HR 2010 predictions

WHAT’S IN

WHAT’S OUT

• Wise use of LinkedIn by recruiters

To tag their business contacts, candidates, friends, etc., to announce job openings, communicate corporate recruiting events, seek out high potentials, maintain and develop their network, and entice Quebecers back to the province with local career opportunities.

• Automated responses and online forms

Recruiters who overuse automated responses provided by IT solutions or Outlook in order to avoid having to write minimally personalized responses.

Online forms designed for perfect candidates who are experts at adding the right key words to their profile in order to be contacted.

• Social media

LinkedIn is not the only one; there are many other social networking tools available, depending on whether you’re looking for foreign candidates (Spokes, Viadeo, etc.) or local French-speaking candidates (Xing). All you need to do is find the one that best meets your recruiting needs. Nothing is stopping you from using Facebook or LinkedIn along with other relevant sites. Stay connected and on the leading edge.

In this regard, I highly recommend Connected by Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, Harvard University professor, and James H. Fowler, PhD, social scientist and associate professor at the University of California (San Diego). It’s on my Christmas list!

• Lipdubbing

No need to get a special budget for this—the trend is already over and the younger generations are no longer interested. Nothing really earth shattering has been done since the latest successes.

• Mass e-mails to broadcast your job postings and announcements

• Authentic relations and a high-quality employer offer

Employees and candidates want meaningful relations. They want to know your company and what you can really offer them. They want you to be sincere and give it to them straight, even if it isn’t necessarily what they want to hear.

• Stock answers

“You were a close second.”

“Only selected candidates will be contacted.”

• Exploratory interviews

Don’t wait to have a need to fill to get to it. Be proactive and permanently on the lookout for the best talents available. Reach out to them and invest your time in meeting with them to see if they could match your culture and values. Stay in touch so that you can contact them when the timing is right.

• Old-school recruiters

Those who put candidates through interviews and don’t listen, so obsessed are they with their job opening. Those who make you feel like a big fat, worthless zero. Those who don’t make you feel comfortable during interviews and who never tell you what’s going on, don’t follow up and don’t return their calls or e-mails.

Those who only remember you when you get a promotion or change companies.

• Added-value interviews

Meetings that will provide candidates with the opportunity to find out more about the company – information complementary to that on the website or in the annual report. Equal-to-equal exchanges that leave candidates with the feeling that even if the job is not right for them, the company is great and they should not hesitate to recommend it to all their friends (including those on Facebook!).

• Unprepared recruiters

Those who don’t know the company’s most recent performance, its strategic plan, mission, or vision of its CEO and managers. Those who focus solely on technical skills without bothering to find out who you really are.

• The convergence and synergy between the internal communication, marketing and HR departments

Advertising for your products or services and job ads: There will be an increasing consistency between the image and messages addressed to consumers, customers, employees and candidates.

• Newspaper job ads as sad and boring as a household appliance instruction manual!

• Innovation

With fewer resources and a smaller budget, it is likely 2010 will be quite challenging in terms of finding the best talents available at a lower cost. Starting in January, harness your creative side in making a difference with your pool of employees and candidates. Bet on your time, availability and flexibility being your best assets.

Here are some ideas: Web 2.0 (properly used, costs virtually nothing for now), media relations, internal and external visibility operations (have corporate tours, give talks, forge partnerships and create ties with associations).

• HR budget planning

Despite hiring needs, now is not the time to rack up expenses, so don’t waste time in drafting budgets that will no doubt be adjusted downwards come the end of Q1 when results are tabled. Be sharp and anticipate!