Hiring. It’s an essential part of running a business. However, it’s not as easy as it seems. Simply placing an employment ad on your website will likely get tens, if not, hundreds of random resumes. However, combing the traditional hiring process with social media can tweak the process to make it more effective and efficient.
Background Checks
Since running a background check isn’t free, it’s essential to make it as thorough as possible. Performing a background check that looks at an applicant’s secondary education, work history and criminal history is a good place to start – but there are other areas to examine. Secondary areas including a motor vehicle report, credit history and social media accounts can demonstrate how responsible an applicant really is because it takes into account more parts of his life. A more comprehensive background check is likely to demonstrate how a potential hire would act when he doesn’t know he’s being monitored by an employer – an indication of true judgment and social skills.
One example includes performing an audit on the applicant’s social media presence. If he makes libelous or sexist comments on social media sites, it can indicate the candidate might not exercise good judgment in the workplace. If you’re interviewing for a social media-related position, this is certainly a red flag.
Using Social Media to Hire
Social media can serve two purposes for a business – it can develop a relationship with potential customers and it can develop a relationship with a potential job candidate now and in the future. By developing relationships via Facebook friends and Twitter followers, your social media contacts become familiar with your company’s tone and culture. Those who are in tune with it will naturally follow, and those who are not will move on to a better suited company. Using social media to interact with customers through questions and answers, sharing stories and relevant and insightful information are two ways to connect with followers. When postings are advertised on social media, those already in tune with your company’s culture will be effectively targeted.
Interviewing Remains Key
Regardless of how the candidate has applied, evaluating through interview questions is still one of the most important tools to determine his potential. Does he bad-mouth his current or former employer? How does he describe his work relationships with colleagues below, above and on par with his current role? Does the candidate respect the front office staff or not pay attention to them? During the interview does the candidate answer a question immediately or take a moment to ponder the question?
You can learn a lot about a candidate based on his respect for his current employer and coworkers and how he responds to questions. Those who don’t respect subordinates and supervisors likely won’t be good team players. Similarly, candidates who don’t connect with staff on the day of the interview might indicate that they are not a good fit for the organization.
Exit Interviews
Much like the interview process for the new candidate is essential to a good fit, taking steps to learn why an employee is leaving a position at your company is just as essential. Ask questions addressing how adequate the employee felt the training was and how he feels about the company’s culture (and how they felt they fit into it), as this might indicate how fast they learn and what type of personalities they work best with. Other information to seek from exit interviews include learning why they are leavings, such as for more pay, different or better benefits, etc. This type of data can help you detect patterns and determine the exact reasons why employees leave.
Seeing how the hiring process has changed in recent years, we can be sure that it will continue to evolve as a process that will become more responsive and more tailored over time.
Sources
http://employers.glassdoor.com/blog/7-must-ask-exit-interview-questions/
http://www.execsearches.com/non-profit-jobs/recruiter_Articles/Good-Interview-Practices.asp
