Your CEO Is More Likely to See Social Media as a Tool in Hiring Than Marketing

By Jessica Miller-Merrell 

Your company’s CEO may not spend her day Tweeting or check Instagram during her daily commute, but chances are, she sees it as a highly valuable tool in hiring at your company. In fact, it’s likely that she even places it above marketing materials and your company’s website. That’s what a recent study by Universum revealed after they talked with CEOs, HR and recruitment managers and marketing managers and directors. When asked how important social media was in employment branding, thirty-eight percent of recruiters and HR professionals said that social media was extremely important, followed by 35 percent of CEOs and surprisingly, only 31 percent of marketing managers.

What the numbers mean

As a social recruiting advocate, I find the numbers both encouraging and somewhat lacking. The fact that more than one-third of CEOs see social media as the most important channel for employment branding is huge! I can remember the days of fighting an uphill battle many years ago as I tried to incorporate social into my hiring strategy. Today, many recognize its value. While we obviously have a long way to go, I revel in the fact that we’ve come a long way.

On the other hand, it’s discouraging to see that less than half of recruitment and HR managers don’t see it as the most important channel. Social is where the most innovative, and arguably successful, recruiting has occurred in the last several years and it’s here to stay. Recruiters must realize that this is where candidates are engaging, so we’ve got to meet them there. However disappointing this number might be, it is understandable. Recruiters are not spending their time focusing on employment branding but instead on simply finding qualified candidates. Building your employment brand on social is a worthwhile investment, but an investment many don’t feel they have the time, resources or skill for.

In the case of less than a third of marketing managers and directors seeing social media as the most important channel for employment branding, I think there’s a disconnect occurring. In the same way that many recruiters aren’t equipped to develop a robust employment brand, many marketers don’t know why a robust employment brand is important. They can market products and services, but they’ve never been recruiters. So while they may see social as a vital part of their overall marketing strategy, they may not understand how an employment branding campaign can fit in that strategy.

Moving forward

There are a few ongoing struggles that occur between recruiting teams, executives and marketing professionals that contribute to the confusion of what works, what’s worth the time and what’s a passing fad. However, I think the strongest position for all to take is to become collaborative, each party learning from the others. We as recruiters need to understand marketing strategy and social tactics better, CEOs need to understand the value of today’s tools and marketers need a glimpse into the recruiting world. I believe that with a better understanding of all these concepts, recruiters will have the room to work creatively and be supported by their organization, both in spirit a

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She's the Chief Blogger and Founder of Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter at @jmillermerell.

Talent Is Top of Mind To Every CEO Today

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

Everywhere I turn, the topic of recruiting, training and retaining employees and talent is buzzing louder than a bumblebee in spring. The skill gap and need for talent is the key component of many of the keynote talks and panel discussions from the conference circuit and from the one-on-one conversations. Open any magazine that covers business and the economy such as Fortune, Forbes and Harvard Business Review and you will find articles, resources and studies discussing how development, engagement and hiring can impact business in both a positive and negative way.

I recently wrote about the future of recruitment and trends and shared that 30% of CEOs say there is a concern they will not have the necessary talent to fulfill their future growth ambitions.

With all of the conversations about the need for talent for companies to succeed, sadly, there is little mention of the role that HR and recruiting actually plays.

Why is that? Even after all these years, it seems like the role of HR and recruiters as valuable business partners seems to be in question, and that’s more than extremely frustrating.

We’ve examined the needs of Blogging4Jobs readership and have found some important statistics that are relevant to the success of all levels ranging from human resources, operations, recruitment agencies and vendors. Why? Because if the CEO ain’t happy about HR then we all need to be working together to represent the industry as high performance leaders. Here are some important stats that we as an industry need to recognize so that as professionals, perhaps we can work together and earn that seat at the table.



HR: We Have a Problem

77% of more than 2500 business and HR leaders in 94 countries share that the single biggest challenge they are faced with is “reskilling” the HR function, according to the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2014 report. This report also states a staggering minority of HR leaders, have confidence that their teams have the skills needed to meet the challenge of today’s global environment and deliver innovative programs that drive business impact. One third of HR leaders claim that their own HR and talent programs are just “getting by.”

Our Brand is Marketing’s Problem - NOT

Less than one half employees do not know what differentiates their employer’s brand from the competition, according to the Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report. A company’s brand should be that human piece that brings employees and their values together, leading to increased connection, morale and loyalty. Are you leaving the responsibility of your company brand in the Marketing silo? It may be costing your company talent.

Disengaged Employees are Expensive

50% of workers are not engaged in their work and this is expensive, costing U.S. businesses $450 billion to $550 billion per year, according the Gallup report. When workers are engaged and emotionally connected, they are up to four times more productive that disengaged employees. Are you making the business case to show your boss that you need those team building morale boosters?

It is clear that HR and recruitment leadership is critical to develop and manage the talent that is required for companies to succeed. Hopefully, some of these statistics can help you by becoming aware of the industry’s need for leaders.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She’s is the Chief Blogger & Founder of Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @jmillermerrell.