Nigel Wright Recruitment

The effect of social media on business practices: An

overview of European trends

company introduction

company profile

• Founded in the United Kingdom in 1988

• Specialist in consumer sector recruitment in all key disciplines

• 65 Consumer Sector specialist consultants

• Full back office support, analysts, database and administration

• YOY growth of 22% averaged over past 4 years

• Full international reach through own network of office locations

Office locations

• London

• Newcastle

• Copenhagen

• Paris

• Stockholm

• Amsterdam

our vision, purpose and values

VISION

Our vision is to build a secure, socially responsible, and sustainable organisation of international acclaim where outstanding customer service and innovative solutions make us the best at what we do, the leader of our markets, and a great place to work.

PURPOSE

Our purpose is to deliver a recruitment solution that exactly matches the business needs of our customers by leveraging our knowledge and operational expertise in the specialist markets in which we operate.

VALUES

• Service Excellence

• Winning

• Fun 

• Excitement

• Drive

• Competitive

• International

• Enabling

• Innovate

capability

geographical scope

benefit

Nigel Wright provide insight into a specific marketplace, we

give our clients the opportunity to access global talent and

we are able to provide strategic input based on market

intelligence. We see our involvement with your company as

a strategic business alliance, enabling your company to

assemble an exceptional team.

what our clients say

When we were looking to recruit a Business Manager Nigel Wright were able to provide a shortlist of candidates

that fully met our requirements. The consultant who managed the recruitment process took the time to visit our

business and take the brief in person. The consultant's own industry experience was evident from his

understanding of our business and his professional networks enabled him to find precisely the individual that

we were looking for. This has enabled us to strengthen our existing team considerably.

FLORETTE – SANDY SEWELL, COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

Over several years Nike have established a highly effective working partnership with Nigel Wright. This

relationship has succeeded through Nigel Wright’s ability to source people who not only have the technical skills

that we require but perhaps more importantly to find people who possess the behavioural competencies that are

critical in helping Nike to retain its culture.

Additionally, Nigel Wright acting as our representative to people in the market continues to demonstrate a

number of attributes that have proven to be a major asset in helping us to attract quality people to our business,

not least: respect, common sense and a personalised customer service.

NIKE UK LTD - PETER WISNIEWSKI, HR DIRECTOR

the effect of social media on business practices:

an overview of European trends

executive summary

• Social media is ubiquitous - an integral part of people’s lives across the world – it is a phenomenal tool for communications.

• It is increasingly becoming the space where professional and private lives are lived across the world.

• Engaging with peer groups across a wide range of social networking platforms, is essential.

Key drivers

• Increased expectation amongst stakeholders that they should be

able to debate issues and share ideas with institutions across social

media platforms

• Rapid adoption by activist communities as a means of getting

publicity and support

The role of social media

• Tracks sentiment and give advance warning

• Rally supporters and mobilise/inspire internal audiences

• Supercharge customer relations

• Engage critics

• Facilitate stakeholder involvement in product, policy or service

development

• Sustain and amplify the impact of other marcoms

• Drive seo performance

• Measurement tool

T mobile flash mob

26 million views on youtube

Tahrir square Cairo

professional and social networking users worldwide

Leaders in professional and social networking: user numbers

• Facebook – 500 million

• Twitter – 200 million

• Linkedin: 85 million

• Viadeo: 35 million

• Xing: 10 million

recent developments

Integration of social and professional networking.

• Facebook launches LinkedIn ‘resume style’ profile for users and ‘work for us’ app. for employers.

• LinkedIn allows users to ‘follow’ companies and brands and integrates # hashtag function with Twitter

• Viadeo buys two social media sites (Tanji.com in China, ApnaCircle in India)

social media – good for business but is it good for recruitment?

• Knowledge sharing is made easier through the adoption of social media tools

• Companies can take advantage of this open access, but they need to understand the rules of engagement

• Candidates who want to be found are not necessarily the best for the difficult to fill roles

• The candidate database has not gone public - it is inaccurate, disorganised and incomplete.

Socail media challenge

Connected consumer

Able to scrutinise, debate

And share issues

Reveals silos

Underlines structural

weaknesses

Disconnected organisation

Unable to present a united

view

and respond to feedback

quickly

MEETS

Generation Y and the workplace

Generation y and the work place

• Flexible working

– 85% want to spend 30-70% of time working from home

• Other priorities

– Work life balance

– Personal development

– Exciting job

– Motivational management

Not afraid to ask and not afraid to walk away

Subverting the milk round

Employer brand

• The brand is on show

• Candidates will know far more about you that you know about them

• They will already have formed their views on your organisation and

the people in it.

the disadvantages of incorporating social media into recruitment practises

risks

There are limitations and risks associated with engaging future

employees via social media:

• Diversity

• Transparency

• Discrimination

• Confidentiality

• Branding

you only see what you see

Online profiles don’t necessarily paint an accurate picture of the

individual – candidates are selective:

• Some candidates are concerned about security issues

• Others are wary of being victims of discrimination

• Some use the space as a public resume – but it can’t always be

taken at face value

Being represented by a recruiter offers security - Candidates are more

willing to openly share relevant information in a confidential transaction.

employers perspective….

• Employees who promote themselves too effectively online, are vulnerable to poaching. Many companies restrict access to social networking during office hours.

• Most employers don’t allow confidentail information about the company to be published online. For example: key clients or sales targets achieved…

• These details are usually shared confidentially during a rigorous assesment process during a consultancy run recruitment assignment.

diversity: missing the talent…

Interesting demographics:

• Just over 80% of LinkedIn users are Caucasian and only 30% are at Director or Manager level. (Quantcast, 2010)

• Only a small percentage of social media users have postgraduate degrees. (Google, 2010)

• High earners (£100k+) are a minority (Google, 2010)

• World internet penetration rates from June 2010 highlight that 42% of Europeans are still not online. (World Internet Stats, 2010)

brand and reputation management

• To attract candidates companies have to be wary of how the ‘employer brand’ is perceived online.

• Hiring managers must work closely with marketers to get the message right – via social networking sites, corporate videos, blogs etc.

• When a hire is made, loyalty isn’t guaranteed - Social media allows employees to scrutinise their employers more than ever before.

• Ensuring employee retention is an important part of any recruitment strategy and another area where an intimate understanding of the role of social media is crucial.

• Social media sites are now beginning to compete for ‘employer branding’ space.

The social media trap

relationships matter

• With the arrival of social media, professional relationships have

been democratised.

• Checking a candidate’s credentials through his or her profile on

social media sites is global trend – but it isn’t reliable.

• Recruitment firms continue to add real value by knowing the on and

off line candidate pool intimately.

• You can’t replace real relationships with social media messages

new added value…

• As social media technology continues to evolves it presents an exciting opportunity for business communities over the next decade.

• In truth social media hasn’t created any new information it has just made some of what was already there more accessible to more people and in doing so it educates and informs.

• Sharing best practice and keeping in touch with peer groups and listening to demands and feedback from the market place is made easier

• Ultimately in staffing terms success will be measured by the quality of the shortlist. This is only achieved after a robust identification, interview and evaluation process.

Pros

• Cost effective - social media hiring is low cost and for low value or entry level hires is being considered by more and more clients

• Fast – There are many examples of employers using social media sites to make ‘quick’ interim hires.

• Employer Branding and Retention – There is a plethora of social media tools online for companies to effectively promote the employer brand to prospective hires and current employees. But still use the professional recruitment industry to manage their talent acquisition program.

Pros of using social media

Cons of using social media

Cons• Lacks diversity - 83% of LinkedIn users are Caucasian. (Quantcast,

2010)• Time consuming – too much information for companies who want

to conduct a detailed and robust search. This is where recruiters come into their own.

• Lack of control – managing brand outposts is tricky and inevitably negative content will slip through the net.

• Transparency – how reliable is candidate information online? • Discrimination – Personal information could lead to employers

being influenced by factors like race, religious views and age. • Limited – ultimately the candidate can decide what information they

are willing to share. You only see what you see

final thoughts…

• Although, as an employer, some quick gains can be achieved; using this method exclusively for recruitment, particularly beyond entry point hires is not recommended due to the limitations already highlighted

• You can’t rely on who may or may not have an online profile, nor can you be sure that the information contained in it is true.

• The main strengths of social media for a hiring company lie in allowing them to project their employer brand and reputation beyond where it is normally seen to enhance attraction and retention

any questions?