Why is recruitment is slow to adopt Web 2.0 technology?

Add a Comment

Comment by Peter Gold on June 25, 2008 at 11:38am

Great, the discussion is live and waiting!

Comment by Lis Wilson on June 25, 2008 at 11:35am

Look forward to putting my "bit" in and seeing if I can improve my time management....
cheers Peter

Comment by Peter Gold on June 25, 2008 at 10:59am

Lis

That's an interesting question re sales performance but have to admit to not being entirely sure on exactly what you mean. I'd like to get some discussion going on this point though so will start a new Discussion on this topic and see what feedback we get.

Comment by Lis Wilson on June 25, 2008 at 9:41am

There are some interesting stats on the CIPD 2008 Recruitment, Retention and Turnover survey on the Web 2.0 issue. Some of the reasons recruiting companies are slow to adopt include:-

lack of best practice examples and guidelines when it comes to using the technology and concerns from damaging employer brands.

It highlights Jon's point about Gen Y, with 51% of of orgs planning to use Web2.0 to target grads.

Also an interesting read for other areas...

http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/recruitmen/general/_recruitretnt.htm

Have to agree with the Devil on alot of points - it can consume your day - bookmarks and google reader making life a bit easier - but has anyone any tips on keeping sales performance high whilst promoting and managing all the web 2.0 recruitment technology?

Comment by Jon Malbon on June 24, 2008 at 4:02pm

Im a big fan of the web 2.0 technologies. Im a bit of a forum junkie and enjoy reading blogs like Peters and Andys. I don't think HR have ever been at the forefront of technology though and unless there is a 'Pioneer' within your company/dept to push these ideas forward then the emergence of them won't be seen until a lot of others start doing it.

The impression I get is that the blogs (for example) can often become a distraction from your work - internet arguing of which I am a culprit ! which in turn leads to less productivity. They are also reducing the need for meetings -which face to face a solution may be thrashed out a lot quicker - albeit not in your own time - which is the advantages of blogs etc..

If we are talking about recruiting, then I think there is a lot of Web 2.0 that goes unseen. For example our careers site may not look super-up-to-date (at the moment !) but we still have CSS, RSS and Ajax in parts - these are 2.0 stuff. We'll have social bookmarking shortly as a quick and easy to do. But again - HR will take time to watch what other do first. I think Graduate sites will be the first to adopt Web 2.0 as this is the ideal landing pad to talk to (Gen Y) people in thier own language.

Comment by Peter Gold on June 24, 2008 at 3:15pm

Jon

The work/personal split will need to remain and we will see separate business networks e.g. Linkedin, this site(!) and personal sites such as Facebook. Most people I know have personal/work phone numbers and e-mail addresses and have different discussions with different groups of people on each. People already have discussions and networking activities at work; they are just very small groups with little information sharing as it is not an easy thing to do. Internal networks will help internal comms as will blogs, wiki's etc.

That devil does make some useful points as ever :>)

Rosie, you are right, most organisations are slow to adopt to new ideas. Not always down to fear, sometimes down to size and ability to change quickly or just not something they want to do; Steve Ballmer of Microsoft still does not have a blog!

Comment by Rosie Sherry on June 24, 2008 at 11:55am

I don't think it is just HR who are slow to adopt. Generally organisations are slow to adopt technology. They wait for the masses to use them, then try them out themselves. Perhaps alot of it is the fear of trying new things.

Another thing is these things take time. It's easy to say to start a blog, do a wiki, try a community. The technology is there to implement these things, but it takes months and years to actually see the change that it can make.

The technology makes it possible, the technology is there, but change comes from within. Change is the hard part and what scares most people away.

Comment by Jon Malbon on June 23, 2008 at 4:41pm

Devils advocate on/

Is it all really necessary? Facebook, Linkedin, Flickr, Twitter - are they not just fads that will be gone tomorrow ? Do we really want to mix personal lives with work lives?

Bloggings/Wiki ? Do you want to monitor this thing all day? Have you seen the anti-company groups on Facebook. Do you have time to waste on idiots that are just going to publically slate your company - on your corporate site?

Do we not just need a good ATS? Afterall press coverage or mainstream brand marketing has attracted us to work for the brand - not a budget careers campaign?

\Devils advocate off