Online Social Networks and Recruiting

Recently I prepared a presentation for a career fair to provide tips for job seekers and employers on using social networks, such as facebook, myspace, twitter, and linkedin for recruitment. I discovered that while just a few years ago only about 10% of employers were heavily using web-based recruiting methods, as of 2007 over 75% of companies were recruiting online. Based on the trends, that number has only increased in the last two years. Especially with companies being very financially cautious these days, online recruiting costs are much lower than many other methods.

So, to get to the tips for job seekers and employers. My advice to employers is to have a great web presence that positions your company brand in such a way as to attract the top talent you need. This may mean that instead of expecting job seekers to use only your corporate website and the major online job boards in their job search, you may need to establish a company presence on the social networks where your future employees meet. If your potential employees are from specific professions or trades, look for blogs, bulletin boards and networking sites that cater to these professions or are sponsored by the trade associations. If your potential employees congregate on facebook and myspace, your company needs to set up a group or a company page on those social networking site. Once their, you may want to post photos or a video clip that will catch the attention of even passive job seekers and will drive them to your corporate website for more information or to submit and application.

My advice to job seekers - network both in person and online. Let everyone know you are looking for a job and what type of job you'd like. You never know where you might get a great lead on a perfect position. And, since most employers are online, set a good first impression by cleaning up your image on facebook, myspace, or where ever you have personal web pages. Employers may be checking out your online profile and you want to show that you are a responsible person with a great network of friends, family and colleagues. What you don't want to show that prospective employer is the photos from that drunken binge or the latest stories about your legal entanglements. So, take a look at your web pages and just delete any of those old photos or stories that might not leave the best first impression of you.

Above all, the world is changing rapidly based on expanding technology and both employers and job seekers can and should use all tools possible to find a great fit with a fulfilling work relationship. Happy Job Hunting!

Don't Panic! or Panic! which advise is right?

Over the last few weeks employees at my workplace have been contacting the human resources benefits office wondering what to do with their defined contribution retirement savings programs. There is no universal answer about what to do with 401K savings, invested in mutual funds, during a fluctuating and volatile market period. Also, as employers (not financial advisors), we are often reluctant to give advice in an area where we are not considered experts.

That said, employees will look to human resources and benefits professionals as experts regarding workplace investment programs such as 401K, 403b, or 457 type accounts. Speaking without knowing the facts, or remaining silent are both mistakes.

So, here are some possible words of wisdom from a friend of mine who is a financial professional and who has a calming demeanor:

"These past few weeks have been the most volatile and I have seen in my twelve year career in financial services. And, I have been handling numerous inquiries from participants as to what should be done. My message has remained: Stay the course / Don’t Buy High and Sell Low / If a mutual fund looked good at a share price of $20, it looks great at $14!

Here are some additional points made over the course of several discussions:
1) Think “long-term” … Most people have more than a decade and a half until they access the bulk of their retirement savings. Seeing that the market runs on 6.5 year cycles, there’s going to be at least two more “bull” markets in that time … ‘you gotta be in it to win it,’ per se.

2) Don’t rush to Bond Funds or the Plus Fund: With market conditions the way they are, you might not meet some retirement goals by staying invested in equities but, if you limit your potential returns, you definitely increase the likelihood that you will not meet retirement goals at all.

3) We will look back on this as the biggest buying opportunity in the history of the market. Everything is “on sale” and will probably continue to be so for the next year. Take advantage of low prices.

4) Don’t reduce your contribution, increase it. Yes, a primary use of an investment account is to increase wealth. However, qualified accounts such as 401K, 403b and 457 also provide a shelter from current taxes; lowering contributions will allow Uncle Sam to take more of your earnings. Plus … see #3 above!"

I thought those were words of good advice and passed them along to the employees where I work. Being silent sends a message that we don't care about the worries of our employees. Providing calming words of timeless advice from a calm, financial friend is a better option.

Let me know what you think - email sandra@skysthelimit-hr.com or take the quiz on this blog page!

Supervisory Responsibility for Human Resources Management

Okay, I have a question that came up in a course I teach in HR Management for the University of Phoenix. This course is for undergraduate students working on their bachelor's degree in business administration. The question is who is supposed to be managing human resources? Is it the human resources department? Or is it all the supervisors and managers in the organization?

In the broadest sense I spend much of my work day training, coaching, mentoring and guiding first line supervisors in how to deal with human resources issues in their departments. I truly see a Human Resources Department role as supplying the plans, strategies, procedures, tools, resources that managers need in order to do day in and day out Human Resources Management.

In my opionion, the HR Department does not manage the human resources of the organization - they are the providers of the organizational infrastructure used by supervisors and managers. I thought this point was stressed throughout the course in every functional discussion of HRM. Yet, I found that in the very last class when I asked who manages a company's human resources - the response was "The Human Resources Department."

I'm wondering if this means that in asserting our profession over the last 20 or so years, we have allowed supervisors to abdicate their human resources management responsibilities? Or perhaps I've got it all wrong - maybe HR is supposed to be managing the human resources of a company, so that supervisors and managers just need to manage the operational deliverables.

Let me know what you think: www.skysthelimit-hr.com

Cheers,
Sandra