Face The Facts
February 28, 2008 by Geoff Jennings
Whether we like it or not, the workplace is going to evolve into an almost entirely electronic arena. What I mean by that is individuals will communicate with each other via the web, not face-to-face in an office. Businesses probably will not even have offices in times to come. All of the consultants from Online Recruitment, for instance, pretty much work from home. We have an office in Melbourne, which we use from time to time to conduct meetings and to meet with candidates, but we aim to be entirely online when the rest of the world catches up with our way of thinking.I don’t want to have a discussion about the pros and cons of this. Whenever I start to evaluate the costs and benefits of this way of operating, I feel as though I’ve stepped back in time and I’m having a chat to one of my printing colleagues about the evils of the printing press. I don’t dwell on stuff like this, I like to anticipate future directions and run with them. So don’t try to engage me on this point, it’ll bore the heck out of me.What does interest me, though, is the consequences of this new type of workspace. It is on this point that some really fascinating questions concerning the role of social networking arise. Humans are a social species. Even the most introverted of us gets a buzz out of having a good chat every now and again. But with no office; and therefore no water cooler, where are these chats going to take place. How is that special intimacy that develops between colleagues while they’re sipping their water from inadequately small plastic cups going to arise?The answer, my friends, is blowing in the ether. Social networking sites, such as Facebook, are going to become the means via which business provide employees with a forum for the all important team-building, for encouraging folks to get to know one another “outside work”; really all this amounts to is developing community. And whether they know it or not, that’s why companies like Seek have created a Seek Group within the Facebook space with about 6,700 members, even including younger family member Joel Bassat. (Shouldn’t you be doing your homework??) A CareerOne employee has started a CareerOne Facebook Group without any support. Probably because Myspace, owned by their parent company News Limited, is their focus for now with Myspace Jobs. And companies that have banned the use of Myspace and Facebook during working hours are gonna have to think long and hard about how the heck their people are going to communicate personally with each other when there are no longer four physical walls fencing them in. Onward and forward, folks.
Good article from Jo Knox over at http://www.Recruiterdaily.com.au
“By 2012, 80% of recruitment process will be done online.
Friday 29th February 2008 5:05 am EST
By 2012, more than 80 per cent of the entire recruitment process will be conducted online, with perhaps only a final interview with the successful candidate done face-to-face, says international recruitment process advisor Kevin Wheeler.
In a presentation to be delivered to the Australasian Talent Conference in April, Wheeler says the migration of the process online is being driven by “technology natives - younger people who have grown up in a multimedia world”.
And it is being enabled by the availability of cheap video cameras, ubiquitous broadband connections, and “sophisticated, video-savvy workers”.
“A 2012 recruitment scenario uses multiple media to make the recruitment process richer and more efficient. A candidate watches videos to get a good understanding of the corporate background, products, and history. She views interviews with current employees, and can even email them. For example, she has a 10-minute instant message conversation with a recent recruit, where he gives her a lot of insight into the recruitment process and the on-boarding practices,” says Wheeler.
Prospective candidates would be asked to submit videos and careers sites would have directions on how to do this and would manage the process quickly and efficiently, says Wheeler.
“An internal recruiter does a 20-minute video interview with her using Skype and sets up a series of interviews for the following week. Because the candidate can get a link to the profiles of those who will interview her, she’s able to find short videos of each person that provide insight into their personalities and interests.
“After about 90 minutes of interactive, informative, and mostly fun online activity, she has learned a great deal about the company, positions, corporate culture, and daily activities, and she has had an initial screening and set up interviews,” Wheeler says.
While the technology to manage all the above processes is currently available, only the most sophisticated employers and recruitment companies are currently using them, says Wheeler.
But inevitably the process will continue to migrate, he says.
He offers three top tips to improve careers websites:
Use multimedia - incorporate short videos; candid interviews and simple tours are best. Limit each video to less than three minutes and make them fun.
Incorporate interactivity - keep candidates on your site longer, build short polls for them to take or ask them to get involved in a chat room discussion.
Keep it real - make sure the tone of your website is real and practical. No one wants to read PR language; they want a site that is honest and open.”
Thanks Jo, hope you don’t mind me pasting it in here