your resume, just as you would with any other high-profile business document. Using color is another important element to help stand out from the crowd.

Using presentation and formatting is a very valuable tool to help display your experience. Your designed resume will help employers notice you.

Make it Brief

This may seem like it goes against the first step, but it doesn't. This point has to do with keeping your experience points brief, detailed and concise. While elaborating may seem better, but it's important to show employers that you can put your thoughts together in a concise manner.