How Can I Effectively Showcase HR Activities Online to Attract Top Technical Talent?

Hi All, I need urgent help. My senior management wants me to display HR activities on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., and also on the company's website for the purpose of promotion and attracting good employees. However, I have no idea what should be done for the same.

Challenges in Filling Technical Positions

They are asking for this because despite using the services of 6-7 consultants at a time and posting jobs on a leading job portal, we are struggling to fill a vacancy for a technical position.

Please provide your valuable advice.

The company needs to be seen as a progressive place to work and grow. Probably, you can post news about the employee engagement activities being practiced in your organization. This can include pictures of fun times, as well as pictures and write-ups on awards and achievements (duly vetted for accuracy). These kinds of inputs can give a proper image of your organization.

Suggestions for Promoting HR Activities

Prasha Solutions can provide you with the desired candidates. However, in connection to your post, I'd suggest the following points:

1.  Click the events (photographs) and share them.
2.  Explain your incentive and bonus schemes.
3. ✍️ Ask your happy employees to write good testimonials.
4.  Share weekend social event pictures and videos.
5.  Explain your work culture through stories and case studies.

There are many ways you can do the said thing.

Thanks & Regards,
Sameer Sinha
Manager - Business Development
Global Resourcing Division,
An Innovative Service Consulting by Ex-IITians
Prasha Solutions Private Limited,
New Delhi, INDIA.
Contact: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
Landline Number: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
“A rendezvous for job seekers and employers…”

“If there is a will, then there is a way.” At the age of 62, I am doing digital marketing of my skills through LinkedIn and Facebook. Instead of thinking that it is yet another undesirable office task, do it as a fun way of using modern tools and technology for the benefit of your organization and also developing your own skills as well. Just visit these two platforms, see what and how others are using them, and try to improve upon the same for your organization. Take the help of your system administrator or IT head in this direction. In 1987, when I got my first desktop, there was nobody to teach or guide. I learned everything by myself. Now, so many opportunities are there, but people are not willing to experiment and learn! This is the sign of the times, perhaps...

You don't necessarily need to have an HR page on your website. You can rename it as "Careers" or "Life @" etc. I have tried to give it a simple attention-grabbing link as "careers." Only job seekers go through your Career site, so make it attractive for your job seekers or potential employees.

Make a simple page that contains everything. No one is interested in clicking multiple links, going to different places, and getting lost. Keep it simple and available in one place. That will make things easy.

http://brdcarworld.com/careers

Dear Nehaa Singh, Giving incomplete information and asking for suggestions is the bane of this forum. By providing your incomplete post, you have made it even more challenging.

Understanding Your Industry

What is the nature of your industry? What is your financial turnover? Are you a private limited or public limited company? What is your designation? What employee-friendly practices do you have? What kind of candidates are you unable to attract?

A part of your post states, "Despite taking services of 6-7 consultants at a time and posting jobs on a leading job portal, we are having a tough time filling a vacancy for a technical position." The root cause of your problem lies in this statement. However, to overcome this issue, it remains to be seen how helpful social media will be. All you can do is create a page on Facebook and LinkedIn. However, how many job aspirants will follow this page?

Reflecting on Company Brand Image

If you are unable to attract candidates, it is nothing but a reflection of your company's brand image in the job market. "Why should I join you?" When a candidate asks this question, you should have a valid and reasonable reply. Furthermore, "What differentiates employees who work in our company?" You need to have a reply ready for this question as well.

Employee Satisfaction and Advocacy

What about your existing employees on board? Are they satisfied with the company? Do they act as positive spokespersons in the job market, or do they discourage others from joining? Leaders at the top often have a disconnect from the ground reality on these questions. They live in an ivory tower and believe that throwing money should attract good job candidates. However, the challenge of the 21st century is that employees have become choosy, and the economic benefits that worked in the 20th century no longer do. Many HR departments know the truth, but they pretend everything is rosy and echo the leadership.

Social Media Presence

You may hire an ad agency to create a page on FB or LinkedIn, but they can only create a page and nothing more. The effectiveness much depends on the type of posts you upload. Will these posts help promote the brand image in the job market?

Creating Brand Pull

What your HR Head needs to do is conduct a brainstorming session on how to create brand pull in the job market. Your employees are the ones who will provide the best ideas. If your house is not in order, you will not be able to attract job candidates no matter what.

By creating pages on FB or LinkedIn or elsewhere, you may establish your presence on social media. However, mere existence on social media is not enough to create a brand pull. It is far more comprehensive, and you have to work hand in hand with the marketing department. Whatever your designation is, your seniors have delegated this task to you. Is the delegation of this assignment a reflection of their mindset?

All the best

Dinesh Divekar

I agree to a large extent with what Dinesh Divekar mentioned. Displaying HR activities on social media portals and your company's homepage serves a totally different purpose than what is being intended here—to fill a particular position. All the displays do is project an impressive image of the company, but they have to be backed by actual ground realities.

Also, please note that even if you post the slickest display, everyone—notably techies—only reads it for the preliminary inputs. They aren't taken as the gospel truth—let's be realistic: no company ever says it's a lousy company to work for...right?

You haven't mentioned the level of seniority of the position that you have tried to fill, except that it's a technical position. Usually, mid and senior-level persons really don't care what the companies write about themselves on their websites—except for the preliminary data. They have their own ways of sifting out the facts from fiction.

Being in the field of recruiting for quite a few tough-to-get skills in a wide range of domains/sectors, I can say that you may need to focus on analyzing the reasons for not being able to fill this position. It may not really have anything to do with the company's image. It could have to do with the job role and responsibilities, the CTC, or possibly some sort of adverse comments over the internet. The job description could have been improperly done to put off, rather than attract, the right talent. For the 'adverse comments' part, I suggest going through sites like mouthshut.com, etc., to check if your company figures in any of the postings by some disgruntled ex-employees.

If you are in a field/sector that's very niche—meaning not many companies in that sector—like Dinesh mentioned, and you haven't mentioned this aspect too, you can be sure that word spreads out very fast among the limited number of people working in that field. Any amount of rosy postings/displays in social media won't neutralize the effect of word-of-mouth.

If you are interested, please mail me the job details in a private message—I can see if there's anything we can do to handle this better.

Regards,
TS

Dear Dinesh Divakar ji, Hi, I am working as an HR Executive in our small IT company, which has 18-20 employees. We are currently looking to fill an executive-level position requiring at least 1 year of experience. Despite receiving a good number of candidates for interviews who meet our criteria, none of them seem to succeed. The feedback from the interviews indicates that they lack basic knowledge. I am making every effort to bring in candidates strictly based on the criteria, but the senior management is placing the blame on me.

Hello Nehaa Singh, I agree to a large extent with what Dinesh Divekar mentioned. Displaying HR activities on social media portals and your company's homepage serves a different purpose than filling a specific position. While these displays project an impressive image of the company, they must be supported by actual ground realities. Even if you post polished content, individuals, especially tech professionals, primarily use it for preliminary information. They do not take it as the ultimate truth, as no company openly admits to being unfavorable to work for.

Position Seniority and Recruitment Challenges

You have not specified the level of seniority for the position you are trying to fill, other than it being a technical role. Typically, mid and senior-level candidates may not rely heavily on what companies publish on their websites, except for initial data. Having experience in recruiting for challenging skills across various domains, I suggest analyzing the reasons for the difficulty in filling this position. It may not necessarily relate to the company's image but could be due to the job role, responsibilities, salary package, negative online comments, or an inadequately defined job description that repels suitable candidates.

Addressing Negative Online Perceptions

In case there are any negative comments online, I recommend checking platforms like mouthshut.com to see if any disgruntled former employees have posted about your company. If your field is niche, where word spreads quickly among a limited circle, it is crucial to address any negative perceptions that may overshadow positive social media content.

If you are interested, please email me the job details privately, and I can explore if there are ways to improve the recruitment process.

Regards, TS

As I guessed, it looks like there's a serious mismatch between the JD given to you and what the interviewers are looking for. I have seen this happen quite often in small IT companies—more so when the company culture is more about 'finding the scapegoat' than resolving the problem. I am not sure whose idea it was in your company to display the issue about the company on social media—it seems more like a diversionary tactic than a step towards resolution.

Please post the JD that you are using to find the candidates here so that suggestions can be given to better focus and improve the results of your efforts.

Regards,
TS

JD for PHP Developer

- 1+ years of software development experience in Core PHP.
- Understanding of open-source projects like Joomla, Drupal, Wikis, osCommerce, etc.
- Demonstrable knowledge of web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, etc.
- Good knowledge of relational databases, version control tools, and developing web services.
- Experience in common third-party social APIs (Google, Facebook, eBay, etc).
- Experience in common third-party payment gateway APIs (PayPal, Payza, Authorize.net, Ipayout, STP, etc).
- Experience in PhoneGap technologies.
- Passion for best design and coding practices and a desire to develop new bold ideas.
- BE, B. Tech, BCA, MCA degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related subject.

Out of these, the first line is the most important criterion for shortlisting candidates.

Also, please let me know if I am the only HR person here, so is it my work to improve or edit the JD, as it is a technical profile, and I am not from a technical background.

This is the problem, sir. They are not trying to see that there could be other things responsible for this issue. For every recruitment-related matter, they are accusing me. When I mention that I have posted the job opening on a leading job portal, but still, not many applications are coming in, perhaps because the posting has been there for the last 3 months, this reduces efficiency. They question, "What do you think, are people not applying on the job portal?"

Moreover, when I explain that we are working with 5 consultancies simultaneously and have a good lineup (approximately 80+ people interviewed in the last 20 days), they criticize the consultancies, claiming they waste our time and have become a weakness.

The most concerning part is the HR activities they want me to showcase on social media are non-existent in the office. They dismiss this by saying many companies fabricate HR activities, implying it's not an issue.

"I am putting in efforts to attract candidates based strictly on the criteria, yet the senior management blames me," is a sentiment expressed by many HR professionals. Holding HR accountable for candidates not showing up for interviews or joining is unreasonable. HR facilitates recruitment based on specialized criteria defined by respective departments. As an HR professional, framing the job description of a technical role may not be within your expertise.

Individuals seek growth, fair compensation, and a positive work environment when considering a job offer. Companies embodying these qualities naturally attract a high volume of applicants. Blaming HR seems like an easy way out.

As an HR representative, offer professional insights on job descriptions, industry-standard compensation, and benefits. Manage interview arrangements, document verification, and coordinate with candidates for interview schedules. The decision to accept an offer rests with the candidate, beyond HR's control. Focus on executing your HR responsibilities competently, and the company will recognize its shortcomings compared to competitors, prompting necessary adjustments or revisions in requirements.