Friday, March 20, 2009

Recruiters Placing More Emphasis on Corporate Branding

A recent survey by recruitment software company Standout Jobs and HRMorning.com reveals that 43% of the companies polled are pulling their spending from Internet job boards and re-directing those resources to better showcase their brand to potential employment candidates.

The shift away from job boards is a response to current market conditions, which have made more high-value candidates available to companies looking to capitalize on the market's turnaround with strategic hires, reveals the survey. And while the current market remains grim, optimism still dictates many of the respondents' near term hiring plans, with more than 30% planning to increase hiring during the second and third quarter of 2009: adding the fourth quarter raises that number to 41%.

Referrals are still the most popular avenue for sourcing jobs, but the companies polled indicate their Web site or career page as being the next most valuable vehicle for finding candidates. Job boards, while useful for generating a higher volume of resumes, are being criticized for not delivering qualified candidates, which are seen as the key for surviving the tough current economic climate and building future organizational strength.

"We decided to create this poll to get a sense of how bad or good the market for hiring really was at the organizational level, rather than continuing to rely on media reports which have been overwhelmingly negative," says Benjamin Yoskovitz, Standout Jobs CEO and founder. "With the help of our poll partner, HRMorning.com, we asked 450 internal company recruiters a number of questions having to do with their hiring practices and plans for the immediate future.

The results showed cautious optimism, with many expecting to start hiring again in the third quarter. We also learned their standards and processes have changed, and now strategic hiring is the name of the game." Companies are putting more emphasis on engaging quality talent in an effort to show they're a 'great place to work' for the right candidates. Creating a better fit between employer and employee is seen as a key to hiring success, and employment branding attracts the right type of candidates through more open, regular and interactive communication with applicants.

This trend was evident in the poll question "Which recruiting trends do you think could improve your recruiting efforts?" Of the respondents, 239 claim "social networks," while 187 respondents indicate candidate relationship management was high on their list of priorities. The survey further indicates that search engine optimization was also a favorite followed by "other," blogs, online video, and Twitter.

Companies are clearly interested in re-marketing to job seekers, treating people well in addition to delivering a strong candidate experience. Even though the companies polled indicated they were increasing their dependence on their sites and social tools to engage candidates, the majority of them had no specific strategies for recruiting Generation X and Y applicants, which have grown up with the web and are more likely than their older colleagues to use it for job hunting, socializing and networking.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Dominos Delivers

What I love about this recruitment drive from Dominos Pizza in Australia is the visible input and support of their marketing team and CEO in getting out this media release.

It’s obviously a great message during times of job-loss and much easier to get media attention but still, they have done a great job on their careers site with a clearly articulated and compelling candidate value proposition (CVP) for all vacant positions.

Turns out Dominos is a fun place to work, pay is good, there are serious training and development opportunities and real potential for long-term careers even from entry level driver / delivery jobs.

Their careers site is worth a visit as it ticks a lot of boxes. One feature that I love is where they answer the questions of parents who might be considering the benefits and dangers of having their little ones take their first foray into employment.

Also, by suggesting that they have traditionally relied on students and part-timers but that they are ready for applications from others, they open the door for a much wider group of potential employees by driving home the message that Dominos is a viable long-term career option.

An influx of these employees will most certainly reduce staff turnover and directly impact the bottom line of this listed company whose investors and stakeholders should all be happy with this public and highly professional display of respect to the management of their human capital.



Media release:

Pizza chain has 2,500 job vacancies

Tuesday March 3, 2009, 4:20 pm

While the mining and banking sectors lay off thousands of workers, a major food chain says it has 2,500 vacancies.

Domino's Pizza is seeking casual pizza deliverers across its 434 stores in Australia.

The chain is bucking the trend which has seen 3,000 jobs lost in Queensland's mining sector alone this year, and hundreds in other industries such as banking and retail.

Domino's chief executive Don Meij said the economic downturn was turning many families to more affordable takeaway food.

"As a result this has seen our stores experience the need for additional staff to fulfil orders and deliveries," Mr Meij said.

Domino's has launched a recruitment website, www.dominosjobs.com.au to help fill its vacancies.

With a minimum hourly rate of $10.78 for the first three months plus $1.73 for each delivery, the traditional job takers are university students.

But Domino's corporate operations manager Kerri Hayman said there were career paths at the firm, which might have ex-bank workers and miners lining up for jobs.

END

Monday, March 2, 2009

Fear Not! Web2.0 is here to stay...

One of the single most compelling reasons for a company to undertake some research and development of their employer brand is simply to position the organisation to perform better in what is now known as the "recruitment2.0" or "web2.0" landscape.

In this world, honesty and transparency are key so only having indulged in some navel-gazing, and taken a stance in some key areas, are organisations in a position to participate in conversations about themselves as an employer in these forums.

It is a fact that "the crowd controls the message" now and HR are indeed correct to have reservations about this but if you choose to stake no claims of your own, or worse, continue to use the white-lies of yesteryear, then you are genuinely and completely at the mercy of the crowd – and this, it seems to me, should be even more of a concern!

The following article from CIPD picks up on the concerns of HR in general when presented with the reality and opportunities of a web2.0 world.

ARTICLE:

Avoid ‘Facebook fear factor’, CIPD tells HR

A new CIPD report finds that HR is failing to take advantages of "the many opportunities presented by Web 2.0 technology." The report suggests that the potential benefits of this technology are being overlooked because of fears about potential employee misbehaviour and a reluctance to lose control over its use. It warns that HR faces losing out on the possibility of playing an important role in guiding the adoption of Web 2.0 to enhance organisational and business performance.

The report (‘Web 2.0 and Human Resource Management: ‘Groundswell' or hype?') lays out a systems framework to help HR professionals think about how web-based content (in the form of texts, videos, opinions and other applications) can be transferred - through new Web 2.0 social media technologies - into important HR outputs. As well as offering clear guidance about Web 2.0, it cites a number of case-studies illustrating how organisations can reap the benefits of these technologies (in areas such as collaboration, learning & development, employer branding and engagement) while simultaneously mitigating the risk of employee abuse.

CIPD organisation & resourcing adviser Vanessa Robinson says "Web 2.0 provides employees with new tools for collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Its open, democratic nature, however, has meant that many HR professionals are focusing on the negative side, which is a shame as Web 2.0 is here to stay.

"HR is in danger of playing catch-up as a profession in failing to advance the interests of organisations by navigating them through the undoubted benefits. As well as limiting potential abuse by carefully selecting the technology used, HR professionals must develop and communicate clear and well-informed policies to help employees understand what behaviour is acceptable and what is clearly not.

"Organisations will be increasingly faced with employees seeking to use Web 2.0 social media technologies at work, so rather than ignore them or ban them outright they will need to adopt sensible policies that fit a particular context. There are no one-size-fits all policies because contexts differ, which is evident from our research and case studies."
END