Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

Social Media and the Corporate Impact Part I 

To put this blog piece in context, Social Media for this blog is any third party on-line or internet based networking or people-connecting tool. Examples of such are Facebook, Eacademy, Plaxo, Myspace, U-tube and Twitter. What I am not referencing are internal corporate “wanna be” social networking tools, associations (most of which have gone “on-line” now to save on cost), static websites, email, instant messaging or even the ever prevalent texting.

Why did I highlight the difference? In the next couple of blogs I will be talking about the trends I have seen and researched and the data which exists about social media or social networking and its impact to the corporate environment. Those non-social media types are many times already present in the workplace as companies provide employees with limitless emailing, cell phones (or the policy that it’s ok to have it with you and work) and texting, instant messaging solutions, web-based company portals, on-line meeting programs, and on and on.

The goal of my blogging about this topic is not to create hype or fear about allowing such uses in the work place, but rather highlight the fact that the World of Work has changed. In just a few short years we have gone from telecom and land-lines ruling the communication method and business sectors to flat screen monitors with built in web-cams on employee desks and Blackberry’s in the hand of all those around the conference table.

I hope you enjoy these pieces and please do leave your thoughts and feedback on this topic as you never know who on the web might just like what you have to say!

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com. 

Recruiting and Technology: Session 3

There was a recent discussion on ERE and LinkedIn about what a “modern” applicant tracking software (ATS) tool should include and the ROI for your business. Many of my consulting clients in the staffing or executive search business ask my opinion on, or are seeking, a new tool as the current tool they have is not being used or does not have the latest bells and whistles. Below is my response to this question, which has generated a lot of interest and discussion.

It seems people are looking to buy or enhance current ATS systems as technology continues to advance. I have done a lot of work with various ATS tools over the years through my exposure with sitting in technology positions / chairs within industry and HR associations. While I do have favorites and have gone as far as to be a SME and / or reference for 2-3 tools, I would say “it depends.” A true ATS tool used in the staffing / recruitment arena is very robust and not just a tracking and on-boarding tool utilized by HR. A true staffing / recruitment ATS tool not only tracks applicants, but is intuitive to the job order(s), client(s), and end user(s) for the candidate so one note in the system follows all points. The top tools on the market right now even go as far as to incorporate the following:

1. Web based
2. Integrated email which auto-tracks to all records
3. Third-party tool friendly (i.e. able to utilize some of the hot tools like Contact Capture and Diver)*
4. VoIP / Network phone integration for auto-dialing and call tracking
5. Can produce reports easily with NO extra costs
6. Integrates with your website
7. Email or at least sendouts tracking (are they being looked at, if so how often and by whom)
8. Applicant tracking back to the specific job (auto-parsing)

The reverse should be true as the ATS should also be able to act as the CRM tool for client management so recruiters are not trying to track down notes, a sales rep or looking through other systems to get valuable information about a client or manager. The best tools are based on a CRM platform where both the client and the candidate are treated as a potential lead and everything has a time stamped tracking (this way you can meet various employment standards and regulations by clients and the government). Bad tools make you work for it on the client side. Worse, bad tools require more tools to manage clients in say salesforce.com* or ACT.*

One should look through all the activity for your company to see just how robust of a tool you need and use this as the benchmark for making a decision. Far too many recruiters and firms jump into a tool based on costs or the friendly rep and it cost them 10 times to get out of it! If it is not easy and intuitive for the staff, it will not be used…hands down from experience!

Feel free to connect with me off-line and I can share what my top 5 ATS tools are…

*Contact Capture, Diver, salesforce.com and ACT are all trademarked products.

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