[Global HR Forum 2014] Use of Social Networks in hiring provides definite qualitative and ...
Global HR Forum 2014-"Use of Social Networks in hiring provides definite qualitative and quantitative advantages"
September 11, 2014 16:04 l 09 11, 2014 16:08
In commemoration of Global HR Forum 2014, to be
held in Seoul between November 4-6, 2014, The Korea Economic Daily had e-mail
interviews with several distinguished guests on various subjects. The followings
are e-mail
Interview with Gordon
Zeilstra,
the Global Director of Product Strategy for SuccessFactors.
Zeilstra works with large Enterprise organizations globally to understand
their strategic requirements in the Talent Acquisition arena...Ed.
Reporter:
Ji-hye Ma
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1. What kind of people do you
think are the most needed for the good of the modern society? Please tell us who
are the right people and the reason why you think like that.
An
easy question to start off with ;-) I
believe that people who strive for interdependence are the most needed for the
good of the modern society. When we look
to other people in our daily routines, in our work, in our play and in our home
life – we not only find ways to solve complex problems, but we allow ourselves
to build a future for ourselves while helping others build their own
future. When people understand and find
ways in their lives to find interdependence, they don’t think about a calamity
or issue as someone else’s problem, but rather as everybody’s problem. Likewise, success and imagination, idealism
and innovation are also celebrated, rather than coveted. And we will always be drawn to find ways to
be better and repeat again. Of course
interdependence requires other traits, behaviours, or learning… but modern
society in its interdependent glory can be infectious enough to promote trust, teamwork, selflessness, peacefulness,
generosity into those who haven’t arrived.
2.
The theme of this year’s
forum is Human Resources for Trust and Integration. How do we recognize someone
who is trustworthy and also has integrity?
How
long is a piece of string? So much is going to be left to chance until we have
observations and facts to base an opinion on.
This is the basis of trust though… it is the mixture of faith and
surprise; the unknown and realization - and often the bigger the faith the more
substantial the surprise. So the key in
this is to look for endorsements of character, but all the better if they
unsolicited and shown with humility.
3.
With a proliferation of social network service, what kind of paradigm shift did
occur in recruiting system looking for talented
people?
The
first paradigm shift that occurred speaks to more of how we access talent. I
believe that globally, the “War
for Talent”
– the McKinsey revelation and Harvard Business Press book of the late 90’s, that
inspired global HR designations, process definitions and technology platforms-
is now more complex. The circumstance of filling individual vacancies is
seemingly much more inefficient. Today,
we are in much more of what I call like to call a War For
The Talent Network, thanks in large part to Social Networks. While Social
Networks give people the opportunity to track not just movements and interests
of “other people like me”, it provides a real significant alteration to the way
that companies can and do recruit. The power of social networks allows me to
access (and therefore recruit) not just an individual, but indeed their network
of skillful “friends” (current or former classmates or colleagues).This new
paradigm expects Recruiting departments to have well thought out Social Network
strategies or face the prospects of missing out on larger tribes of incredible
talent.
This
speaks to the second major paradigm shift: The role of Corporate Talent
Acquisition is changing. Recruiters and
their Hiring Managers who possess strong networking skills, and marketing and
social branding capabilities are difference makers. Likewise, recruiting systems
have to evolve from job board pick-and-post tools and candidate funnels, into
social networking platforms with powerful analytics.
4.
SAP recently opened ‘SAP
SuccessFactors HCM Solution’
which consists of three parts; Talent Acquisition, Talent Optimization, Social
Networking. Could you explain each level little bit?
Well,
simply put, we have a platform designed to handle the requirements of global
organisations in their needs to recruit, onboard, develop, retain, optimize,
manage, deploy and transition talent within a compelling and modern user
experience.
I
often say that Recruiting is the greatest team sport in the enterprise - nowhere
else do you see so many people from all across the organization (including
outside) need to participate in order for success to be realized. In our Talent
Acquisition solution:it’s not just about the recruiter, it’s about everyone that
needs to use the system: the candidate, the hiring manager, interview panel
members, finance, approvers… and they all need a “right-for-me” experience.
Our
Talent Optimization tools help transform business strategies into business outcomes – ensuring that people are
working on the right things and providing maximum value (quantifiable,
measurable, business results: things like faster time to market of a particular
product; driving employee engagement for competitive differentiation and to be
able to react quickly to changing business requirements; and increasing brand
loyalty). Our Talent Optimization technology allows organizations to encompass
the right combination of things to maximize employee engagement by putting them
at the centre, to keep them committed, involved, and
productive.
Our
Social and collaboration capabilities help organizations create their own
proprietary social network, with features that allow every employee to connect –
find experts, communicate, make connections, collaborate on projects.
SAP-SuccessFactors
combines a unique blend of intuitive user interfaces, mobile access, and
built-in social capabilities – all to support users to work the way they expect,
for example, collaborative and embedded learning into business processes
throughout the organization – every employee is a teacher; every employee is a
learner. Every employee in the
organisation – full time, part time, contingent, contractor, manager, executive
- all are potential users of HR systems and expectations of all those end
users have changed: they demand that
business systems behave like the consumer systems they use every day. In other
words, systems must know who the user is, anticipate what they need, and provide
the content, data, and processes to get the job done. So, if you are a recruiter, you have certain
responsibilities and tasks, and perhaps need to ensure a proper process is
respected – but you also need effective tools to ensure that you are able to
access the best and brightest graduates and/or candidates in your addressable
market.
And
this SAP SuccessFactors system is built for every employee in the organisation – full
time, part time, contingent, contractor, manager, executive. All are
potential users of HR systems and expectations of all those end users have
changed: they demand that business
systems behave like the consumer systems they use every day. In other words,
systems must know who the user is, anticipate what they need, and provide the
content, data, and processes to get the job done.
5.
What is the strongest advantage of using social networks and media throughout
the hiring system?
The
use of Social Networks in hiring provide definite qualitative and quantitative
advantages, however, these can also come with distractions. I believe the greater benefit is more of a
structural and overall process improvement nature – If organisations are willing
to work towards this.
Typically,
organizations who are dependent on traditional forms of advertising, (or who use
social networks like advertisements), will burn thru candidates to the detriment
of time, effort and indeed their employer brand. For example, for every hire I
may make, I may need 10X the volume of candidates who will submit applications,
and be moved thru various stages of my hiring process. Today the process looks much like a funnel,
where at the very top are the volume of candidates, and gradually as candidates
are filtered or screened out, we select the best hire at the end. Social Networks allow us to change the
model.
For instance, I don’t
need an application and full resume with references, if I’ve got access to more
job related or quality indicators that is collected via a social network.
Furthermore, I am in a position with social networking to rely more on my hiring
manager and employees to refer people of relevance and interest to the role,
rather than a “spray and pray” approach that advertising gives. With our solutions, we’re seeing clients who
are using Social Networks move more to building their own proprietary Talent
Pools. This sort of shift and structural improvement allow organisations to move
to a more strategic, and less reactive form of recruiting over time, and also do
much better in attracting passive job seekers.
6.
In your perspective, what kinds of companies or industries will benefit more
from using both the social networks and traditional personnel management system
in recruiting process?
We’ve
seen great success with companies and industries of all sizes, sectors and
geographies. So I wouldn’t qualify any organization out of using this as an
approach. Interestingly perhaps, I would say that the most complex of
organisations might benefit the most from using social networks with personnel
management systems. Healthcare, Logistics, Transportation, and even Retail, but
especially those where multiple geographies, languages or variations of the same
role exist. Why? Because job
descriptions with discreet capabilities when placed in an advertisement are very
ineffective at producing appeal and a strong call to action. Social Networks can appeal to those who will
only switch or join your company if an effort has been made to establish trust,
to promote conversations, and to provide a compelling
narrative.
7.
Could you explain how an analysis of Big Data and SNS contributes to a
company’s
personnel management such as educational, evaluation aspects…etc.?
The
biggest opportunity for benefit is by starting with asking better
questions. A company that is preoccupied
with high level metrics that tell them: Cost per Hire, Time to Fill, Source of
Hire will be overwhelmed with Social Networking Data offerings.
If
I truly wanted to know make a valuable determination on quality, I might ask
these kind of questions: Where do our best employees come from (specific
schools, companies, industries, etc)? What is the “DNA” of our best employees
(degrees, prior experience, backgrounds, demographics, personality traits,
interests, etc)? Then I would utilize my internal employee data or data I’ve
collected from successful hires, and then leverage this as a means to help me
drive my future recruiting efforts (largely thru Social Networking and Employee
Referrals).
8.
SAP SuccessFactors HCM Solution picks out useful information by analyzing the
massive data which employees have made and shared. Some say it could be a
violation to the privacy of the employees because you should have personal data
of them to make it possible. What is your opinion on this issue?
One
of the greatest benefits available to clients of SAP SuccessFactors is the
degree to which our product is has the users and experiences of a very diverse
and complex client base–today we support over 3900 customers and 25 million users in
177 countries. So, we have a strategic advantage when it comes to be able to
respect privacy legislation in various jurisdictions. But privacy goes beyond legislative
requirements and also means that people should have access to only that which is
applicable to help us do our jobs better.
So, we have a very strong “Role Based Permissions” capability that
ensures that people aren’t able to see information that may be sensitive, and
may only be appropriate for certain people in the organization to have access to
(salary, performance ratings, etc). I
believe that there is no other software platform that is both as extensive and
complete with regards to securing sensitive HR data and privacy than SAP
SuccessFactors. This is
significant. It’s one thing to have the
size and scalability as we do, it’s another thing to be able to be able to
ensure everyday that employee data is private and secure.
And
we are also living in a much more connected world. Big Data, Social, Mobile are
important levers in order for companies to remain competitive, and the tools we
provide clients is world class. The onus
also needs to be on individuals, candidates, employees, to be selective on the
applications, networks and tools that they use, authorize and what they agree to
share. As someone who is personally
using a variety of forms of social networks, I derive great benefit from its use
– but I also think discretion and organization of these networks needs to always
be top of mind.
9.
What are the reactions you get from directors and HR departments of the
companies with the SAP SuccessFactors’
HCM Solution? How do they like it?
As
I shared previously, the usage of SAP SuccessFactors HCM applications around the
world is quite astounding. As a cloud solution, our solutions need to continue
to provide the excellence in usability and also drive business results for our
clients, or our software subscription service will not be renewed. So, we have
to be responsive, we have to be relevant and we also need to continue to be
innovative. It is truly amazing to see
how organizations across all industries have used our solutions to solve big
problems:CEOs of companies can use our apps to be able to see if their goals are
on track and where there may be bottlenecks.
Managers are able to see informative analytics that showcase how their
teams are doing and flag any issues and successes. The greatest reactions I get are around how
easy it is to use, and also how impressive the visibility of what is on track,
and what needs immediate attention, and clarity that leaders have for how it
helps them run their business.
10.
We also would like to know little bit about what employees think about it. Do
the employees matched by competencies feel satisfied and suitable? Are they
satisfied with the evaluation and rewards?
While
we do have matching capabilities, and tools that help drive process
efficiencies, the system from SAP Successfactors incorporates not just Talent
Acquisition, but also the capabilities around Talent Optimization. If clients
are looking to SAP SuccessFactors for matching competencies, then I think it
will be a vastly underutilized technology, and it won’t lead towards
satisfaction and suitability. In my
opinion, the greatest differentiator about our Talent Acquisition capabilities
are that the solution promotes your organization as a great place to work, and a
great place to aspire to work at.
Content, information, testimonials on your career portal, the use of
social capabilities, video these are all aspects that as a candidate help to
build a clear picture of who you will be as an employer. And beyond matching candidates for
suitability, there are also other capabilities that ensure the recruiter is able
to maximize their time with the right kinds of activities. Our tools also do a lot to automate
communications, but allow people to set the kinds of alerts and information they
want to receive. These tools ensure that
whether you are a candidate for a job, or an employee who is looking for another
opportunity for growth within the organization, that there are great features
and capabilities to help you. Because of
this, our clients report a much higher level of satisfaction with their
candidates and with employee engagement using the tools.
11.
Could you give us an idea what you would like to highlight during your speech at
Global HR Forum 2014 in Korea? It will be helpful if you tell us the keywords
that you want to highlight.
I
have a particular passion around finding ways that Employers can better connect
with the candidates or suspects within their addressable market. This is both an
art and a science, and often means that we may need to look to new strategies to
help companies differentiate in their value story to a candidate. I have interest in talking and sharing about
Recruitment Marketing, Talent Communities, Social, Mobile, and
Analytics.
12.
In your point of view, how do we trust each other and integrate society? In this
process, what could be the role of SNS?
I
think we tend to focus a lot about what makes us different, be it as a
generation, or geography, or in ideology. While they may be helpful labels for
how we organize our selvesto this point, it is often a significant leap from
there to then bring us into a point of bringing about connection. It’s obviously
not impossible, but clearly our understanding of people precedes our action to
want to integrate, and organizing by generation, geography or ideology is a
shrinking exercise not a growing one.The entry solutions of Social Networking
leveraged everything you said you were and opened the gates to what you had
forgotten. The people you went to school
with, the people you met at a function, or at a workplace, and reminded you of
their connection to you. Social Networks have expanded in utilization today,
although being labelled a technology (for purposes of how you access it and for
how it is valued in financial markets), is not about the technology. The genius of every social network out there
is not the technology, but rather its ability to get people together and get
things done. I think that the other
aspect that Social Networking is promoting is that if I’m connected with you,
then I have an implied “right” of conversation with you. Conversations help
build trust and integration. So Social
Networking is really one of the early points in this solution of integrating
society, and it needs to lead to both the opportunity to build trust, and to
start conversations.
13.
Could you tell us your idea of cultivating creativity in
people?
For
me, this is best done with asking better, bigger, maybe bolder questions. Just like we spoke of when we were
considering Big Data, we make this useful and beneficial by knowing what we want
out of it, as opposed to taking what we have a face value. For instance, as an HR professional or hiring
manager, the next time you interview someone ask them: What job do you want
after you are done with this one? Watch creativity move in the response they
provide. How much more free will someone
feel and elaborate on something if you remove the risk to them by showing that
you’re really interested in hiring them and truly interested in their goals, and
that they are free to consider every opportunity available to them in
life?
Remove
risk in barriers, allow people to think and express freely. Give people a chance to express their
dreams.
14.
Could you give an advice
for
Korean companies to improve their recruiting system? If you do not know a lot,
please give an advice for the companies with desire to hire right
people.
I
believe that the time is right for Korean companies to embrace Cloud solutions
more than ever before. Cloud solutions allow companies, specifically of smaller
and mid-level size to compete against the big and well-funded companies –
providing flexibility, innovation and reduced costs. Adopting a cloud solution doesn’t always mean
that you have to give up features or functionality. In fact, with the right solution (which may
be a combination of hybrid and on premise), the ability to combine the best
capabilities can often come to fruition.
Additionally, we’ve talked a lot about how adapting our thinking
or process re-design might in fact make your organization even more competitive
as well. Look for great solution partners.
Any new technology you want to consider requires different approaches,
configurations and user adoption. A
great partner can make all the difference.
15.
What would you like to say to the young currently searching for their jobs in
Korea?
The
greatest experiences of my career and indeed in life, happen when I’ve sought
out and followed the guidance of my small group of great mentors. Secondly, look
for opportunities in work and outside of it to study and think critically about
your chosen path. The ability to be able to adapt and learn will continue to be
the greatest assets in your journey.