THE EMPLOYER SIDE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA EQUATION FOR HIRING

​We recently published a blog post titled "The Job Seeker Side of the Social Media Equation for Hiring." So it makes sense that we would also address the employer side of the equation.
The reason is simple: social media is an unavoidable part of the employment marketplace. The younger a person is, the more ingrained social media is in their personal and professional life. Even older workers have multiple social media accounts and use them to a considerable extent.
So the conclusion is this: from an employer's perspective, social media can NOT be ignored.
With job seekers, it doesn't matter if they're looking for a new position or not. Social media can and does have an effect on their current job and their career. Conversely, with employers, it doesn't matter if they're looking for new employees or not. Social media can and does have an effect on their organization.
Let's take a look at those two scenarios separately: when an employer is looking for new employees and when they're not.
When they're NOT looking for new employees
This is when an organization might be tempted to ignore social media, but that would be a mistake. This speaks to the topic of employer branding. Not only do job seekers expect a company to have a presence on social media, but so do that company's employees.
Speaking of which, a company's employees represent a great way to leverage the power of social media. That's because they all have accounts, as well, and could do quite a lot to brand the organization through the various channels. When a company's employees use social media to say positive things about their employer, that's a powerful branding message that's difficult to ignore.
When they ARE looking for new employees
This is when a company can really leverage the power of social media, and it can do so in a couple of different ways. The first way is proactive, while the second way is more passive.
That first way is to actively promote job openings through social media channels. This can be done more effectively with LinkedIn, the professional social media network. However, it can also be done to varying degrees of success with some of the other popular platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. Not only can company officials get more exposure for their open positions, but they can also direct job seekers to the place on the company website where they can apply for those positions.
The second way is to promote the company itself through social media channels. That's because, from an employer's perspective, if you're not "selling" an open position to job seekers, then you're "selling" the organization. Company culture is extremely important in this day and age, and social media is an effective tool for promoting that culture.
It doesn't matter what kind of organization you are. It doesn't matter what kind of employees you hire. The fact of the matter is that you can NOT simply ignore social media.
There is no "neutral branding" with social media in regards to employers. If you don't participate, it reflects poorly on your organization and its attempts to hire.