Social+Networking

We are excited to have this opportunity to share our findings on the use of social networking for the purpose of recruiting/selection. We will share with you how there is a growing trend of companies using social networking for recruiting and selection. Before you can decide whether or not to your company should follow this trend, we recognize your need to understand both the benefits and the downside of using social networking.
 * To the HR Executive Team:**

We will do this by investigating how social networking is currently being used in other organizations and the financial implications of doing this. Finally, we will share our recommendations with you on how we can implement social networking tools to benefit this organization.

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We all are familiar with the current recruiting and selection techniques: taking ads out in newspapers, posting to job boards and publications, and using traditional recruiting websites such as Monster.com. Web 2.0 is “ a moniker for an emerging set of Internet-based tools and an emerging philosophy on how to use them (Krasne).” The idea is that people shouldn’t just be passive receivers of information; instead they should interact with and contribute to the content on the web. Because information flows both ways, this is a great opportunity for businesses to interact with possible employees.
 * Social Networking Use for Recruiting/Selection**

When it comes to recruiting it makes sense that before targeting a certain population we should get to know them first. For example, where are the places they search for information? This generation is marked by connectivity with the aid of internet technology. Statistics show a s of July 15th of this year, around 250 million people are using Facebook to stay updated on current events and share with their friends and relatives on what is happening in their lives (Zuckerberg **).** As of October 14th this year, LinkedIn has 50 million users worldwide (Weiner), while Twitter’s website attracted a total of 44.5 million unique visitors worldwide in June, 2009 (Schonfeld). Because of the immense popularity of these sites, it would be a mistake to ignore them. It is a great idea to use social networking to disseminate information we want to be public, such as job openings and requirements.



However, we should first focus on our needs and decide whether or not a younger population is our target. Jennifer Pierrier-Knox explains that “employers who fail to use social networking sites in recruiting initiatives miss out on an opportunity to target a specific demographic (Kavur).” If we want to connect with the next generation of workforce, we want to plug into their world by using various social networking like twitter, facebook, etc..

Using social networking is cost-saving and efficient if can not only target the right candidate, but also screen for the right candidate. Social networks can help companies save time and money by screening the candidates. According to SHRM's report on online technologies, the number one reason organizations use social networking sites to screen applicants is that it does not take a lot of time or effort. Another advantage is that there is more information provided on social networks than on the traditional sources of cover letters and resumes.

What could be the impact on both recruiters and talent? Here is an analysis we found on businesselite website.

As you can see, there are many benefits of using social networking for recruiting and selection. First and foremost, most of the networking sites are free to use. They are free for us as recruiters and for our potential employees, making this an attractive option for everyone. Also, because the networks have grown so enormously, using these sites gives us access to a larger talent pool than we previously had available to us. Lou Adler, President of the Adler Group, explains how when used intelligently these sites can give you access to passive candidates that were previously unreachable (Berkshire). Because they are free and so easy to use, it would be a grave mistake not to take advantage of the opportunity presented here, but they are not perfect.

Using these sites can increase the amount of incoming resumes to the point that we may have too many to review. It’s also possible that we end up with an abundance of unqualified applicants. So we can use these to our advantage but we do have to be careful about relying on them too heavily. There are also some legal issues that need to be addressed.

We as recruiter cannot rely exclusively on Twitter or LinkedIn to fill open positions, otherwise we run the high risks of undiversified workforce, the worse scenario could even open us to discrimination charges. The social networks only represent limited social groups and very small labor pools. According to the latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic. Besides, the users are generally white and between the ages of 20 - 40.
 * Legal Risks from Sourcing**

//“Sourcing from professional network sites such as LinkedIn carries a risk that the method could be challenged on discrimination grounds,” Pamela Devata, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago, says. “It represents a hiring pool that is not open to the general population. Using a limited network may have a disparate impact. If hiring through these networks can be challenged, it will be (Hansen)”//

Business necessity needs to be justified when certain social networking is used exclusively. //“If the business practice is to use Twitter and the existing pool is 50 percent female and 20 percent minority, but you’re down to zero for both groups because your digital network is heavily male and non-minority, then you must establish that there is a BUSINESS NECESSITY for the practice,” says Paul Mollica, partner at Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink in Chicago. “The first company that gets sued for this will have to be very resourceful because it will be very difficult to establish a reason for relying exclusively on Twitter (Hanson).”//

One way of using social networking is integrating Twitter into employee referral programs to help employees connect with possible job candidates. This will free us from legal litigation as we simply use referrals and employees’ online acquaintances to expand our applicant pool, provided we also reach candidates through other broader means.

Using social networking for recruiting usually leaves you with digital information; the actual paper trail isn’t there to trace and keep track of. So we can either have an electronic form for the applicant to fill out or certain procedures to follow in order to create complete recruiting processes which can be traceable.
 * Risks from Record Keeping **

Using social network to screen candidates can expose recruiters to information on individuals who are members of groups protected under federal law. Some of the information recruiters obtained from Facebook pages such as race and gender are usually available on applications or in interviews. However, information on religion, pregnancy, age and sexual orientation, may be revealed on social networking sites which normally would not be known by recruiters on applications or in interviews. Once you know those facts, it would be difficult to prove your hiring choices have nothing to do with that information you normally would not get from traditional interviews. Moreover, if you want to lay off the person down the road, it creates another litigation risk as you know some facts that you normally would not know.
 * Legal risks from using social networks to screen candidates**

Shown in the graph above is a significant increase in usage of social networking sites over a 2 year period. Most large organizations already have a presence on sites such as facebook or linked-in. The reasons why they use social networking are similar to the needs our company wants to meet. The main reason for using social networking is to recruit passive applicants. Bill Shea reports that Mckinley Inc, a large real estate firm hired 150 people last year and most of the recruiting was done on social networking sites (Shea, pp 12). The CIA and NSA use Facebook, and its noted that 25% of design firm Eview’s recent interviews have come from social networking sites (Shea, pp 12). Tavia Grant reports that 68% of US firms were using social networking for recruiting in Sept. 2008 (Grant, pp B14), and that number has certainly grown since then. Amy Gigilio, a recruiting manager for Aflac, noted that these networking sites have been vital for Aflac’s recruitment and retention of top talent, especially in the IT departments. As we can see, many companies are using social networking to their advantage, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t do the same.
 * Current Uses by Other Companies **

Overall, we believe that there are very obvious practical uses for social networking and we should start employing these. While we do need to be careful not to fall prey to the known risks, we believe that using social networking for recruiting and selection will help us and we would be at a disadvantage if we do not use them. Using social networking will most likely help us with filling administrative and management positions; however it may not be the best way to fill manufacturing line positions.
 * Recommendations **

It is free and relatively easy to set up LinkedIn and Facebook pages. We should start using these to our advantage, but we also should continue our current recruiting techniques. Once we begin to see positive results from using social networking sites, then we can look at changing current techniques and reducing our traditional recruiting costs. Also, it should be noted that because it takes time to build up online contacts, these sites become more useful after using them for awhile and building up a network (Langfit). It would be a missed opportunity to not take advantage of the opportunities social networking sites offer, and we feel that over time we can reduce our recruiting and selection costs by using them. Berkshire, Jennifer C. “HR Technology Agenda.” //HR Magazine.// Vol. 50, No. 4. April 1, 2005. Grant, Tavia. “Social Networking Sites. . . “ //The Globe and Mail, Canada//. August 8, 2009. Pp B14. Hanson, Fay. “Discriminatory Twist in Networking Sites Puts Recruiters in Peril.” //Workforce Management// online. September 2009. [] Kavur, Jennifer. “Smart Recruiting Through Social Networks.” //ComputerWorld Canada.// February 23, 2009. [|www.networkworld.com/news/2009/022309-smart-recruiting-through-social.html] Kendler, Peggy B. “Skilled help Wanted.” //Insurance and Technology.// May 1, 2008. Pp 40. Krasne, Alexandra. “What is Web 2.0 Anyway?” [|www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/archives/page9344.cfm] Langfit, Frank. “Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting.” [|www.npr.org]. November 22, 2006. [|www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523] Schonfeld, Erick. “Twitter Reaches 44.5 Million People Worldwide in June.” //TechCrunch//. August 3, 2009. [] Shea, Bill. “E-ffective? Businesses find recruiting via s ocial media works, often for free.” //Crain’s Detroit Business//. June 8, 2009. Pp 12 Weiner, Jeff. CEO LinkedIN. http://blog.linkedin.com/2009/10/14/linkedin-50-million-professionals-worldwide Zuckerberg, Mark. **[]**[|www.businesselite.com] 2009.
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