Social trends in digital talent acquisition

By Daniela Grech

However it is often a case that the adopted approach towards recruitment is stifled due to a hiring process that fails to look at the job applicants holistically.

In today’s competitive world, attracting the best people requires an understanding of the candidate’s career ambitions, active lead nurturing and conscious efforts at positioning the company as a leader in the market.

By going beyond advertising vacancies, hiring is shifting into what we might term social road-maps of action, based on identifying the most effective mix of digital tools and processes for the particular role. It’s all about actively reaching out to the pool of potential employees that hold the biggest potential to fit into the company’s culture and aims.

How can this be achieved? As most international research demonstrates, platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook play an increasingly common role in people moving between companies and up the career ladder. These are the places where people talk about what goes on within companies, and enhance a particular employer’s reputation. Companies who manage to leverage their people network into a system of social referrals benefit from enhanced online employer reputation which in turn increases the conversion from passive candidate to employee.

HR departments can also be open to integrating the right tools and apps to streamline the intensive process of finding and hiring great people. Socially focused recruiting tools can tremendously benefit the relationship building aspect with potential employees. It’s a personal way to periodically track someone’s professional development and alert the recruiter on when is the right time to approach with a job offer. Such an approach can then be taken to the next level with an intelligent and personalised Applicant Tracking System. A solution such as ICON.recruit™ provides value through personalised applicant response systems, social tracking, streamlining and labelling the complicated processes associated with bringing on new employees.

Since finding career opportunities is at its core a social game, a great applicant tracking system needs to integrate well with your business interests. An important aspect to consider is data portability and accessibility. Valuable HR software is cloud-based and can be accessed from any device with an Internet connection and a browser. Since more and more candidates are mobile, the right flexible tool should also be accessible to the recruiter through any tablet or smart-phone device, something which can turn a recruiting campaign into a successful investment.

With a cloud and social recruitment module, companies have the ability to get their information out to potential candidates. By implementing a social software mentality in the HR side, an organisation can easily manage multiple communication channels, be open for questions that candidates ask, and follow up by the right recruiters. In short, social innovation in recruitment gives all participants the visibility to see a 360degree perspective of the entire process, making it faster and more convenient for candidates and employers to achieve their goals.

Daniela Grech is a PR and eMarketing specialist at local web design and development company ICON (www.icon.com.mt)