As recruiters you have undoubtedly all utilised social media tools to help build and engage with your current and potential client and candidate communities - but how many of you have thought of it as a key element of your reputation management?
Let’s take the example of a disgruntled or extremely happy client – if they communicate their experience to others over a coffee then the spread of that message will be quite slow. But with social media those messages can be amplified on an exponential level. If you doing nothing else with social media you should at least be using it to listen because as well as being an amplifier, it is also an enabler. If you can hear what those people are saying about you over their coffee – then you can do something about it!
The Joey Quits video on YouTube is a great example of social media in action. The video shows Joey resigning his job live from a well-known hotel chain in the US because of poor working conditions. As well as racking up over four million views, being it also led to a website joeyquits.com which campaigned for hotel workers’ right - that campaign led to coverage in USA Today and the New York Times.
While this video was going viral, the employer was nowhere to be seen and a quick look at their corporate recruitment website revealed some stock photography and general corporate jargon about what a great employer they were. There was no video content of employees, no authentic case studies – nothing at all that could counter Joey’s video.
Then there is the very well- known recruitment firm which had some good careers content on its YouTube channel but which, up until a couple of years ago, didn't upload fresh content very often. Which is why, when you searched for them there was a clip from a disgruntled candidate who had recorded a voicemail he had been left by a consultant who appears to be giggling as she tells him is contract has ended. There’s been no attempt to engage with the candidate – and the clip has had over 2000 views – more than some of their careers content!
It was Warren Buffet who said: “ If you lose dollars for the firm though bad decisions, I will be understanding. If you lose reputation for the firm I will be ruthless.” Food for thought?