Future Employee Parking and Social Recruiting December 18, 2008

Have you ever seen those signs that are posted in parking spaces at Property Management offices found in many apartment complexes that read “Future Resident Parking”? Think of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Friendster, LinkedIn, and so on as parking spaces that all say “Future Employee Parking”. I’ve been calling this act “Social Recruiting” for almost a year now and I am happy to report that the coined term is catching on in theory and name recognition.

 

What it is.

It’s utilizing Social Media and Viral Marketing Strategies to engage talent and attract candidates to your organization. It’s an ongoing commitment to keeping your brand alive and top of mind for your future employees.  It’s a way to put your message out in multiple channels and let it spread like wildfire. It’s a short message that should be easily digestable by readers, members, subscribers, or whatever you want to call them. They are media snacking and quickly jumping from site to site so it has to be short and sweet because before you know it, they’re on to the next site.  It’s  free (on most of these sites) to put your branding messages up.  It’s a commitment to brand building. It’s another tool that helps you build equity in your Employment Brand. If you aren’t building equity in your Employment Brand, who will?

See this illustration…it’s called the Social Media Starfish. It is the most organized illustration of Social Media that I’ve found and I am thinking about getting it blown up to poster size, however at the rate that these sites develop and change, it might be a waste of money. What won’t be a waste of money is you getting to know these sites and understanding the type of messages that work well on each. Social media has impacted every aspect of our world and business and I am campaiging for companies to hire an individual to own the Social Media Initiative for the organization. Not every site is going to work for your company, but that’s the fun part about it, finding out which ones will.

 

What it’s not.

It’s not a quick fix and it won’t build itself. Yes, you should encourage employees to get out and spread the word of the great things that happen at your company, but like any other process, it has to be managed and monitored to some extent, without infringing on the First Amendment of course. It’s risky to  let your Employment Brand build itself because the message is then at the mercy of others and it can be at the hands of the wrong people. (a.k.a. disgruntled employees. ) By participating in Social Media and deploying a Social Recruiting strategy, you can effectively communicate your unique employment value proposition.  You can maintain control of your brand and ensure the integrity of the brand is protected and groomed.

 

It’s not a place for your company’s vision statement or boring boilerplate messages that no one cares about. It’s for messaging that should be raw and transparent. Afterall, that is what social media is for, a way to informally communicate online.

 

But remember, just because you are focusing on Social Recruiting, make sure you don’t forget about your baseline  branding pieces which include your Career Site and your Onboarding messaging. The great messaging you’ve launched in the recruitment process must be consistent and evident in these places as well in order to continue the brand continuity and keep candidates engaged in what you are selling.

 

Good Luck and let’s get some Social Recruiting going in 2009!