Social HR 2015: The Way Forward For Businesses

Social media has made a monumental difference in our lifestyles, with some of those transformational differences extending to hiring and employee engagement practices as well. Human resources departments have leveraged the benefits of social media in these past few years to make the best hiring, engagement and employee development decisions. And, 2015 promises to be the year of the Social HR.

• Why Social HR?

Companies are hungry for top talent. According to a survey taken from recruiters, up to 73% of them have signed on a prospective employee through social media.

Gone are the days when companies would restrict the use of social collaboration technologies. This is due to the changing attitudes of the companies, the increased computer literacy from prospective hires and the value these hires offer by giving them up-to-date and modern social tools. In just the span of a few years, it’s become:

• Which companies have taken advantage of Social HR

Here are some of the firms that have relied on social media to reach their goals.

• MasterCard – Conversation Suite

MasterCard has 8000 employees. 40% of them double in as the firm’s Social Ambassadors. How’s that possible, you say? The answer lies in the Conversation Suite that MasterCard uses. The Conversation Suite relies on listening to relevant conversations about a brand that are taking place on the social media. These conversations are projected on a 40 inch plus display screen that is situated at some public spots, further enhancing the MasterCard brand image and sparking more conversations about themselves.

A look at the MasterCard Conversation Suite

• UPS – Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for Employees

Now here’s a firm that highlights the unique value proposition of its employees on social media channels. The employee and employers both benefit as this approach can bring in more prospective hires than a typical recruitment method ever would. The aim of the UVP is that it humanizes the brand and the employee both, by taking advantage of social media features to highlight volunteer efforts, a diverse workplace, etc.

• Home Depot – Personalized & Online Brand Presence

Home Depot is a large corporation and you wouldn’t believe the amount of queries they get on their Facebook page. People post about a great deal of things and Home Depot’s social media team works with light speed to answer them, and that too with a dash of personal touch. People love it when they are not treated to robotic-sounding answers, something that Home Depot takes great care to emulate. Even queries regarding job offers are answered straight from their Facebook page. Home Depot shows how even huge companies can go from intimidating to relatable, all thanks to the power and benefits of social HR. the key is to be quick AND keep the people engaged and motivated. It can be a potent and instant way to gauge customer satisfaction rate too, instead of investing in market research or case studies.

• How Surveys can be utilized by a Social HR to help a company grow

Social HR can significantly contribute to a company’s growth. And by growth we don’t mean increased profitability only. Social HR’s use of surveys can help identify strategic capabilities and shortcomings of the firm. They can help with keeping the company hierarchy abreast of organizational developments and offer training opportunities to personnel who most need it. Tomorrow’s leaders can be discovered and nurtured with leadership training programs.

Infographic: jobvite.com

All these benefits are just the tip of the iceberg.

You risk losing out to the competition if your company isn’t taking advantage of social media technologies, such as online acquisition platforms, human resource surveys or professional networking, to attract top talent to your company. So why not go for Social HR today.