Regardless of turmoil at Twitter, social media isn’t going away anytime quickly. Platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Fb could be highly effective methods for HR professionals to recruit new expertise and discover candidates they wouldn’t have reached in any other case.
Utilizing social media for recruitment is “a relentless technique round advertising the group and what we stand for, not simply the enterprise worth however the social and cultural influence that now we have,” stated Steven Kramer, CEO at Workjam, a digital front-line workforce platform.
Whereas social media doesn’t change conventional recruitment strategies, recruiting on such apps and web sites can improve hiring strategies — with some caveats, together with treating social media as a option to funnel candidates into the hiring course of, not a option to fully change it.
Use social media to inform a narrative
Workjam’s method to recruiting on social media goes far past simply posting hyperlinks to open jobs. The corporate primarily makes use of LinkedIn, Instagram and Fb to “inform our story,” stated Kramer. It’s not nearly paying to promote open jobs on social media (which the corporate does), however utilizing social media to market what it’s wish to work at Workjam.
Workjam additionally makes it simple for workers to share these posts internally, and on their very own social media networks with the flexibility to “personalize it primarily based on what they wish to say,” he stated. The corporate has a referral program, which incentivizes workers to share posts and recruit somebody from their very own community.
The corporate repeatedly reevaluates which platforms it makes use of for recruitment and focuses on the place potential workers are most definitely to be. It doesn’t use Twitter that a lot, and it doesn’t use Snapchat, as a result of that’s not “actually our demographic we’re going after,” Kramer stated.
Posting jobs on social media may also be used to create buzz round an organization. In June 2022, Casper posted a job itemizing for skilled sleepers. The thought stemmed from from TikTok, and the agency acquired hundreds of purposes. Those that bought the job created social media campaigns for the mattress firm. CPO Robert Lepere advised HR Dive he aimed imbue his firm’s work tradition with thoughtfulness via this course of.
Beware potential pitfalls
Whereas social media is commonly handled like a casual communication platform, it shouldn’t be when used for recruitment, stated Ayesha Whyte, employment legal professional and chief individuals officer at Dixon Whyte.
“If you end up talking to somebody via social media a few job, all the time inform them to use formally,” she stated. That ensures that each job candidate goes via the identical hiring course of. “Something you say, even when it’s via social media, can come up later in an employment lawsuit,” she added.
She additionally suggested that any photographs or movies representing an organization’s workforce be of precise workers, not stand-ins or fashions. “It will be horrible if an individual of colour or an individual with disabilities noticed a panoply of individuals in your adverts concerning the office after which the office is homogenous,” she stated. It could not result in a lawsuit, however an organization may lose that employee in the event that they really feel they had been tricked.
On the flip facet, employers also needs to take any social media presence of potential workers with a grain of salt. “That’s not giving your complete image of who somebody is,” she stated. “That’s a filtered persona and also you’re on the lookout for an precise one who’s going to take a look at your job.”
Whereas somebody’s social media presence isn’t a foul concept, it shouldn’t take the place of interviews, reference checks and background checks if that’s a part of the common recruitment course of, she stated. And relying too closely on social media may imply lacking candidates who aren’t social media savvy, she added; “You may be lacking out on some great candidates.”
Human sources professionals also needs to ensure they’re compliant with any pay transparency legal guidelines when posting job listings on social media. “If you’re broadcasting on social media, that’s going to be world. You don’t have any concept the place this candidate is wanting from,” Whyte stated. “In the event you’re promoting an precise job on LinkedIn or Instagram or something, it ought to completely [include a] wage or wage vary for that place.”
