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

Social Media and the Corporate Impact Part II

Is social media killing your company’s productivity? Stop and think about what you don’t know before you give an immediate answer to what you do know. How many of the people in your organization have unlimited access to a computer or smart phone each day? Has your organization set-up up the internet to block out access to any and all social networking sites (there are dozens)? Can people tuck away in a corner and update their Facebook page or send a tweet?

Now answer the question. A common response I have received is of course “it depends.” If your staff or certain people on your staff are in positions where they need to be highly visible and connecting with new people each day then great, it’s good to have them utilizing the latest technology in order to do so. Providing they are not wasting time with personal updates and connections. If however, your staff or members of your company don’t need to be on-line connecting with others throughout the work day then yes, they may just be killing productivity with social networking.

I recently had to coach a friend and colleague through a job loss not because of economic issues, a layoff or even performance. No, he was let go from being on his personal internet pages too much during the day. This is someone who I know is a top performer in the recruiting field, but as such has some idle time and the resources in front of him to check his MySpace and send out a status update once a day which eventually turned into multiple times per day.

Why is social networking at work such an issue? Mainly as a result of lack of direction and policy by corporations and management. People in general like to communicate with friends, family, peers and yes strangers. Social networking has become the new water cooler for the work place and without guidelines by which people should work by, then how long of a water break do they need?

In short, does you company have a policy by which to operate from or at least guidelines in place to help managers with navigating this new but very sticky issue? If not, then it might be time to start the research on your own to ensure the right people are helping to brand and drive revenues with work-place social networking and you don’t have an entire staff on the web having fun or even venting some steam to others on-line.

Chris

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

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

For those who are unaware of what Bounty Jobs appears to be here is the website; no secrets, as I truly believe success in the recruitment business all has to be transparent or the end result, the job seeker taking a position with the hiring company, will not happen. www.bountyjobs.com

Bounty, like many other “tools” or HR / Recruitment short cuts before and after them, truly does not understand the motivation of human nature. People want to communicate and be part of an engaged community. Honest people genuinely want the resources a Bounty or others can provide to help make these invaluable connections possible. Most run-of-the-mill, basement dweller or 3 month recruiters can’t provide the knowledge base, infrastructure, bandwidth or network a “tool” like Bounty Jobs promises to deliver. A couple great examples are Facebook and inside919.com. For the most part they are free and unrestricted and as a result, people are making not only money but building empires, finding careers, creating causes and even reconnecting with old friends from remote Alaska. If this is the case then why do these “tools” want to restrict the very ingredient which can make them a king’s ransom?

Here are excerpts from the “non-typical email” myself and my staff, industry peers, clients and vendors received TODAY from Bounty Jobs, cut into the pieces that one assumes to hit their message to the core.

We want total control of a process that can’t be totally controlled in order for it to be a true success.

“Unlike the typical “how it works” email… With 20,000+ registered headhunters (and counting!)…, we will be [re] moving the name of the hiring company one step further into the BountyJobs process… BountyJobs remains absolutely committed to providing an efficient communication and recruiting solution. ”

While my firm is using Bounty at the request of a couple clients, we (the team, the clients and all involved) agree the handcuffs by this “tool” inhibits communications and any chance of immediate success and long term survival of this “tool.”  How long will they be around? I am not sure, but I have seen many “tools” come and many go, with most that are remaining now on the edge of financial crises in this current economy because they do not allow for full human interaction which is the very root energy of the recruitment and HR professions.

The complete link to their new Q&A for recruiters and hiring companies on these changes can be found at: http://image.exct.net/lib/fefc1174706500/m/1/Company+Name+FAQ.pdf

My advice is think twice before engaging in these resource robbing “tools.” Take the time to ravage their sites for information on the true fulfillment rates verse just number of jobs posted and recruiters involved. After all, graduate school did teach me statistics and how numbers can always “look beautiful in the eyes of the reporter.” Best of luck in your recruitment efforts.

Chris

To engage The Recruiting Guy to train or consult with your staff visit our services page or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com