The term “social technology” for some reason seems to scare off many employers, who often hesitate to embrace social business adoption simply due to the stigma that the time and effort employees invest in social media are somehow stealing resources (and hours) away from actual “work” – not considering the fact that these two concepts are not, in fact, mutually exclusive.
For those cutting edge organizations who have embraced and implemented social media throughout their enterprise, the fact of the matter is that through harnessing the power inherent to social tools and technologies, the early adopters are already seeing early gains when it comes to employee engagement and improved productivity.
“Work” or not, social seems to be working at work, no matter where in the world of work that work happens to be.
How Social Technologies Drive Employee Engagement.
According to a recent white paper from Aberdeen, the inexorable intertwining of social and enterprise technologies has already impacted the HR function, making business as usual anything but – particularly when it comes to HCM systems.
Aberdeen’s research shows that every recruiting and talent professional should be considering technological solutions to employee engagement within their core HR systems, as well as the features you should be looking for when assessing these technologies for their impact on your people, processes and company culture (click here for the full report).
Social Technology & Employee Engagement: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Of course, not every organization might yet be ready for social technology for the simple reason that these tools can augment, but cannot create or replace, existing organizational initiatives and efforts aimed at increasing employee engagement.
And, like most terms in HR, there seems to be no standard definition or consensus agreement on what, exactly, “employee engagement” or “social technology” really entails, definitions which are more than pedantic.
If we don’t know what we’re trying to achieve, then we’ll never know how to set goals, targets and strategies for improving this critical core competency in the first place.
While there are many definitions out there, the term ‘employee engagement‘ simply describes the relationship an employee has with your company.
This relationship can range from complete engagement, which means that the employee is totally committed and enthusiastic about the work they do, to disengagement, where the employee might be actively hurting productivity by failing to complete work or spreading negativity to others on your staff.
Employee engagement and its importance have gotten a lot of media attention over the past year as companies struggle to find, motivate, and retain the best talent in a strong job market; similarly, there is a lot of focus on social media and its impact on these talent acquisition and management challenges. The two are, really, increasingly two sides of the same coin.
When most of us think of social technology, we think of tools like Facebook or Twitter. However, social technology includes any software tool that can help to form and nurture relationships among people.
That includes internal tools like Slack, Yammer, Skype, etc. that foster open communication among colleagues, as well as tools that enable peer recognition, gamification, and culture-building.
Better Engagement Through Better Technology: 4 Key HCM Considerations.
Aberdeen’s research found that best-in-class organizations are 39% more likely than all others surveyed to describe themselves as active users of social technology.
If you’re looking to use social tools to improve employee engagement in your organization, Aberdeen discusses four additional capabilities that you should be sure are included.
- Communication: Aberdeen reported that nearly 60% of businesses have cited that better communication and collaboration across the organization is a top priority for 2015. By using a social platform employees can connect to each other by sharing knowledge and build camaraderie by celebrating each other’s successes. Management can also keep workers informed about all aspects of the business.
- Recognition: Recognition for good work on an individual level is a key element of employee engagement, even if it’s a non-monetary award that comes with nothing but kind words. With social technology, managers and peers can use the system to acknowledge the work of others through nominations and public posts that can garner “likes” and comments. Recognition helps to give employees a boost of confidence, keeps them engaged with their jobs, sets an example of desirable behavior, and improves teamwork.
- Real-Time Feedback: In the world of Yelp and the ubiquitous 5-star rating system, people want and expect the ability to give and receive real-time feedback. In fact, employees feel more connected to their organization when they are given the opportunity to comment and ask questions of leadership. Aberdeen aptly points out that actively encouraging and soliciting employee feedback through online suggestion boxes or message boards shows workers that their ideas, knowledge, and personal experiences are important, and that the organization will make policy decisions with everyone’s best interests in mind.
- Self-Service: Today you can perform most business functions online without writing or speaking a word to another human being. Employees expect the same level of efficiency and autonomy when it comes to HR processes. They want to be able to use their tablets and phones anytime, anywhere, to gather information and get things done without long email chains and approvals. Any platform you use should eliminate manual processes and increase efficiency rather than adding more work for your employees.
Employee Engagement and Culture Fit: Where Social Technologies Fit In.
In the world of work today, there’s no escaping the profound impact technology is making throughout every part of every organization.
No longer are our systems seen as operational tools or systems of record, but as critical components of every part of the “human” side of the human resources business, having become an inextricable part of our approach to people as well as our processes.
This is particularly true at major multinational or enterprise employers, whose large and geographically dispersed workforces require coordinating projects or teams across multiple locations, or providing some proxy for the lack of proximity and regular interpersonal contact with colleagues and management, executive or otherwise, that’s often an inherent part of working for these kinds of organizations.
Social technologies and software can help such employers facilitate internal relationship building and communications, interpersonal connections between coworkers and colleagues, and open new avenues for collaboration, innovation and the interchange of conversation and ideas which are, largely, the difference between a vibrant, compelling company culture and one that falls flat. Engagement is hard.
Without the right technology, however, it’s becoming increasingly impossible and impractical – and there’s no better tool than social media for creating a killer company culture that’s an employer of choice where engagement isn’t a choice for employees – it’s just how business gets done.
Remember, social media isn’t preventing “real” work from getting done – that is, unless you still haven’t adopted them in your HR function, in which case, the opportunity costs are already costing you big time.
And in today’s cutthroat market for top talent, that’s one cost no organization can really afford in the first place.
About The Author: Jim Hemmer has over 25 years of experience in the high tech and software industries, having served as a senior executive for a variety of different companies, ranging in stages of development from high growth startups to Fortune 500 stalwarts.
Jim is currently the CEO at WorkStride, an employee recognition, rewards and employee incentive/engagement provider committed to improving the world of work through the WorkStride platform, which is positively impacting employee behavior for some of the world’s top employers and biggest brands.
Jim holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Follow Jim on Twitter @JimHemmer or connect with him on LinkedIn.
I will admit it – I am getting old. And sometimes, it is reflected in the way I recruit; You know, with a good ‘ol phone, spreadsheet and a pencil. Yes, I can get recruiting done that way, but it may not be the most efficient anymore. Obviously, since I am the editor for RecrutingTools.com, I am always chasing down the best tech for recruiting but recruiting with Snapchat sounded crazy to me. I have used social for a long time but have really stuck to 
Looking forward into the immediate future of the coming year, a lot of companies are doing a lot of planning, particularly when it comes to their people. This makes sense.
If you’re an entrepreneur who’s actually competitive in today’s cutthroat market for human capital as well as actual cash flow, you already know the difference a single worker can make – and the need to continually ensure that their experience as an employee is highly personalized for them, that they’re seen as a “workforce of one” by HR instead of just another employee or one of the unwashed masses.
Most organizations have come to realize that they’ve got to ensure their business models are flexible enough to evolve along with their employees, and that their policies, processes and programs continue to resonate with the internal stakeholders who matter most.
About the Author: Prithvi Shergill is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer at 
While this Friday’s monthly jobs report (something of a bellwether for labor economists and recruiting geeks everywhere) should paint a rosy picture of an economy at full employment, the global markets’ rollercoaster rides so far in 2016 suggest that the global workforce picture just might not be as truly pretty as it may appear on paper (or in recruitment advertising).
The fact is that correlating outcomes with recruitment marketing investments should be common sense, but is just now becoming en vogue in our industry.
The problem with job ads, of course, is that they must deliver the sort of catchy marketing tagline that movie posters and fast food joints that let consumers have their marketing messaging their way, and for that message to drive some sort of decision in a fairly fixed amount of time.
The major reason why current calls to action in recruitment advertising aren’t being heard is that instead of redirecting to something less salesy or a little more innocuous, like a landing page to “stay in touch about careers,” they point directly to a job description, one that, unfortunately, almost always sits on top of a shitty ATS, ready to scare a job seeker away at manifold moments even if that description is compelling enough to get them to apply in the first place. The problem is, as recruiters know, is 99% of the time, this doesn’t actually lead to qualified candidates.
LinkedIn had 400 million users, but three-quarters of them log in once a month…or less
The LinkedIn Lotto: You Won’t Win
If you’re paying any attention to the deluge of recruiting related content and conferences out there (and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you are), then these past few months, you’ve almost certainly heard the term “CRM” become commoditized to the point of becoming cliché.
And if you think you can actually transform a system of record into a system of engagement, you must be high on the hog. Instead of approaching CRM as an additional feature set or functionality to extend ATS/HCM capabilities, talent organizations who really want to maximize their recruiting technology ROI should instead consider taking the exact opposite approach.
But the reason so many emerging and existing players in HR Technology are moving into the CRM space is that the distinction between a CRM and an ATS isn’t always clear. The resulting confusion means most vendors have to do little more than recode and reskin their existing offering, along with a few slight custom configurations and API calls.
AIRS is an ADP company known for recruiter training and certifications, AIRS Metasearch is a Chrome app, (not to be confused with 
About the Author: Dean Da Costa is a highly experienced and decorated recruiter, sourcer and manager with deep skills and experience in HR, project management, training & process improvement.
It’s always blown my mind that for some reason, you need a license to drive a car, but when it comes to having kids? You don’t need a license. There’s no training course. Planned or unplanned, suddenly you’ve got this sentient human being to take care of, raise and do your best to make sure they’re not a sociopath, serial killer or staffing software sales guy, God forbid.
But what if you’re unlucky enough to have had shitty parents – the kinds who should never have had kids in the first place? Think about Ethan Couch, the kid with “affluenza.” Never has there been a kid whose ass I wanted to kick more. Then, to make matters worse, his Mom is held accountable for his bullshit.
I’ve always found it absolutely fascinating how much emphasis corporate America puts on management and leadership, yet companies that either a) train managers how to manage or b) hold them accountable for team performance, satisfaction and engagement ratings and/or retention are few and far between.
No matter what assessment vendors or org dev consultants might say, there’s no universally accepted or scientifically proven mechanism for predicting proclivity in management, particularly during the hiring process; this is why we are instead forced to rely on 
You can put people through the most rigorous classroom training or leadership development program, but you can’t learn team dynamics from a book or through case studies, management theory or best practices (although these can help individuals better realize their potential, they cannot produce proclivity for leading people or teams, period).
Ryan Leary is COO of RecruitingDaily and is responsible for driving technology and innovation into the recruiting community. Ryan helps create the processes, ideas and innovation that drives the community at RecruitingDaily. He’s our in-house expert for anything related to sourcing, tools or technology. A lead gen and brand buzz building machine, he is the force behind the marketing automation process for some of the industries top fortune brands and some of the most progressive startups in our space.
If the old group member search was a tiger, the new search is a kitty cat. 
And now for the bad news.
It seemed like a strange place to meet up with a Marine Corps Officer to talk about his pending retirement from the military, but I figured that an Irish Pub was as good a spot as any to discuss what has to be one of the more difficult situations you can go through, really.
Even those who do have a good career focus are often unaware about how their counterparts in the private sector are doing things. This not only makes it harder for veteran job seekers to translate their skills, it also makes it harder for them to understand where they “fit” on the private sector totem pole. 
Entering the job search with no clue about the hiring process, no connections and no ability to focus or target their search, too many service members look for that perfect job in all the wrong places – and for many, that first step in their search is by attending a “job fair” targeting veterans – of which there are always a lot of options, which you’d think would be a great sign.
As I wrote above, the single biggest barrier for military job seekers is their complete lack of a professional network or established industry connections – and that, of course, can only be developed, not taught.
These programs are the real key to helping the service member build a network and it’s a tremendous opportunity for your organization to learn more about how to connect with other veterans. Employers should see two primary benefits from these or similar veteran recruiting or hiring programs. 
If you’re like most employers, there’s a good chance that you’re already investing in employer branding by now.
Employee generated content creates a powerful direct communications channel for companies to cut through the corporate copy and careers speak to tell a direct and intermediate story that cuts through the marketing BS and buzzwords to establish a direct, credible perspective on a role, location or business unit within a larger company or brand.
So, how exactly should employers and recruiters go about getting the wealth of employee generated content they need to succeed at employer branding and recruitment marketing success?
Simply put, an employee generated content campaign can be boiled down to something as straightforward as emailing all your existing employees for stories, sitting back and letting all the good stuff collect in your inbox.
If you see an employee generated content project as a one-off―something you just do once and forget about forever―you’re missing out on the point of employee generated: to motivate employees to engage with the brand and 
You know the line “If they build it, they will come” was fiction, right? Complete fiction. I mean, it was Kevin Costner, for crying out loud – and yet for some reason, this still seems to be the mantra of most recruiters out there.
With a great process, a solid platform and engaged managers, you’ve set the stage. But what will you actually ask employees for? You can’t just say, “Send us stories!” and expect to get anything useful.
Collecting all this content is a 
About the Author: James Ellis is a Digital Strategist for TMP Worldwide, the world’s largest recruitment advertising agency.
