The value of social media for recruiters

When it comes to social media, everyone is talking – or tweeting – about it. It has gone from being a ‘nice to have’ to being a formidable part of a company’s arsenal against their competition. But despite the obvious value it has for marketing departments, the value of social media for recruiters can be hotly debated. And it was.

HR Grapevine, in association with Cornerstone OnDemand, hosted a roundtable of senior HR professionals and recruiters from a variety of sectors, to discuss whether social media is something that needs to be adopted when resourcing.

Recruitment ROI

To assess the return on investment of social media, the first thing that needs to be addressed is the cost. But even this can be difficult to identify, and so those sitting around the table started with LinkedIn recruiter licences. One attendee stated that these licences were expensive, but was soon contested by another that said: “Buying a licence actually saves you money when you compare it to agency fees, you just need to compare the expected placement fee to the cost of a licence in order to see the value.”

But is comparing the licence cost to an agency fee an accurate measure? This was the question raised by the group. And this soon led to the “challenge on internal resources.” Using social networks, such as LinkedIn, requires manpower and that is another cost that businesses need to consider when adopting the seemingly cheap method.

However, the positives of controlling your own employer brand through social media and hiring directly was considered to be the best thing about using social networks to source talent. This was further enforced by an observation by one of the attendees; “the market has shifted from a job-led to candidate-led environment.” And so social media, and direct approaches, are a better method of attracting talent in this environment. 

Read the full feature in January's HR Grapevine Magazine >