It’s the virtual world where nowadays the real action is actually taking place. The hub of millions to connect; job seekers reaching out to colleagues and competitors, industry professionals and aspired companies while thousands of recruiters watching and pursuing them closely – all at the same time.
The talent demand and supply gap, constant global and local economic pressures, volatile emerging markets and the proliferation of technology in acquiring and managing talent has literally forced Human Resource Executives to stand back and re-evaluate the way they function. Thankfully with technology, whoever is in sync with the on-line world is on the same platform to furiously network and make the best use of the available talent pool and other opportunities.
Technology in a way has immensely democratized Human Resource functions in the scouting and hiring domain. Sitting in one’s comfort zone, the user-friendly accessibility of information on digital platforms has vastly broadened the horizon of talent acquisition and employee management to a global level and efficiently systematized it. Therefore it would not be wrong to say that technology has now become the backbone for all Human Resources functions.
Being offline for a company’s HR function is as good as shutting the door to a gamut of talent, business and management opportunities. In the current scenario companies cannot implement efficient HR strategies without the support of technology. It captures systematic data about the complete life cycle of a talent – from pre-hiring, hiring to induction, performance management and exits. This has speeded up the process to manage talent in an extremely transparent manner.
Plus, it gives organizations the leverage to implement standardized and integrated talent acquisition and management strategies across global locations adding a thumbs-up for employer branding. The underlying fact is that the right HRM technology with a user friendly web presence on job portals, company websites and social media can be a deciding factor for the kind of talent an organization attracts and acquires; a crucial factor for its performance always.
This is increasingly making CEOs realize that they need to set aside adequate budgets for it and oversee its right implementation; thankfully is an accelerating trend with Indian companies witnessed across sectors. Smart technology is also helping organizations create blueprints for robust future plans not just regarding talent but also to tweak or upgrade HR functions based on constantly evolving socio-cultural trends – all based on rich data gathered from diverse businesses and talent domains.
Therefore, Big Data Analytics has become the new-age secret key to unlock cryptic codes of social, economic and behavioural patterns of many human resource related issues. At its mega trend level, it assists in human resource trend analysis not only at the micro (organizational) level but also at the macro level across industries and geographies though data mining technology, HRM tools and statistical modelling. It often clears many cobwebs of HR teams to understand where they actually stand and where they need to head; specifically to systematically plan future workforce strategies or modify current ones.
And Talent Analytics like a crystal ball is assisting organizations in predicting the future of its employees; whether they will excel, lead or say goodbyes. Losing out on it, especially by large and complex organization structures is like looking through blurred glasses while identifying the prospective leadership pipeline. The democratization of the smartphone with exponential growth in its internet usage, estimated a whopping 120+ million users in India alone is also changing the dynamics of the on-line job market with the seeker and the recruiter both heavily dependent on it.
The trend is similar in South East Asia (including Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia) with 124+ million mobile internet users. But it’s the Gulf countries leading the smartphone penetration rate with UAE leading with a 74 %, closely followed by Saudi Arabia at 72 %. Data analysis reveals that searches for most jobs on-line are via a mobile phone. The figures validate; the on-line job category searches on high-end devices have grown to a sky-rocketing 160 % YoY as of June 2014 whereas PCs/laptops gained a mere 3%. The underlining fact is that the mobile screen has become the dominant screen.
It is no longer the poor cousin of the laptop or the desktop. The dual advantage of calling and internet connectivity on the go simplified further by user friendly mobile technology like apps is increasingly making organizations have a mobile friendly presence. As portals related to jobs, recruiters, organizations and other HR features are connecting millions of seekers and recruiters to each other every second – the talent pool is getting bigger and yet slimmer (thanks to speedy search engines) at the same time. The apps alone are driving the on-line job market with 1.2 billion people worldwide already using mobile apps at the end of 2013 and an estimated 4.4 billion expected to use them by 2017.
But all this opportunity makes sense only if the new-age HR executive and recruiter is tech-savvy and ready to tap the gamut of opportunities via ever-advancing mobile technology applications. But ultimately it is social media; the immensely popular, non-intrusive yet attractive, approachable and casual platform that is taking the big leap of being in the forefront for talent/job hunts. Being a low cost recruitment solution is its added advantage with proactive sourcing approaches.
A global study by Jobvite among employers and hiring managers highlights its increasing relevance with a huge majority of the recruiters, almost 94 % using or planning social media for their recruitment efforts. A startling 78 % had already made hires through it. The social networks (blogs, micro-blogs & on-line video communities) through ‘social sourcing’ also allow tapping passive seekers as well. But it is those easy reference checks that recruiters love through referral engines of social media platforms or company specific referral apps. These end up revealing not just professional but also personal and behavioural insights of seekers on platforms where they usually let their guard down; essential to assess their ethical and cultural fit in an organization.
Plus, there is the advantage of drastic reduction in recruitment cost marketing by posting/ sharing job ads with various ‘talent networks’ or ‘talent communities’. An active social media presence overall also boosts an organization’s employer branding as an attractive and cost effective medium for image development. As technology becomes extensively embedded in HR functions, one must remember that the ‘people-touch’ should not be lost by just being dependent on the robustness of the platform. As in the end it’s the personal touch that ultimately makes all the difference.
This article was first published in Business Standard – The Strategist