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How online communities can play a part in your attraction strategies

One of the morning's headlne speakers at the Social Media in Recruitment Conference 2010, being held at the British Library in London, is Lisa Scales , the founder of TribePad and Talent On View

A few of the highlights from Lisa's presentation follow. Presentations will be available for the delegates via the event website.

Great beginning with Human Being 1.0. Social community was about survival in the Stone Age.

As we moved to the industrial age, business used to be social as business was local. Communication tools did not exist for business to work outside of local area.

But, business got big, went global and the local social element did not scale.

When new comms technologies evolved, business could have two way conversations with their customers. Currently, we have blurred lines between social and business, especially with Social Media sites.

Lisa then showed a nice little film developed to educate the A4E community of 58,000 (to bring people back to work) - on what are social media communities.

Good slide of examples of various communities and technology engines that you can use to build/support communities.

Are the commercial social networks really a community or only a collection of people?

Attracting Talent is not a new Concept
War for talent is still alive and kicking.

What is wrong with old style recruiting? Nothing. All the older media still exist and are being used. New Social Media channels are add-ons.

But what about current recruiting processes? They leave jobseekers cold.

Where do you start to develop a new and better process?
What is the objective?
Where is your Community?
What are you measruiring?

Community Site Examples
Simon Lewis from Only Marketing Jobs

Sodexo - talent community
Microsoft - We Still Serve, a US veterans attrraction community
PSA Healthcare

Unbranded community
XBox, reliability engineers needed after a recall, created a long term community of potential employees for Microsoft - experts all in one place on a LinkedIn group.

Good Do's and Don'ts to close

Top 2 tips:
Don't underestimate the time it will take
Be thorough in the selection of your community platform

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Does your website expose a job search? Great, todays post is to challenge YOU!

What happens if you put a powerful large engine in a smart car?

Typically a bigger engine means faster car. The top of the range super cars have huge engines so surely we can copy this? We can shove one enormous engine into a little smart car to achieve the most wonderful driving experience? Well NO, we all realise that this wont work! Something is going to break, even if you did manage to physically fit the thing, someone is likely to get killed if they climb into that driving seat . The driving experience will be none existant.

Why do you have a job search on your website?

What are your online objectives?

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10 days to go before I get on the big bird to Chicago and then a bus to Madison to join the TruCrew and a great line-up of track leaders  and participants to share knowledge at TruUsa .  I am leading some tracks (Job Board 2020, Culture Clash, JIT Sourcing)  and hope to pile into many others while there.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the future of traditional conferences, the Unconference movement and the more ad hoc ‘conferences' that we have on social media gatherings on Twitter with #hashtags like #TNL. Check out the radio show that Tru co-founder Bill Boorman and I conducted on Tuesday this week on hashtags and a range of Twitter tips from #mrbill

I was one of 3 speakers at a ‘traditional' event today, hosted by Recruitment Consultant Magazine , in Manchester (that is England, not New Hampshire). We ran the same event a couple of weeks ago in London (England, not Ontario) Recruitment Conference IT and Technology 2010 #recconfit2010  You might have seen my exciting effort at breaking the ice with audience in London.

Targert audience for both events was professional recruitment consultants (agencies), along with a smattering of technology suppliers and media types.  

I had the pleasure of leading off with a presentation on Social Media (a recurring theme, as I had the same slot at this conference a year ago). Raymond Pennie (@rpennie) of Kamanchi followed talking about creating effective strategies (with some focus on the impact of technology) and Felix Wetzel (@FelixWetzel) of Jobsite (a major #TruLondon sponsor) discussed candidate and advertiser behaviours (now and future) along with sharing some interesting research

Why do I bring this up when I am supposed to be writing about #TruUsa?  In one word: Engagement

I have spoken at, chaired or led more than 200 conferences, workshops or events over the last 10 years or so.  Which ones have given me the most buzz, the most satisfaction?  Other than Global Recruitment Conference 2008 , which I organised and chaired in Amsterdam, with an outstanding group of global thought leaders and delegates, I have to say that it has been those events where I set up or ran workshops/breakout groups. Why? Because in that environment, you get the engagement of every delegate/attendee - either with you as a session leader or with the others in the room.

In a sense, today confirmed that. We had an excellent group of delegates, professional and committed to their industry and their business, eager to learn from the 3 Talking Heads and the hosts.  All 3 of us tried to engage with the delegates (none of us are what might be considered wallflowers when it comes to speaking to an audience).  We had a few in the audience who were willing to discuss their company, strategy, questions and experiences. Feedback from delegates at the breaks and the post event drinks was excellent, delegates were happy, had learned and gathered real value from the day. The organisers (Jim and Gary) had two successful events and the sponsors/exhibitors did well.  But for Felix, Raymond and I, it felt a bit like an opportunity lost - for the delegates to engage in real debate and discussion with each other throughout the afternoon (although it did happen during the breaks).

That brings me full circle to Engagement - the real essence of an Unconference.  Track leaders start a conversation, hoping to guide it a bit and sometimes act as a referee if required.  The participants in the track drive the discussion/debate -its direction may go places other discussions just cannot reach.  In any session, the engagement of individuals - with each other, with a track leader or two (if we are lucky) is exhilarating.  Learning what challenges others have (Hey, look at me, I'm not so far behind) or successes someone is experiencing (Hey, if he/she can do that, we sure can!) - make it worthwhile flying 4,000 miles and taking a 3 hour bus ride to get to Madison. As it was worth it for the North Americans who flew over for #truLondon.

I can't wait. See you all there - or on video feeds on RCEURO, hashtag #TruUsa, twitter posts @rceuro, @alanwhitford or whatever means we come up with to share the experience.

As #mrbill says, it isn't just about the conference, it is about the conversations that happen for weeks leading up to an event and months afterwards. That is what I call: Engagement.

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Let's be honest with each other for a moment. We all know that's easier said than done, sometimes you just have to keep quiet. Sometimes, you have to bite your lip. It's just easier that way.

But then where does that really get you? In the short term it can make sense, even make life easier, but the reality is, without honesty, in the long term we never really improve.

What if you could ask any question you like and get an honest answer? How much easier would that be when it came to making the right decisions?

If that were the case organisations could create even more authentic and transparent employer brands, based on honest employee feedback and opinions.

Recruiters could manage candidate expectations from the offset, delivering the right candidates for the right reasons.

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"I must engage with iPhone users and not get left behind in the fast moving space of mobile web"

I am pleased to see that I can now go to AppStore and search for Job Board brands and find results. Well done to those who have done something. (We supplied apps for 13 board in the UK)

 

Was it worth while? Well I can share with you that many of our clients have seen a huge growth in mobile user interaction after launching their app. Interestingly, not just in downloads from AppStore but also in users visiting the website from an iPhone. In a couple of cases 2 or 3 times growth - happy clients!

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If you are a recruiter in San Francisco, then the only way that you can still afford to pay $3 a gallon these days to fill up your gas tank, is if you start increasing your placement rate. That’s easier said than done, because you have a growing talent pool (the unfortunately unemployed), and a slow-recovering job market, where other recruiters are fighting to fill the same position. At a time like this some recruiters become extremely creative, which helps them stand out from the crowd.

There are several ways to be creative, our research at HireLabs suggests that if you improve the quality of applicants that you send for the interview, then you increase the placement potential as well as attain a certain level of respect in the eyes of the hiring manager.

Since HireLabs is in the business of creating customized assessments, we tried to see if the assessment industry could lend a hand to recruiters. We asked our research team to conduct a small experiment:

We selected a company in pharmaceuticals and asked them to provide us the names of three of their preferred recruiters (let’s call them Recruiters A, B, and C). Then we  developed a customized pre-employment test, taking into consideration the JD for the position of Plant Operations Manager, and gave the this test to Recruiter A’s candidates.

Recruiter A selected 2 candidates who passed the test, and presented them to the company for an interview. Recruiter B and C passed on 3 candidates each (untested) to the hiring manager. After several interview rounds, there are 3 candidates that have made it to the final round, and it was not surprising to learn that 2 of the 3 have been presented by Recruiter A. We will know by the end of February as to who got the job.

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There are too many useless and rubbish recruitment websites- we need a mass purge or mass redesign!

Does your site look as old as the Ark?
Does it confuse users, making them think hard to do anything?
Are you getting any return from your website?

These are the questions I asked myself when I was reviewing a number of Recruitment Agency websites this week. One of our current projects is redesigning a highly successful recruitment agency's website. The agency in question has been online with a good site since the 90's. However the competing agency websites revealed a number of shockers!

Once again I was reminded of the level of rubbish out there! I know it is harsh, but it is true!

The Rec Con website is a representation of the business. It will affect how the business is viewed. What does your website say about you..?

This bunch are professional
Or
This lot are cowboys

These people work with all the cool companies
Or
Do these guys even have any jobs?!

This company is friendly and approachable
Or
I am not calling this lot, they already scare me

Please go and have a look at your site. Consider the following...

1. Is it up to date looking? You would not run an advert that looked like it was from the 70's so don't run a website stuck in the 90's. (I know this is fashion etc. but your website is your greatest marketing tool)

2. What are the objectives of having your site? Does it fulfill them? If you want candidates to apply is it easy for them; are there jobs or roles to apply for?

3. Is it easy to use, well signposted? Can people get what they want quickly? So many sites have confusing navigation, search tools that are over complex for 100 jobs, with pointless distracting features. Are you guilty of running such a beast?

4. Does it successfully communicate your company values?

5. Does it work on a mobile phone? Mobile browsing is growing; how do you stack up?

I hope this helped. I am working on a checklist to help Rec Cons score their sites and identify the flaws. If you have any feedback I would welcome it. You can tweet me at @topbananas

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Sitting in the back of the room of about 400 delegates for the Enhance Media annual conference looking at the future of recruitment.  Excellent speaker line up as we move into the afternoon sessions.

Intersting that this year there are probably about 50+ twitterers on the stream: #emconf2010. Last year there were 6 of us.  

We will cover the individual presentations in more detail over the next few days.

The Lineup:

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Wow, less than 4 weeks to go and the Bill Boorman phenomena takes on its latest iteration with TruLondon II and TruSource 17-19 February.

Inspired by RecruitFest in Toronto last year, Bill has grasped the Unconference model with both hands and taken it into places and worlds unknown. We have all gratefully jumped on board, giving us a chance to share knowledge and learning with colleagues and strangers on a level playing field.

No more are we seen as just 'talking heads', but as session Track Leaders. But. to me, even that is a misnomer. We are active participants, learning as much as we teach.

The only downside? I want to sit in on every session, itch to put in my $.02 with other leaders, learn from the delegates, ask them what they really want to see happen in recruitment and share in their triumphs as well as sympathise with their disappointments.

What will I be doing?
Talking about Job Boards 2020 with long time collaborator Keith Robinson and online marketing expert Simon Lewis.

Looking at the Cultural Clash of cross border recruitment (as a Yank abroad for over 30 years, I have experienced this first hand in many countries) with Brit Jon Ingham, American Laurie Reuttimann, Canadian Geoff Webb and Dee Allan from Singapore.

Discussing Bill Boorman's pet topic (one of many), Phoenix Recruiting with blogger and thinker extraordinaire, Andy Headworth.

Linking up with Shane McClusker to explore my own Talent Puddle principle; hoping to extend and question this concept.

Oh, and while this is going on, RCEURO will be there to conduct interviews, report on the action, broadcast online radio with our European Thought Leaders track and the Bill Boorman shows.

Come one, come all and enjoy a great three days. Click for Registration:

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Geoff Webb from Toronto, Radical Recruiter and session leader at TruLondon I in November has added to his many outlets with Tru Blogs , which should grow to include content from many of the proposed Tru events, including Tru London II in London in February and possible Tru North and Tru USA.

Spreading the gospel of Bill Boorman and many many thought leaders in all aspects of recruitment from around the world.

RCEuro.com is happy to be a sponsor of the London series and I am personally looking forward to travelling to North America (back near my roots of upstate NY, only 85 miles or so from Torornto) to share learning and knowledge with so many individuals I have met on Twitter and the various recruitment blogs.

Geoff has just posted a terrific wrap up video from TruLondon I, with original content, video from Andy and Sarah Headworth and stills from our onsite reporter, twitterer and all around good egg, Jill Elswick, which you can watch from the Audio/Video player on the home page.

 

 

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Last week at the Recruitment Unconference I listened to a number of large recruitment agency firms and various industry experts discuss the impact of Social Recruitment.

One camp felt that the Job Boards of today will be killed off by agencies and HR; sourcing directly via Social Networks.

Some worried that the recruitment agency would be killed off in 10 years when today's teenagers join tomorrow's HR, with their wide digital networks nurtured over the years.

There were examples of agencies cutting 100% of job board spend! Where are the candidates coming from?- From their website via Twitter or Linked In.

Before we rush our attention to killer tactics of social recruiting to save thousands of pounds, I would like to consider the following framing points...

1. Social recruitment is very young. The social web evolution is in its early phases. Those early birds are, in some cases delivering strong results, but will this success remain feasible as the marketplace gets more crowded? How will it scale? Will it infringe privacy and be reined in by legislation?

2 Every new thing is always going to kill the last thing, according to media hype! But does it, or does the hyped frenzy just promote the killing? If the job boards embrace social media, it could become their best friend since Google, instead of the executioner. (Just as Google was a serious threat back in 2000)

3. The last major digital recruitment revolution - the online job board - delivered the CV database, which has created a volume of monstrous recruitment agencies. The volume of consultants that just forward CVs straight from a database as a "punt" is staggeringly high. The service level has suffered- no screening, no client relationship, no candidate relationship. Will social recruiting improve the situation or build on an ever-increasing bad named industry?

One thing is for sure, social networks are here to stay, even if the platforms change (Friends Reunited, MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Twitter).  Any network of people will attract recruiters.

So what are you doing with Twitter or Linked In?

What would you like to see job boards doing?

What can we help you with as an online recruitment technology expert?

P.S.
Further listening (not reading!) check out http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bill-boorman/2009/11/30/job-boards--rip-uk-show to listen to myself, @SiteAdvisor, @RCEURO and the host @BillBoorman chat about the future of job boards.

 Sourced from: http://www.allthetopbananas.com/Blogs/Dave/post/2009/11/Will-Social-Networks-kill-off-the-Job-Board.aspx

 

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So my second blog entry was going to be about Google Wave (don't worry folks - it's already written and you'll get it soon enough!) but I read a great post last week on Twitter and decided to change tack.

@grahamsalisbury wrote:
"I am beginning to regard online job boards with the same degree of suspicion that I normally reserve for Wikipedia"

I couldn't help but smile! I've been in the same job for nearly five years now, working as a recruiter, and I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to be a job seeker until recently. I shan't bore you with the gory details, but basically my employer has had to cut my hours due to the recession and so I've had to look for additional employment to supplement my income and keep Mr J in PlayStation 3 games (I know, I know...!) Anyway, the employment issue is resolved (temporarily at least) and I was lucky enough to not be looking too long, but this was my first time as a job seeker in some time and it was really quite humbling!

Last time I was job hunting, local papers were still reasonably en vogue and, while job boards were very much in the picture, there seemed to be just the one or two big names that were worth a visit. But how things have changed now! Now my local papers are all affiliated with (different) jobs boards, there are niche boards popping up all over the place and (maybe it's just me, but) there seem to be even more ‘big name' boards too! Now I've no problem really with the number of job boards in existence; as a recruiter I've advertised on plenty in the past (with mixed results!), but what I did find particularly annoying was the way the same jobs were duplicated over and over on all of them.

Some employers were guilty, but it was mostly the agencies with the multiple postings. And you can bet your bottom dollar half those posting were out of date too.  Job hunting is a drain at the best of times, but I felt as though whole evenings were just vanishing into a black hole!

Other than spending half my life trawling the internet for vaguely relevant and still current job vacancies, my biggest quandary was which jobs to apply for. The current market means that most of the jobs I liked the look of didn't pay the kind of salary I was used to getting (and in my part of the world, salaries aren't really that great anyway). You work hard to get to where you are and no-one wants to take a step backwards, but at what point do you put your pride aside and say that some income is better than no income? I've always said (rather arrogantly) that there's no reason for me to ever be unemployed - there is always the counter at McDonalds or the checkout at Tesco. But that's really not true any more; even these entry level jobs have people queuing to apply because some income is better than no income. And there you have it! Who would employ me; a somewhat overqualified candidate with no recent retail experience, over someone who's been made redundant from Thresher or Woolworths who is far more relevant?! But how do you decide what's worth the effort? Do you apply for anything and everything and hope that something sticks, or do you do what you'd normally do (if jobs weren't so fiercely fought over) and stay targeted and focussed, even though there are less relevant positions to apply for? It's so difficult to decide. It's easy to judge people who apply for jobs they're totally over qualified for, but the reality is that many people are not in a situation where they can support themselves and their families with no income.  

Though I didn't apply for that many positions in the end, I got not one reply saying thanks but no thanks. These were applications directly to employers rather than through agencies and the funny thing was that this neither surprised nor bothered me. And that made me feel a bit sad. When did such disrespectful behaviour start becoming so universally acceptable?!
Unfortunately I don't have the answers to these problems, but I did want to share my experiences. It's a tough market out there and, as recruiters, it's easy for us to get caught up in our work and forget that we're dealing with real people: They have feelings, families and responsibilities just like us, and they are trying to doing their best. We can all show a little more compassion. Put yourself in the jobseekers shoes for a few minutes and ask yourself how you'd feel.  

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 Last week was the UK’s first recruitment unconference and it was certainly an interesting event. I was working the Social Media Track with @mattalder and@carveconsulting. Anyone who knows Matt and Paul will know how knowledgeable both are when it comes to social media; I cannot tell you how much I learned from them throughout the day!

Matt and Paul know all about using social media in business but me, I don’t know anything much about that really. I work in the construction industry and, as emaciated as the industry is, you don’t find that many candidates or clients from my little niche working the social networks. I use social media for me; my personal development and networking. I don’t know anything much about posting jobs, using boolean searches for finding candidates on LinkedIn, or monitoring my company’s brand because that’s not how I use it, so I didn’t feel as though I had an awful lot to contribute on that front. I’m more about personal branding and interaction, so I was a little sad that everyone was more interested in the corporate stuff. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised though really; these are tough times for recruiters and social media is a fairly new tool for a lot of people. Me, I’m a bit of a geek – I’ve been making friends and networking online since my mid-teens and the days of ICQ, IRC and forums.

Social media for personal use is something we all need to be aware of and work smarter at though. The benefits are endless but the two major ones are, in my opinion, personal development and networking.

Personal Development

We all have different work ethics, operate in different industries and have different training. Sharing our experiences and opinions, be it through blogs, tweets, emails or in person, is enlightening! We can learn something from everyone in our network and I think the unconference really highlighted that: There were all sorts of unique ways that companies and individuals were using social media, all sorts of tools that people were using to monitor their brand, and a variety of positive and negative experiences that people had had which we could all learn something from. I’m not going to list them all here; go to the next unconference in February and see for yourself! I didn’t get to visit any other tracks (apart from the secret track at the end!) but I still came away with a couple pages of notes, so I can only imagine what those who had a chance to move about learned!

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What the hell is an Unconference? Is Unconference even a real word? The organiser @BillBoorman told me it was a conference where the audience participated and set the agenda. I was not really sure how that would work, but I felt that hearing what other people wanted to talk about was going to be very interesting.

The event was informal, yet structured, with 6 or so small breakout sessions for attendees to sit down and join.  In the first one I found myself on a white leather sofa making up a large square with about 20 other people and @MattAlder running the discussion, mainly around LinkedIn and Twitter. Each individual was encouraged to talk, question, debate or state what he or she felt suitable. Matt encouraged and answered questions but others with experience engaged frequently.

This informal approach was refreshing and resulted in me taking away an insight into 20 different people’s views, opinions and experience surrounding Twitter and recruitment. Additionally I learnt people’s fears, hopes and frustrations. It was a fantastic 90 minutes! Thank you to everyone in the session for your participation; I enjoyed it!

I sat in 3 different track sessions; the last session I was in was great, unfortunately there were fewer people- only 6, with @AlanWhitford running it. The conversation was honest and debate reasonably fierce. Very enjoyable and rewarding.

The downside was the middle session. The expert running it was very knowledgeable, and the shared interesting experience. But it was not UN-conference. There was little or no debate, the topic was less audience-lead. I feel some guidelines to those running the sessions would help, @MattAlder’s technique going round the room with many tangents and discussions after each individual spoke worked great. @AlanWhitford’s session was smaller and he did really well pinpointing topics to individual’s experiences to drive more conversation.

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I had a wonderful day yesterday and at the end of it meet with some old friends from a mid sized HR communications Agency (has to remain nameless as does the client at present). Sitting with them late PM with my cup of tea and they said to me "take a look at this report we have just done". I picked it up and it was headed "Views and Opinions from the Social World" it was a report they had produced for a client and it was all about them as an employer.

Holy ....was my immediate response, as those that follow some of my stuff know for  me "listening" is a passion and is in my opinion going to be a big part of the Employer Branding future. It's the new Black.

So I read the report and it was excellent, they had used a professional "listening" device ( more in a future blog) had used all the appropriate search words/terms including ; Careers, Work at, Jobs at, What's it's like plus any negative terms plus many more and then "listened" to what was being said about them.

Lots of data, time lines, high and low "buzz periods" (great for tracking what other "activity" might have created the buzz) and over a defined period. You could analysis by period, by channel e.g. a blog, a social medium etc and most inportantly,  what was said and by whom, when and where.

Blown away, but then maybe I am  just getting old and all organisations are doing this and I just have missed it.

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On behalf of RCEuro, I would like to congratulate industry thought leader Matt Alder on the launch of his new business consultancy, MetaShift,  a strategic consultancy which works at the cutting edge of the Recruitment and HR industries. Matt announced the new direction in his life in his blog Recruiting Futurology , which we are streaming on our home page.

We are featuring the the Recruiting Unconference video about Matt in our Audio and Video Player.

 

 

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 This article appeared on Staffing Industry Analyst and dovetails neatly into my last blog about "social recruiting" diversity and some future legal perils for recruiters.

Given social is normally a very "visual" experience would this mean therefore that in France using social media as part of any recruiting strategy would be prohibited? Would love one of our French community members to share with us their opinions on the  implications of this and, will this be acted on or ignored.

BUT if this and the other issues raised gather pace will be see the death of social media as a recruiting channel?

 The article highlights the fact that "50 French companies and local governments have agreed to take part in the French government's testing of recruitment via anonymous CVs in order to prevent racism, ageism and other prejudices".

But what I found facinating was this comment "the anonymous CV is designed to open the door for job seekers. It can therefore only be regarded as a first step in the recruitment process. Information such as names, age, sex, date and place of birth, nationality, marital status and photographs are banned in order to avoid prejudicial reactions".

What suprised me even more was that this was already a legal requirement. But as the article states "even though the French parliament made the anonymous CV a legal requirement more than three years ago, it has never been enforced. Management has been remarkably reluctant to promote this way of recruitment and the government took the view that voluntary participation by companies is far more sensible than enforced recruitment by anonymous CV".

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A few weeks ago I talked about a significant increase in job advertisements, suggesting we are starting the climb of recovery, out of recession.

At the start of last week we were told our economy is still contracting as we remain in the record breaking recession. Surprisingly, the FTSE did not buckle at the news.

At the end of last week and start of this week there are reports telling us the property market is growing for the first time in 19 months, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/house-prices-record-first-annual-rise-in-19-months-1812311.html

I feel we are definitely on the road of recovery, a brief look in Google News this morning agrees....

US company launching in Europe (and UK) creating 8,000 jobs - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1223730/Best-Buy-looks-8-000-staff-massive-recruitment-drive.html

New Zealand report showing similar analysis to Allthetopbananas.com job advert analysis, showing growth in the recruitment market - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10606831

UK Infrastructure jobs growing and banks lending to big projects -  http://news.efinancialcareers.co.uk/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-22051

Abu Dhabi witnesses increased recruitment rates -  http://gulfnews.com/business/general/jobs-abu-dhabi-witnesses-increased-recruitment-rate-1.521604

As it is the first week in November we will be analysing the job advertisement data for October. I expect to reveal a positive headline showing continued recruitment improvement.

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 Workforce Management a US magazine ran an article which has raises an interesting issue for those who have a passion for using social media to recruit and check candidates.

The driving force of the article is the potential discriminatory nature in networking sites and the fact that this may leave the recruiter at peril.

The article comments "According to the latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic" the article goes on to say "Sourcing from professional network sites such as LinkedIn carries a risk that the method could be challenged on discrimination grounds. It represents a hiring pool that is not open to the general population. Using a limited network may have a disparate impact. If hiring through these networks can be challenged, it will be."

Now in an ever legislative UK recruitment sector which is mirrored in Europe and the whole debate over "diversity" are we likely to see our own first case for discrimination by an organisation using a social media channel and what are the implications for our huge spending (on recruitment) public sector?

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Revelation - Your Employer Brand Is No Longer Owned by Your Firm

This is the headline from a piece written by Dr.John Sullivan at ERE In it, he admits that "Despite many successes, it's time to admit that a major employer branding principle is no longer true: that corporations can own or control their employer brand image".

He adds "the premise was that corporations could proactively put together a plan to win awards as excellent places to work, secure mention in news pieces and editorials, participate in case studies, and be talked about at industry events. Because corporations were coordinating nearly all of the information that made them visible, it was possible to heavily influence how they were perceived".

At the heart of his article he suggests "it was a practice that made firms like Google, Starbucks, GE, IBM, Microsoft, and HP famous as great places to work. However, that was then and this is now."

Dr Sullivan's article focuses on the issue that technology is now empowering/allowing all of us to comment on all things relating work, employment, job seeking etc . With "opinion sharing sites" like Glassdoor.com, Vault and others whose business model is to encourage us to post comments about the organisations/people we work for and they allow others to see our reviews is it hardly surprising that the company has lost control of the message.

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