Q&A: LinkedIn's VP of APAC talent and learning solutions on social recruiting

More and more companies are embracing social media as a way to connect with, and attract new talent. Whether you’re a fan or not, social recruiting is on the rise.

Recent research conducted by LinkedIn found that over half of surveyed APAC recruiters agree that their hiring process would be negatively impacted without social recruiting, affecting their time to hire, pipeline, quality of candidate, and hiring costs.

Human Resources magazine spoke to Feon Ang, vice-president of APAC talent and learning solutions at LinkedIn about why social recruiting matters, investing in an online presence, and the rise of chatbots.

Q: Please name the one biggest benefit to social recruiting from a company perspective, as well as a potential downside.

Social recruiting is a win-win situation for both companies and talent: It enables companies to identify and connect with hard-to-find quality talents; and it opens up the door for talents to discover new opportunities they otherwise might not know of.

Active job seekers only account for 36% of the workforce, but in fact 9 in 10 people would like to hear about new opportunities. This means there is a large passive talent pool for recruiters to tap into, making social recruiting the ideal matchmaker.

What it does is more than connecting companies with talents; it also enables direct communication and engagement between them. This helps build trust and provides a good start to the job matching process.

A key consideration for moving to social recruiting is that recruiters are expected to invest more in building their online presence. This shouldn’t be cause for concern, however, as we have seen an increasing trend of HR departments working closely with marketing & communications teams to create great results.

Q: Is social recruiting the way forward for all companies and industries?

Social recruiting is the way forward for everyone as social media has become ingrained in our lives. Companies today can no longer simply post job advertisements and expect results.

As the internet has made information more accessible than ever, talents will go to great lengths to learn about a job opening and the company at large online before committing to an interview, let alone an offer. As such, companies are no longer selling just a job, but themselves as a brand to talents. That is why it makes a huge difference when companies take the initiative to engage with talents on a personal level.

We have seen success cases of social recruiting across various industries, including hospitality, online retail, and transport, just to name a few.

Q: "Social recruitment is so much more than simply being present on social platforms," the study states. In practice, does a social recruitment strategy add to HR's workload by requiring recruiters to constantly engage online?

It’s not just about being present on social platforms, but communicating your company’s unique value proposition. Is it that you’re a purpose-driven company? Or that you invest in your employees’ individual growth? Whatever your unique employer value is, be sure to show it on social media.

This does not have to come from HR alone; employees can be your advocates on social media too. But no matter how you do it, a strong employer brand is surely the key to winning the battle for awesome talent.

Q: Do you think social recruiting and the increased emphasis on the candidate experience signals the merging of HR and marketing functions?

In today’s digital era, it is time for HR to be social-savvy and learn to think like marketers. While both HR and marketing add value to an organisation, one plus one equals more than two when they join forces.

The candidate experience consists of many facets, from the first look at the job ad to the interview itself, and through to the follow-up. To stand out from the rest, a company is to orchestrate efforts from both HR and marketing for stronger employer branding.

Q: In combination with the rise of chatbots and AI, do you expect social recruiting will lead to HR job losses in the future?

To recruiters, chatbots and AI are partners, not threats. Recruiters will benefit from the rise of AI as it improves the recruiting process for them in many ways. It increases efficiency and improves timing for candidate outreach, as well as the matching process.

Human interaction is at the heart of recruiting, and it is here to stay. As AI takes up the administrative work for them, HR will have more time to focus on fostering the relationship with candidates and building the employer brand for the company.

Q: The percentage of employers in SEA & Hong Kong who feel their hiring would suffer without social recruitment is lower than the percentage for Australia & New Zealand. Why do you think that is?

As we continue to grow in Hong Kong and SEA, it takes time for companies to realise the value of social recruiting, and companies are more cautious in their investment in this new hiring approach. In more mature markets like Australia & New Zealand, social recruiting has become the norm, and more companies are already reaping its benefits.

Q: Do you see any difference in value social recruiting can bring to local companies versus MNCs based in Hong Kong?

One key feature about social recruiting is that all companies – regardless if they are MNCs or local players – get to tap into the same talent pool through the same membership network. This implies an advantage to local companies as they get a chance to compete with MNCs on equal ground when they invest in social recruiting.

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