Category Archives: HR Vendors and Technology

Check out this hangout with the @Gozaik team discussing the new Twitter Resume and Job Posting product Gozaik

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gozaikA few weeks ago I came across a new product for both sides of the hiring line – job seekers looking to find jobs and connect with recruiters online and for the recruiter and companies looking for prime candidates! I’m talking about a new kind of Google filtering within Twitter that narrows the job search for the above mentioned folks.

I immediately connected with the founder Joe Budzienski and asked if he would join me in a hangout to discuss it further, which we did. Here is the recording – it’s only around 30 mins!

I love anything that has to do with social and new technology! Check out the cool ways this is going to help you as Employers, Recruiters and Hiring Managers:

Promote Your Job Tweets

  • Gozaik job search displays job tweets to job seekers. Sign up now to validate your Twitter handle and drive more traffic to your Twitter job posts.

Search Candidates (COMING SOON!)

  • Identify active job seekers that meet your criteria. Review rich multimedia resumes. Watch video introductions.

Spot Trending Talent (COMING SOON!)

  • We spotlight ‘trending’ job seekers. Individuals with the most activity trend within your dashboard, highlighting job seekers you may be interested in.

Tweet Job Announcements (COMING SOON!)

  • Increase your job tweet response by delivering your job announcements through our ‘Job Announcement’ service. We structure tweets to optimize candidate response.

If you’re a job seeker or someone wanting to hire the best talent – do yourself a favor and check out Gozaik. Make sure to connect with them online. Get in on the ground floor!

 

Review and Demo of @SlideKlowd – a Game-changer app for Events, Conferences and Training

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slideklowd

I’m on vacation in sunny California so I thought I would pull a few of my favorites from the archives. Check these folks out. 

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You never know who you’re going to connect with on the Twitters.

Back a few months I had tweeted a post in regard to me preparing for my SHRM Work/Flex presentation and happened to mention my Powerpoint. I received a follow from @SlideKlowd and checked into who they were – as I often do before simply clicking the ole “follow” button.

Upon my investigation I found out more about their amazing mobile and desktop app that allows greater engagement between presenters and their audiences whether it’s at conferences or events, online hangouts or training. I was so excited about the possibility of doing away with “the way we’ve always done it” and having to fill out those paper surveys after a conference session or keynote, for one. Secondly, I see how this can tremendously affect the way we communicate and present future events and / or training for HR and beyond.

Just think about the possibilities of having real-time engagement with your audience and being able to walk away with REAL data. I guess it could be terrifying to presenters who are boring and those who can’t engage an audience and the like.

My next step was to follow them back online and hear more about their product and services so I did just that. I was hoping to use SlideKlowd at my presentation in October but it was cutting it short.

I sat in with my new-found connection > Justin Foster, one of the founders of SlideKlowd, in a private one-on-one Webinar to share more about what they offered and I fell head over hills with this product. I like it so much, in fact, that I told several of my HR buds about it and scheduled a Google+ hangout for Justin to present the demo to them.

hangout with SlideKlowd

Here is the hangout >

Thanks Justin, for a superb job and for the fantastic job you guys are doing at creating a greater way to drive engagement.

Oh, you’ll want to check them out at SlideKlowd.com and connect with them on Facebook and Twitter. I can’t recommend them enough.

Here is their latest video introduction.

Finally an App to gauge Employee Morale

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morale.meWe’ve heard for several years now that employee morale is at an all-time low due to cut backs, cramming more work on our existing employees and employees are all like “I just want to be heard. This place sucketh.”

Unfortunately, we’ve been thinking that a $5.00 gift card was the answer to all of our problems (How’s that working for ya?). Let’s face it, giving your employees a gift card to Target or KFC isn’t the end all to your dilemma. We are insane to think that if we keep doing the same thing over and over one day it is bound to work. It’s not – it’s just not.

Smart folks are consistently looking for the best ways to solve problems especially in the way of technology. I love keeping these alerts on my radar so I can share them with you when I come across them.

One of my online connections Joel Cheesman, who I met a few years back at the Talentnet Conference in our fine city of Chicago, announced this past March a new tool for helping HR (among other managers) gauge employee morale by his new mobile app morale.me. Joel has been in the Recruiting/HR space for a zillion years and knows the ins and outs. He understands that this has been a real issue with getting crucial feedback and his new app is genius.

hangout with joel cheesman

In fact, I hit Joel up on Facebook and asked  if he would join me in a Google+ hangout to discuss employee engagement,  morale and his new app morale.me.

Here is the recording from the Hangout, in case you missed it (and I’m pretty sure you did).

I can’t wait to hear how this app explodes into our workplaces and changes our levels of engagement. After all, who doesn’t want to be heard and to know that somebody gives a crap about how they are feeling at work?

Now, hop on over to morale.me and check em out.

Managing Social Media while Recruiting – Is it possible?

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Here is a great post I came across this past week by my online friend Bill Vick from his site where he dives into using social media as a tool in recruiting and social networking. He puts out some great content and I’d like to share this video interview he did with Leslie Mason of the recruiting team Intuit. You can find the original post HERE!

The most frequent comment I hear from recruiters when we talk about social media is that it takes too much time… they are super busy finding candidates and filling reqs and don’t have 2 -3 hours a day to spend on social channels, updating their statuses and broadcasting information. While I agree that it takes a bit of time up front, once you have all your social profiles completed you really only need to spend 30 minutes a day monitoring and updating them.  I am a big believer in automating whenever possible and have found some great tools to help me navigate the social media waters.

First get all your profiles “social ready” especially your LinkedIn profile.  Make it easy for candidates to find you, have your LI Profile completely updated.  Make sure you are an open networker and your profile clearly spells out what you are recruiting for, what industries, etc. and how to contact you so candidates can find you.  I also use a one click LinkedIn invitation and post that on my profile so people will connect with me.  A friend of mine, Stacy Zapar, figured out a way to do it.  Here’s her article with instructions: http://www.stacyzapar.com/2010/12/how-to-be-linkedin-pro-create-one-click.html.

My favorite tool and secret weapon is the Bitly Bundle!  Keep all your current job openings in a bitly bundle and post it on your LinkedIn profile at the top of your summary.  You can tweet and post to Facebook directly from the bitly bundle.  I socialize my bundle every Friday so people can review my job openings over the weekend. It’s quick and easy and only takes one click.  Bitly also tracks analytics and creates a QR code for your jobs… very cool.

Some quick ways to automate are to follow blogs and online papers like Mashable, TechCrunch, Fortune, VentureBeat, INC.com, Wired, Engadget, etc.  Then use RSS feeds to Google Reader or Outlook.  You can quickly scan and click on interesting articles and then use a tool like Buffer App to schedule sharing via Twitter, LinkedIn and FB.  This is a free tool that allows you to schedule up to 10 articles at specified times each day.

HootSuite or TweetDeck are great tools to manage social feeds.  I use HootSuite and have linked it with my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Feeds.  I have tabs for each stream and can schedule posts to all of these networks, multiple times.  Bullhorn Reach is also a free service to automate job postings; it will send your jobs out to your specified networks at specified times.

People are visual… we find that candidates today want to see what it would be like to work with potential employers.  A great way to show your company’s culture is with Pinterest.  You can create Community Boards with pictures of your campus and candid pictures of employees having fun at work as well as videos from the hiring managers.  This gives candidates a peek behind the curtain, into your organization.

Remember the first rule of social is to build relationships!  We are not out there to be a job board aggregator.  Become a subject matter expert in your area… follow thought leaders, engage with them, comment on and share their articles.  You never know…one day you may get an invitation from Bill Vick to be interviewed.

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Make sure to connect with both of these fine folks online – there’s great learning coming your way when you do.

Glassdoor’s New Social Recruiting Tools for Hiring and Employment Branding

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glassdoor logoI love discussing new technology especially as it relates to the world of work.

Just this week one of my favorite’s Glassdoor added some snazzy services to aid companies in their Employment Branding and Recruiting efforts with their Self Service Online Employer Center. These are FREE tools to assists companies in having a hand in their own company branding and if I do say so myself, a brilliant move by my friends at Glassdoor.

I’ve been singing the praises of Glassdoor for a few years now and just in case you missed it they are one of the main social job and career communities that are changing the way people find jobs and the way companies recruit top talent.

glassdoor ratings

These guys came on the scene in 2007 and here are a few of the items offered to job seekers:

  • Access to the latest job listings
  • The ability to see Inside Connections via their Facebook network
  • Access to company-specific salary reports, ratings and reviews of said company
  • CEO approval ratings
  • Interview questions to expect and what it’s like to work at said company (What to expect)

On the Employer End

Employers can also get involved in the conversation through Glassdoor’s suite of social recruiting solutions to reach target job candidates when they’re making career decisions

This new exciting add-on called the Employer Center is an easy-to-use self-service tool currently in beta that helps companies make social recruiting decisions based on job seeker activity and authentic workplace insights. Take a look at PepsiCo’s page:

Pepsi-Profile.-Short-Version-w.-highlights

With the Employer Center, companies can get access to information about job seeker engagement and demographics, understand what jobs attract the most candidates and when, track employee satisfaction ratings trends, and benchmark their brand’s reputation against competitors.

As a company representative with this account, you can:

  • Update your company’s profile with basic information (i.e. website address, headquarter location, employee count, year founded and more)
  • Provide a company description and mission statement
  • Respond to your company reviews and interview reviews
  • Add awards and photos
  • Request updates to your stock ticker, CEO and list of competitors
  • Flag reviews that may be inappropriate

The amount of insight and data a Brand Manager can obtain from this is unbelievable. I saw this in action in a private Webinar and was astounded!

I’m telling you, there’s no other jobs site or professional network that combines this level of employee feedback and job seeker activity to help companies make more informed recruiting decisions while allowing them to manage their employer brand.

Click HERE for a free Employer Account. If  you don’t check this you’re totally missing out!

HR and your Social Strategy – Do you even have One?

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???????????????????I always love to go to my extra-smart friends for guest posts to mix it up a bit. I’m quite boring, in reality, and don’t wanna bore you to tears. Jeff Waldman is one of my go-to-guys in that respect. Check out this outstanding post and make sure to connect with Jeff and his team. You can find them all over the place. 

Photo Credit: en.blog.zyncro.

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SocialHRCamp business partner Salima Nathoo and I recently co-authored a 2 blog post series for SmartRecruiters and Blogging4Jobs on “Why HR Needs to Speed Up Social Media Adoption” and “Why HR is Slow to Adopt Social Media”.  The former post focuses on the business case and the latter on barriers to adoption.  It was a tough exercise to go through because there are so many reasons why HR needs to adopt and why HR has not already done so.  The focus of this post is on a simple question that can be applied across all business functions.  The question is… “What does social media adoption have to do with strategy”?

Oh Right… Strategy…
Does it not make sense that the activities that you perform during the course of your work day support some strategic aspect of the business you work for?  Sure there are tasks that one would describe as mundane, repetitive, pointless, etc… but if you ask yourself “why” you are doing those tasks you probably could, or should come up with some strategic reason for why you do them.  The same holds true for social media.

Ah Ha Moment…
Before you dive into the social media maze you need to clearly understand what your core HR business challenges are that you are trying to solve.  Forget about social media for a second; every organization has challenges and strategic objectives that are being tackled.  If they did not exist there would be no organization to work for.

Ask Yourself…
Pull out the dusty HR strategy and the business strategy and identify the top 3-5 priorities.  Are you trying to attract higher quality talent to “hard-to-recruit” jobs?  Are you trying to solve a growing retention issue?  Are you trying to support the business expand and enter new markets?  Will you be tasked with organizational restructuring or acquisition initiatives?  You get the point but it’s critical for you as an HR professional to figure this out first.

2nd Ah Ha Moment…
For all you non-HR people reading this blog post this also applies to you too.  It does not matter what area of business you work in, the fact remains that you need to understand the core business challenges you are trying solve before you dive into social media.

Now You’re Ready to Think About Social Media…
You now have a crystal clear idea of why you want to use social media; now it’s a matter of identifying the social media platforms that will enable you to achieve the best results.  The task of figuring this out will be so much easier if you have a clear idea of why you want to use them in the first place.  Sorry, just slapping up a Facebook page because “everyone else” has one is a complete waste of time, and will ultimately make you look foolish.

So, think strategy first, then social media second.

This blog post was originally published in the Social Media Camp blog.

About the Author:

jeffSocial media enthusiast, entrepreneur, social HR strategist and educator, Jeff is the Founder of Stratify, a social HR solutions consultancy and SocialHRCamp, the first-ever global HR unconference. With a background in business, HR and marketing, and a diverse career spanning all facets of HR Jeff has been carving out and leading the way in a growing niche that brings together HR, social media and business. Founded in 2012 SocialHRCamp helps the global HR community adopt social media into HR business practices and will be running events in Canada, United States, Singapore, Philippines and India.

The value of using Google+ Hangouts within your Organization

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google hangoutIt’s been a year and some odd months that Google+ brought us the Hangout which we slowly eased into for fear of folks seeing us in our pajamas. Now, we hear about hangouts happening almost every day. And yes, even in Human Resources.

Sometimes we feel disconnected from employees that are perhaps overseas and we talk with them mainly via email or sometimes Skype and are really looking for a much better approach to talking with those with whom we converse on a regular basis.

I love Google+ Hangouts and here’s why:

  • They close the disconnect. Let’s face it, you can only do so much with email. And it’s a known fact, we spend tons of hours a day (up to 2 hours) not to mention the costs associated with it, trying to track folks down, see if they’ve read your emails, find out why they haven’t responded. Hangouts cuts out all that and allows for real-time face-time with up to nine folks.
  • Hangouts can be recorded.  This function can be a great asset to holding virtual sales meetings (or any kind of meeting) that can be recorded, automatically saved to Youtube (marked as private) and shared within your organization at any time. This is especially great for those who don’t show up or are late to meetings. Or, perhaps you have sales teams across geographical points, hangouts would be a great tool for management teams to gather together to share knowledge, brainstorm and then share with their teams.
  • You can share documents, videos and / or presentations within the hangout. Talk about opening new ways to train your team. I’ve used this in several of my hangouts especially with some very cool HR Tech developers to host a demo to those within the hangout. We were scattered all over the globe, yet we were participating LIVE with one another, while watching a presentation, while participating on the demo of the technology within our smartphones and/ or tablets. It’s really a shift in the way we do things…..
  • I’ve also used hangouts to showcase HR conference speakers and bloggers for an upcoming conference. What this does is allow the rest of the world to spy in on your conversations (if you make them available to the public) and really get to know your speakers and bloggers on a personal level. We’ve also used hangouts for LIVE STREAMING our events to those who weren’t able to make the event. It’s a win-win, really.

The only thing that is limited is your brain’s capacity to be creative in how you can utilize these fantastic technologies. These fantastic tools can assist you in creating better engagement, greater communication with your team members across the globe, and aid you in your everyday first-world problems within your organizations.

And did I mention it was free?

Here is an example of one hangout I did. Take a look and get a feel of what it can do for you!

For those of you not yet on the Google bandwagon, here’s a great guide “The Complete Google Guide.”