Corey Protzman joined our firm last year and has been learning our sourcing and selection business at an accelerated rate! She brings experience in the tech business as well as a Graduate Degree in Organizational Leadership. Corey is guiding our clients with fresh insight and taking them to the next level in social media recruiting. I was relieved to hear our amazing millennial team member say that we didn’t have to master every aspect of social media overnight. She said, “find the pace that is right for your organization, get involved or be left behind.” Corey has inspired us to embrace this communication platform and leverage the tools and connections in ways that supports our core value – building relationships that matter with our clients and our colleagues.
I decided that you must meet Corey, our newest member of the SBCo team and hear her point of view on diving into social media feet first!
Sherry Benjamins: What has surprised you the most about how companies use social media?
Corey Protzman: You don’t have to be a “Social Media Guru” to effectively use social media. In fact, it is a stretch for anyone to call themselves a guru of social media as this suggests complete knowledge and understanding. The unpredictability of social media is why many organizations follow the simple recipe of a Facebook business page followed by a Twitter presence and a following of fans. Some even opt for a short-cut of purchasing fans/followers to make the process quicker (sidenote: this is NOT a good idea). In this day and age, that simple recipe is only going to get you stale and bland. It is time for organizations to take a multi-pronged and customized approach to social media. Do you have a visually impactful organization (I am looking at you, National Geographic)? If yes, then consider Instagram and Pinterest. Make sure you also understand your audience. Are you targeting Millennials? If yes, it is time to get active on Twitter. Pursuing adults ranging from 35-55? Prioritize Facebook and LinkedIn.
SB: How do you see social media changing the recruiter/candidate conversation?
CP: Social media should be a dialogue, not a monologue. Human Resources teams must actively engage with candidates. Active engagement does not equate to tweets that say, "I'm recruiting for a [position title] to work for [company name] located in [town way beyond your commute.]" There is no engagement in those tweets. Followers do not have a call to action and it doesn’t address the pivotal question of “What’s in it for them?” Think of social media as a way to build relationships with a community of talent and have a real conversation about real interests and real skills. Someday that person may join your organization or share needs with a friend. Cold calling is 20th century and candidate conversation is 21st century. Zappos has tackled this head one with their “Zappos Insider Program” and elimination of job postings.
A client of ours recently hired a full time Recruiter Consultant to develop future pipelines for talent. They are having conversations with individuals to learn about their interests, their career and how to help them develop their skills. Social tools support taking this real conversation to ongoing dialogue and authentic relationship building.
SB: Are you seeing traditional brands translate their messaging into a contemporary social space? A message you can connect to?
CP: Some people reading this may be thinking I don’t have that recognizable brand to start with or “we’re a traditional brand that can’t translate into this modern social space”. It may be time to rethink that logic; there is a spot in social for all organizations. For instance, Coca-Cola is paving the way when it comes to cultivating content, engaging its audience, and generating material that their followers can share. All their accounts speak to their vision and are invested in personalized experiences and customer (and future employee) touches. On Twitter, about 83% of Coca-Cola’s Tweets are direct @Replies (even direct replies to competitors as seen below!).
Many organizations can post content, but few engage and generate opportunities for followers to be indirect brand advocates. When done correctly, content shared by an organization on Facebook is seen by more non-fans than fans uniquely due to content sharing, liking, and commenting!
The important takeaways when it comes to social media:
Marketing messages should be integrated in recruiting. Make sure your organization’s vision is involved in every part of your recruiting strategy.
Tailor your strategy to fit your organization’s brand and the target candidate.
No organization is too old to make an impact on social media.
There is not one way to tackle this – experiment and don’t be afraid to try the next great tool as long as your philosophy on connecting with others is your foundation.
Focus on personalization and conversational interactions – find someone on your team that is passionate about this and give them the lead.
Need help navigating the social media world? We offer customized consulting to help teams figure out how social media can be a component of their recruiting success strategy. Want to learn more? Contact Corey Protzman at corey@sbcompany.net.
What’s New at S. Benjamins & Co
Our team has been very busy on the training and recruiting end this summer. Katherine Moody, one of our most loved SBCo colleagues, has been teaching and mentoring recruiters to be Trusted Advisors and helps them establish a new consultative relationship with their Hiring Managers. Lucky for our clients and colleagues, she has written and published her most recent book on this topic, which can be found here:
S. Benjamins & Co., with Corey’s help, is actively immersed in the changing patterns of social media as it relates to engaging with top talent.
Many of our clients confide in us that they are bombarded with the latest and greatest tools for social, but few are addressing the how of social. Our team is beginning a three-part workshop series with our Introduction Session planned September 30th from 9 – 11 am in Irvine (location TBD).
Watch for your formal invitation; “It’s not the What but it’s the How: A hands-on look at social recruiting”.
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Feedback on this Newsletter:
"Sherry - this is one of the best newsletters I have seen. I think your readers will really be inspired to rethink their social media efforts. Great job to you (and Corey)!!!"
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