Few observations from the recent Recruittech conference.

Doubt is good. Not surprisingly, there are many cynics as there are converts to the bold new world of online social engagement. In my book, doubters are in a good place – at least they are participating in the conversations and asking additional questions. Indeed, no one really have all the answers, what works for one organisation in one industry may not work for another. Advice from @RigesYounan – “Just try stuff” – best sums up the mindset of early adopters (the brave). The best time to start on social media was, perhaps, five years ago; the next best time is now.

Fundamentals never change. Despite the hullabaloo on new media and new ways of doing things, ‘relationship’ continues to be the mainstay of the recruitment profession. In fact, when everyone has so much information about everyone else, real relationships will be the deal breaker. Social media merely provide the tools to build new connections and enhance relationships. Once the dust settles, those left standing will be the ones who invested in ‘relationships’. ‘Let’s do coffee’ will never go stale.

Resourcing: Often relegated to the bottom of the hierarchy, Resourcers (aka Research Managers), will increasingly be the ‘go to’ people. Best equipped to find talent online because they themselves have rich digital footprints; we will be hearing more from them as the number of channels to monitor explodes. Follow the likes of @AndreaMitchell and @AylinAhmet, they are a new generation of savvy social resourcers with their hands firmly on job seekers’ pulse.

Career websites: The vast majority of career websites (say 95%) need fixing; no one in the industry really raised their hands until now. @Jobadder (Brett Iredale) seems unable to make mistakes. That his presentation is on career websites (not his job posting software or its foray into the ATS market) is yet another smart move. Without doubt, majority of the two million organisations in Australia do not have engaging career websites. Why job boards and ATS providers, who manages the supply pipeline of jobs, do not address this opportunity is a mystery. Ad agencies looking for new income streams need not look further. Be prepared to see a lot of attention on websites as organisations take up more responsibility for their candidate traffic.

Blogging is not dead. At its best it is an effective employment branding tool. At the very least it humanize an organisation, as @DavidTalamelli (Oracle) succinctly pointed out. If you are new to social media, blogging is imperative. If your target audience is more sophisticated, a real time interaction may be more useful. Still, if it is about drawing traffic to your career website, blogs need to be in your arsenal. It’s also the easiest to start, and with the right intentions the payoff is worth thousands in marketing dollars.

Outsiders. Sometimes, the best insights are offered by those outside of recruitment. We need objective feedback; the more critical the better. @SilkCharm (Laurel Papworth) and @trib (Stephen Collins) are outsiders who bring unique perspective to our industry. It would be interesting to have a panel made up of only outsiders (imagine getting a panel of artists to recommend how to attract talent). Banishing insularity can only be fruitful.

Job boards: @KellyMagowan highlighted the difference between niche and generalist. While some may argue that it amounts to ‘two bald men fighting over a comb”, the fact remains that job boards are the dominant channels to advertise and find jobs (More on generalist vs specialist in a later blog post. Meanwhile, have a look at the Long Tail concept, the controversies and the latest fascinating results from Nielsen).

Currently, job boards are doing well because unlike social media they do not discriminate users (on a job board a good or bad recruiter has almost equal chance). Social networks are unkind to those who just wanted to buy attention, and the vast majority of recruiters currently fall under this category. So will you attract talent if you advertise on job boards? Yes and no. Yes, if you are reaching out to the demographic (mostly active job searchers) job boards reaches. No, if you want to reach, well, those not reached by job boards. It is rather silly to blame job boards for not reaching talent that they are not meant to reach.

In the short-term, a clearer picture of what tool will be effective for a particular demographic group will emerge. If you are hiring part-time receptionists job boards are always more likely to provide a steady stream of applicants. If you are after a CIO, exploring the social web is likely to be a better option. You go to job boards to find talent they reach, just as you go to Twitter to engage Twitter users. The audience dictate the tools. The idea is to have both in your recruiting toolbox (and having more tools than your client is what sets the agency recruiter apart). It is never in the interest of an agency recruiter to ignore any possible source.

In the long run, job boards may need to address the fact their sites are places where people who don’t know one another go to. There is tremendous value in interaction. Job listings by themselves will cease to have little value. Context will be key; rich content will be a differentiator. Many will bite the dust, but brand matters. The popular boards will be around for as long as they can deliver resumes at a price point lower than the alternatives.

Training: To this point, recruitment firms succeeded in large part because of their ability to mass produce a winning formula. Train enough recruiters to meet KPIs and you have a successful business. How does one teach social media skills (Can it be)? What role will training play? Demand for up-skilling will increase but the learning curve will be steep. Influence in the new environment is gained by long periods of giving first. The gap between those who get it and those who don’t will be wide, mainly because the new recruitment realm is more about mindsets than it is about tools and processes. Follow @RossClennett, he’s constantly charting new paths (stirring the pot occasionally), blending new-world thinking with old-world sensibilities.

Changing behaviour: Recruitment tools got all the attention, but changing behaviour of job seekers is equally important. @CareerMums (Kate Sykes) monitors the ever evolving workplace with a particular focus on job flexibility. @mspecht (Michael Specht) lent a sharp eye to the problems faced by organisations populated by connected workers. I argued Job seekers will increasingly call the shot. Given the changing landscape, writing a job ad and not knowing where to promote it will be a recurring dilemma for most advertisers. Attention will be really hard to get. Shouting louder will not be useful. The real opportunity is building your own tribe/community and winning the permission to talk to them.

Web 2.0 : Without doubt, every recruiter’s vocabulary must include web 2.0 tools (rss, widgets etc). Many of the technologies are simple enough for a layman to understand and use (see McKinsey report on how companies are benefiting from web 2.0 ). Keep track of @Thomasshaw’s activities, he’s constantly investigating web 2.0’s relevance to recruitment.

Money money money: Breaking bread with fellow presenters confirm the life of an entrepreneur (a wannabe in my case) is seldom normal. It appears most of us make do with erratic income streams; encounter occasional ridicule and self-doubt, but plodded on regardless. It seems there is little outside money invested in our industry. Imagine what the likes of @RigesYounan and @bluetrain (Clayton Wehner) could achieve if they have capital to play with. Anyone got some spare bucks?

Recruitment firms: Lots of interesting discussions with recruitment firms. If you are a recruiter, relevance is a matter of staying one step ahead of clients. It’s a simple mantra – do something that your clients cannot do well themselves. The problem is employers are able to do a lot more on their own, which is why exploring new ways of doing things is important. Accepting the new status quo is a good start.

People: Not enough time, but met lots of good people. The @GradConnection boys are everywhere. If enthusiasm alone defines success, their day will arrive soon. I’d give Michael Burns a call, he knows a lot more than he is revealing about the nuts and bolts of how our industry works (and where its heading). Mark Tayar is not your typical ATS marketer, he’s into building a community.

Conferences: Recuittech seems destined to spread to more locations. Strange, in a way, that a conference predominantly about digital connections requires meeting up physically. Our yearning for face-to-face interaction (and beer will spawn more gatherings, albeit smaller in sizes. HR Club is a sign of things to come. Count me in for the next one.

Pictures: Few pics from the conference. Presentations: Available on Slideshare (tag recruittech).

What’s next? Ok, lots to digest, but here’s a timely advise from Seth.

In April Michael Specht and I embarked on a journey to try and understand the various sources of talent in Australia. A survey was conducted tracking the hiring practices of 409 organisations who made a total of 92,136 hires in the last 12 months. The final report compares the effectiveness of 17 (20 if we do not band some sources together) identifiable sources of talent.

The data revealed clear national trends. Job boards emerged as the most dominant source of talent, accounting for 29.64% of total hires (see graph). The data gets interesting when we hone in on factors like region, company size, type of organisation or industry sector. How companies in the ACT find talent differs from how the larger states like NSW or VIC conduct their sourcing. While not addressed in our study, it’s likely the health of local economies dictate how sourcing is conducted to a large degree.

Graph: Sources of Talent, 09

There is also a clear demarcation between employers and professional recruiters on their degree of dependence on various sources of talent. Besides, things aren’t always what they seem. It’s interesting that gaps exist between what’s thought to be a successful source and the reality. That very little hiring is attributed to social media even though it’s rated highly as a channel for sourcing is testament to the mismatch between perception and reality (Gerry Crispin’s in his foreword points to a similar trend in the US).  Many of the findings in the survey contrast to established thinking within the HR and Recruitment industries. It’s also illuminating sources with high potential, such as alumni hiring, remain largely ignored (Also, refer Dr. Ian O. Williamson’s article on alumni strategy, page 19).

The study has limitations. In hindsight, we felt there are instances where we aren’t as clear as we ought to be with our questionnaire. Also, our classification of organisations does not entirely mimic Australian Bureau of Statistics’ method , and is fodder for naysayers. We would have liked the sample size to be larger and evenly spread across the 27 industries we monitored, even though at times it felt like we bit more than we can chew.  

Where to from here? I hope the report will stimulate further discussions in Australia and beyound. If anything, the study highlights the importance of monitoring and collecting recruitment data. Discussing the state of data collection, which remains poor as revealed by the study, will be a positive step forward. While national averages tell a story, sometimes they hardly matter at the individual level. Beyound the national numbers there are still many stories to decipher. Over the coming days, I will explore each source of talent in more details. 

Overall the whole project is a journey of discovery. To have access to hiring data and learn how corporate Australia recruits their talent is a privilege. I am extremely fortunate to be able to work with Michael Specht. I am also grateful to our sponsors and partners who made this project possible. Please visit their websites – JobAdder, JobGenie, NT3, Page Up People and PeoplePulse .

I look forward to your feedback. Download the report here (name and email required).  

What are the most effective sources of talent in Australia?

As important as this question is, there is a real paucity of data in Australia. Michael Specht from Inspecht and I are conducting a national survey to investigate and study the tools and channels used for hiring talent. Our aim is to understand how various organisations in different industries and regions approach the sourcing of talent (Gerry Crispin & Mark Mehler conducts a similar study in the US).  

Our findings will be published and made available in July. I believe the results of the study will be invaluable for employers, HR practitioners and recruiters alike.

I’d appreciate your assistance in our endeavour. As an incentive you will receive a complimentary report once the study is completed. You will also be immediately eligible to win a Nintendo WII and five book vouchers worth $50 each. The survey takes approximately eight minutes to complete. Please participate here

The study is made possible by the support of our sponsors: Job Adder, JobGenie, PeoplePulse and PageUp People. More details about the study and our sponsors is available here