Into the Talent Age

Class of 2011: If Social Media Were a High School

administrator — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:04:34 +0000

Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

6 Benefits of Using Twitter For Talent Acquisition

administrator — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:15:39 +0000

As a former HR professional and a current job seeker, I definitely see the job market turning around. We’re on our way back from the depths of hades and it’s important that job seekers and recruiters alike know they have options out there to find the best talent! I want to say most of us use twitter these days. I have connected with so many leaders in my industry and those who share my passion for social media, web development, music and human resources. That being said, I realized this week, while tweeting about my own job search, that a lot of HR professionals are still not taking advantage of this tool. So here are 6 excellent benefits for using twitter as part of your talent acquisition plan (as taught to me by the wonderful Bryan Starbuck)

And pass this on to the recruiter, HR professional or hiring manager at your organization!

1. Find Top Talent

You can utilize twitter without even posting anything. This may be a great way to get started if you are nervous about using this type of technology. One of the easiest and most useful things you can do is just search for the best talent. You can search using hashtags. A hashtag is simply a keyword with the # symbol in front of it. For example, if you are looking to fill positions in the pharmaceutical industry you can search for #sales or #pharmaceutical. This will give you a list of people who are talking about that topic. From there you are able to browse through find articles and names of top leaders in that field.

2. Access top talent

This is different that just finding top talent. To access top talent you need to engage. By tweeting about your company or open positions people will start following you too. This gives you access to the talent. You can start engaging with them right away and build up your own database of talented people to source from. That brings me to what to tweet.

3. Branding

I have talked about branding before, but it is one of the most important things you can do for your company and your talent acquisition strategy. By tweeting about interesting news and events with your company, open jobs, important industry news, people who are interested will start to follow. Branding helps to show the world who your company is. What do you stand for, what kind of things do you do. What type of jobs are available. it is a quick shot of information that people can process quickly. You can create a twitter profile with a name that is related to your company or industry. For on of my prior organization I created SokoloveCareers. You can even personalize your page with your logo. If you need help branding talk to your marketing department and PR folks for help designing and choosing interesting articles to tweet about. Branding helps not only your recruiting efforts but also your organization as a whole by giving you more exposure.

4. Email Notification

There are also great tools that enhance the twitter experience. For example TweetBeep is a great tool. Again, this is a tool you can use even if you do not want to post. What TweetBeep does is allows you to input criteria such as your company name, industry, city, or keywords for jobs you are looking to fill like skills and titles. After inputting the information you will receive email notifications when people are talking about these things on twitter. For example if you want to be alerted to people who are discussing #law topics in #boston you just put that criteria in and you will get those notifications. You are then able to very easily access the thought leaders in that location in that industry.

5. Google Search

Another non-tweet approach is google search. You can actually use google to search for people on twitter using certain key words. For example if you are looking for Sales Trainers you can simply go to google and type in “sales trainer” site:twitter.com you will get a list of twitter users who fit that search and you can again find the top talent by checking out their profiles and tweets.

6. Networking Events

Lastly, another great benefit of using twitter is you have access to all kinds of networking events. There are networking events everywhere for virtually every industry for practically every night of the year! Some are company sponsored events that people are tweeting about, some are organizations, some are called tweetups, which is a get together of people who know each other via twitter. It’s a great way to find those events where you can actually engage with talent face to face.

You should have no excuses now for not using twitter. Even for those who are tweet shy you can still use twitter as a research tool to enhance your recruiting efforts. And because twitter is free your ROI will be nothing but positive. Just don’t waste your time. You don’t need to read every tweet, nor do you have to tweet more that a couple of times a day, or a week for that matter. So get out there and start tweeting!!
Share This Post

Social Media for Engaging the Workforce

administrator — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:00:09 +0000

All this talk about using social media in the workplace made me think that some people need to see it. Below is a presentation I put together last year to help organizations understand the idea of using social media for employee engagement. By using specific numbers and examples, not just theories and concepts, you can show your organization what you really mean by social media. In this presentation you will see 6 of the most and best used strategies for engaging your workforce through different social tools. Enjoy and share! I am happy to answer any questions you may have so please feel free to contact me or post a comment!

Share This Post

Using Digital Marketing to Empower & Advance

administrator — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:29:07 +0000

Wow, I just watched an amazing Toyota commercial. I was impressed by the way Toyota has taken their marketing strategy to another level. Using a TV ad to direct consumers to their website and to empower them to think and possibly even change the world. The Toyota Ideas for Good campaign is taking digital marketing and social collaboration to another level. As Toyota put it:

“Big ideas are bigger than cars. Toyota has proved this time and time again by sharing our big inventions with the world outside of cars. Everybody has a few good ideas, and Toyota wants to help make some of them a reality. So we’re sharing some of our most innovative technologies with you in the hope that you’ll share your good ideas to improve the world”

Social collaboration isn’t a new idea, companies like IBM, Best Buy, Starbucks and more have been using idea sharing internally to empower and engage employees and customers. It is proven to be a successful tactic. Toyota is now bringing this idea to the consumers and pairing it with traditional marketing (i.e. TV advertising) to reach more customers. By challenging us to take their technology and apply it to real world situations to improve our lives and our world they are giving the consumers, us, a voice. Bravo Toyota!

Designing An Effective Band Website

administrator — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:06:22 +0000

This Student Spotlight article was written for Full Sail University, where I am currently getting my degree in Web Development. Unfortunately you cannot see it if you are not a student, so I have taken the time to re-post it here for your reading pleasure!

As Musicians try to figure out what works in online music distribution, one essential component they can’t afford to ignore is their Web presence. Web Design and Development BS student Rebecca Slosberg recently built the website for A Pale Horse Named Death, a new Brooklyn band formed by Type O Negative Co-Founder and Life of Agony Drummer Sal Abruscato, and now she wants to help by showing other students how to build an effective music website that will promote your songs, connect you with fans and appeal to listeners.

“The website is critical to maintaining the mood and personality of the music and the band,” Slosberg said.

Slosberg lucked out because the band used artist Sam Shearon, who had a clear vision that evoked the bands personality well. She said that this made the design work for the website a lot easier.

“The website carries on that feeling in its design through the background images, buttons and even the skins used on widgets,” Slosberg said. “We did have a limited budget, so I had to be creative when it came to the design, using widgets and plug-ins and other work-arounds to keep the mood and the style in tact.”

To cater to fans, Slosberg has a few suggestions to keep them coming back. First and foremost, you should give them what they want immediately: the music.

“We are living in a world where if you can’t provide instant gratification you aren’t going to make it,” Slosberg said. “Giving fans the ability to listen to the music and buy/download the album is number one.”

Your next move would be to provide fans with a connection to the artist that won’t only feed their interests but will make them lifelong dedicated listeners. For A Pale Horse Named Death, Slosberg created an accessible forum that fans could use to really connect with the band and with each other. Currently there are 216 members in the band’s community and over one thousand Twitter followers.

“Giving them some say, whether it is to share their opinions on the music, or to actually be able to help influence decisions on who the band should tour with, it keeps them engaged,” Slosberg said. “Engagement is the key to a successful fan base.”

Slosberg got the gig because her Fiance, who used to do radio, had established some contacts in the rock and metal world. He had already been in discussions with a member of Abruscato’s former band, Type O Negative, about a social media strategy,when the band dissolved after founding member Peter Steele’s death. Once he found out that Abruscato started a new band, the couple came forward to offer Slosberg’s talents to assist in the new music endeavor.

“Networking and creating a personal brand is VERY important in today’s world,” Slosberg said. “I urge other students to get themselves out there. Create a website, get on Twitter and Facebook, write a blog, anything to really show the world who you really are and what you can do. And engage with people in your industry, you never know what opportunities are out there if you don’t get involved.”

More of Slosberg’s Work
If you want to see more of Slosberg’s design work for businesses and organizations in other industries check out her website at www.rebeccaslosberg.com.

“I’ve always been a bit of a tech nerd,” Slosberg said. “It wasn’t until a couple of years ago I started messing around with social media and blogging. My love for creating websites blossomed from there. I have a natural desire to want to build things and see them grow, and building websites has become just the place for me to do that.”

Written by Ashley Belanger

HR Star

administrator — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:33:28 +0000

I was featured on Lance Haun’s blog REHAUL in a series called HR Star sponsored by Rypple.

Check it out HERE!

Pre-Employment Screening: Good for Talent Acquisition?

administrator — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:16:40 +0000

In my current recruiting position I have been using a pre-employment screening tool. People Answers is an online application and assessment tool designed to help find candidates that are the best fit and who would be the most successful in the position applied for. I have always been on the fence about pre-employment screening. As a recruiter I haven’t used any assessment tools, only background checks. As a job seeker the screening can be daunting, irritating, and often times very user UN friendly – possibly deterring a good candidate from applying.

As a recruiter I know the logic, a good and interested candidate will take the time to fill out the application and take the assessment, and most research has generally shown that pre-employment screening tends to improve the quality and duration of employment for new hires. With the assessment I use now, I see more qualified candidates in interviews, and being able to weed out candidates that will not be successful at my organization makes things easier for myself and hiring managers.

If you have used an assessment tool in the past or you are considering putting one in place in the future you should consider some of the advantages and disadvantages to implementing a screening tool. There is no doubt that a pre-employment assessment can aid in making better hiring decision, but is it right for your organization?

The Truth Behind the Hand-Shake

Candidates are, or should be, putting their best foot forward. They arrive dressed nice, they give a firm handshake, they smile, they give you a spruced up copy of their resume and they have done their research. They have questions, they have answers, they are showing you the best side of them they possibly can. A background check can certainly help weed out any potential criminals, which in some industries is a must, but it won’t tell you everything. Rarely in my time recruiting for the corporate world have I seen many background checks come back with something on them that would influence a hiring decision. However, if you want a solid understanding of a candidates background, knowledge, skills, work style, and cultural fit within your organization, then a pre-employment screening tool may be the way to go.

Can Your Organization Handle Sensitive Data

One of the most overlooked questions to ask your organization is if you can really handle having this sensitive information. With the fear of identity theft looming all around privacy issues are of major concern. If you are choosing to have your candidates undergo pre-employment screening, which tends to be conducted online, it’s imperative that you make sure you can and will implement necessary procedures to ensure the integrity of applicants sensitive information. A security breach or evidence of misused data can leave you vulnerable to legal action.

Protect Yourself Against Potential Liability Claims

In the last few decades a greater burden has been placed on business owners. Organizations have been held accountable for the ever-increasing proportion of the misdeeds, missteps and mistakes of their employees. Pre-employment screening may be able to help limit your vulnerability and save you plenty of money in legal fees!

These are just a few of the things I feel to be important when considering a pre-employment screening tool. What have you used in the past? Does pre-employment screening help or hurt? How has your organization implemented a screening or assessment tool? tell me your stories in the comments.

Share This Post

Internal Workforce Communities: The Basics

administrator — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:05:28 +0000

Internal workplace communities, or as Jive calls them “Collaboration Software”, are basically a social media mixing pot, combining the functionality of blogs, wikis, discussion boards, even instant messaging and employee profiles (think Linked In) with your traditional company intranet.

The purpose is to use this software to draw upon the knowledge you already have within your company, in the minds of your workforce, and use it to drive your business ahead.

These softwares focus on:

Employee Engagement
Sales and Marketing
Innovations
Support

An internal community platform acts as a virtual meeting room where users can interact with their coworkers, form project specific groups, ask questions, post status updates, manage projects, create documents and upload files. Companies can establish individual blogs for each department and use them to store market research or share insight into industry trends. Features like message boards on specific topics like ‘ideas’ or ‘innovation’ are ways employees can share their inspirations and sound off on suggestions.

Internal workplace communities often have the capabilities to facilitate the on-boarding of new employees (or integrate with existing HRIS platforms). Networks can be created where new hires are invited to join to introduce themselves, meet coworkers who can help them succeed, get acclimated to the culture, and learn the ins and outs of the company.

With all this collaboration and transparency employees become more engaged, productive, and satisfied. This gives you the ability to develop employees through the use of informal learning and integrated a LMS through the internal community. Internal workforce communities also help you with retaining employees and retaining their knowledge when or if they do leave the company. For more information check out my previous post on using internal communities throughout the employee life cycle.

Social Media Is A Bad Name

administrator — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:49:27 +0000

My last post about using social media to engage employees was met with a comment about allowing employees to use social media while at work. I’d like to reiterate that comment here:

Neetu Singh on May 18, 2010 said:

Hi Rebecca,
I am also in HR and I had this question whether to allow employees accessing social media in office or not, because of the precious hours wasted sometime in the name of work.
I had an interesting revelation when I dug deep. I have expressed my thoughts at Employees spending too much time on Social Media?

Please read and comment.

Rebecca on May 18, 2010 said:

It can be a tough issue. I think the answer is two-fold. First, you need to explain to your employees what you expect. You can’t expect them not to use social media sites at all, just like you can’t expect them not to check personal email or make a personal phone call. Nor should you expect them to never do these things. You need to develop a culture that is trusting, employees who feel trust and are treated like adults will act like adults. What we tell employees is that if you use social networking sites during the day for personal reasons (obviously there are employees whose job is to engage in social media, and that’s not what we are talking about here), try to limit it to lunch time, and don’t let it become a distraction, if it starts to affect your productivity then we have a problem. The second part of my answer relates back to the post, giving employees an internal source to socially network gives them an itch to scratch. Having an internal community, like IBM’s bee hive, allows employees to interact with one another socially, this keeps them from doing it externally, it also fosters engagement collaboration, and informal learning.

So after some reflection on this I had some thoughts. First of all, when I say social media I don’t just mean Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. Social Media is a whole range of different tools. And for some reason this term ‘social media’ scares the crap out of people, especially in HR. I don’t know why. So I am going to take a new approach, it’s not ‘social media’ its just my new employee engagement/communication/acquisition/marketing strategy, and the tools in my presentation are simply that, tools. When we start looking at social media as just another tool, whether it’s for networking, marketing, employee engagement, talent acquisition, whatever, when we accept that they are just another tool in the toolbox, then we can move on and stop talking about it like it’s some big scary concept. It’s not! It’s just another way of communicating.

Share This Post

Social Media and HR Come Together, TweetUp Style!

administrator — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:31:43 +0000

Last Monday I attended the InnoSocial Tweetup sponsored by the Community Roundtable and Communispace. It was great a experience. I was finally able to meet some great social media minds from the Boston area in person. Some wonderful discussions were had regarding my work in Human Resources. And I even got a shout out on a Boston TweetUp Episode! I feel like a micro celebrity today!

Thx to @joselinemane for mentioning me, Rachel Happe, Jim Storer and the Community Manager education resource- The Community Roundtable in his last Boston TweetUp Episode.

Share This Post