Brave New World of Recruiting

The evolution and advancing penetration of internet jobsites is a clear indicator that technology is playing an increasingly important role in reshaping the face of recruitment. With every passing year, new applications are developed that have a significant impact on HR. What are the latest trends in online recruiting and what are their implications for HR?

The internet is becoming an increasingly social place and we are witnessing a process of change where the online environment has become an integral community woven into the social fabric that connects people. Whereas baby-boomers tended to use the internet like a giant encyclopaedia, today’s young professionals use it to cultivate their social relationships. It has reached the stage where millions of people conduct many of the essential elements of their lives online.

In the last few years, it is becoming increasingly clear that the social networking elements and the development of online communities are one of the core strengths of what the internet can deliver. Social networking sites such as Facebook are the prime example. However, even content sharing sites such as YouTube, and even Wikipedia, demonstrate the power and value of online communities. The professional networking sites are an extension of this process and this movement is the preamble for the possibilities new online applications can deliver to the HR sector.

The first online job placement sites were essentially online boards with pictures of people. One of the problems with rudimentary job sites is that the quality of data fueling the process can be poor. In some cases, the candidate has either embellished the resumé or the resumé is treated as all things being equal – where all words, whether they be key competencies or passing personal interests, are weighted with equal importance by recruitment systems.

The first quantum leap in HR afforded by the evolution of online technologies was the development of online recruitment and processes for matching the ideal candidate with the right company. The internet created the opportunity to connect job seekers and employers in ways that weren’t previously possible. Although the first generation of job sites were a major innovation, they were simply laying the foundations for supplying systems and processes that have the potential to revolutionise how the HR sector operates and it is becoming increasingly clear that the traditional model of using resumés and online job boards will be turned on its head over coming years.

The next wave in the revolution is going to be putting people online within a framework of referenced information and within a community context. With the evolution of professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, we are moving towards a time when virtually every professional will have their credentials on the internet. Individuals can signal what they are interested in and capable of doing and companies can be equipped with valuable information to assist in the recruitment process.

Today, with the matching-based services that are drawing people together, it is possible to get much more accurate results. We have reached a point now where the standard resumé is going to be replaced with systems that are far more efficient and, ultimately, will save companies a lot of money and job seekers a lot of time. It will supply employers with better information and provide the jobseeker more of what they want.

While internet-based social networking mechanisms are now well established through websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, invite-only networking sites represent a single networking process that require an invitation to join the links in the network. In the context of professional networks, there are high volumes of connections that can be made without necessarily relying on naturally occurring direct connections between individuals to be of value in the recruitment process.

As developments in online recruitment continue and different job sites develop new features, the big question is how are social networking sites going to fit into recruitment? We are in a period of experimentation for how the HR process can integrate and utilise the opportunities of online networking systems.

Google is currently working on a new software process that will attempt to draw the links between people across all social networking sites. The project has been dubbed the social graph API and is the natural next step for inter-weaving the social fabric of the internet. It makes information about the public connections between people on the web more readily available so individuals don’t need to rely on friends to make introductions; it provides a process whereby natural affiliations can be fostered.

Organisations are placing an increasing amount of importance on job fit and alignment, however, in many organisations, there are several layers that can prevent information around job alignment flowing. Inefficiencies in the information flow between the hiring manager, the HR department and the recruitment agency may mean information that can affect the quality of the outcome is lost. Systems that can implement efficiencies to minimise information loss in the way jobs are described and candidates are matched can add value to the bottom line.

One traditional solution is to use filtering software that discards large numbers of resumés. It is a process based on attracting large numbers of applicants and filtering out 99.5 per cent of the resumés. New technologies are more focused on finding the right candidate in the first place. Besides the short-term efficiencies in the HR process, there is a long-term payoff for getting the recruitment process right the first time. Often employees resign and move on because they were a poor fit for a company or a role in the first place. Correctly matching individuals to positions can mean they will remain with an organisation for longer and ultimately yield significant cost savings to companies by lowering recruitment costs.

However, the next wave of online systems that helps deliver greater efficiencies in HR matching leverages the possibilities of the internet in entirely new ways for the HR sector. By integrating profiling processes with online interactivity, online profiling software can be used to provide data and feedback for organisations in their HR decision making.

The Integrities and Values profiling system offered by Nesso delivers data on applicants suitability for particular roles that can be critical for ensuring the ideal candidate is identified for the job. The Team Management Systems (TMS) profile helps to optimise team performance by ensuring that all the key areas of task development are evenly distributed within a team environment. TMS measures peoples work types and work preferences, and analyses how individuals form as teams and how to achieve optimum results from the team members available.

The TMS delivers direct value in two ways:

1.    By supplying feedback to the individuals to help them understand their role, their strengths and areas where they can identify opportunities for improvement.

2.    By delivering greater efficiency to the overall output of the team.

The direct advantages of achieving these outcomes are that costs are lowered through the reduced turnover of team members and return on HR investment is increased through the greater output generated by the increased efficiency of the team. This represents a valuable investment in the future by capitalising on the opportunities online HR systems now offer, and characterises the next wave of internet-based software applications developed specifically for the HR sector.