Jobs in Pods Blog

We’d like to introduce the recruiting version of the Social Media Starfish, made popular by blogger Robert Scoble. Over the course of this year we will be blogging about how employers can take advantage of each of these tools in an effort to promote themselves and attract candidates.

Its a social media world out there. Time for companies to dive in.

According to eMarketer, podcasting is on a massive growth spurt. This is good news for all corners of the podcasting world. And we think it is proof that podcasting is here to stay.

Update: our Jobcaster, Peter Clayton has an interview with eMarketer about this report.

I just listened to a podcast interview about Best Buy’s internal social network called Blue Shirt Nation. During the interview they mentioned a statistic that absolutely blew us away.

Normal turnover rates for retail employees is 40-60%. However turnover rates for those employees ENGAGED on Blue Shirt Nation is only 8%.

Now if that isn’t proof positive that social networks can improve your retention efforts and keep employees engaged, then nothing will convince you about the power of social networks.

The podcast and related blog post is on the Marketing Edge. Get it here. It’s a must-listen.

Note: Blue Shirt Nation has 18,000 employee members.

One of the challenges we sometimes face with getting companies to use Jobs in Pods is getting it approved from within HR senior management. Normally when a company calls us, it’s usually a lower level HR person who came across the service and wants more info. Inevitably they have to “get back to us” after running it by their boss(s).

Being such a new technology we understand that the approval process can take time. There are some in HR who still don’t understand the power of social media as a recruiting tool. But the world is changing. The next generation workforce has already integrated social media: blogs, podcasts, social networks into their daily lives. They will EXPECT business to do the same once they enter your doors.

Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester Research has a great post on how you can approach your management and get “buy in” when it comes to social media. Here’s an excerpt with a link to the full post at the end;

Look at the coming generation
I suggested that a conversation start with executives about the changes in communication, and if they have pictures of kids of their desk, that’s a good way to start the conversation. Ask you senior leaders how their kids communicate, if they don’t (perhaps they’re too busy running the company) ask them to take a closer look, and get back to you. My former CEO analyzed that his kids were using IM on PC, surfing the web, Text messaging on phone, school work on the couch next to them and the TV on in the background…and that was considered studying!

Immigrants vs Natives, guess who wins?
This next generation of digital immigrants are using the the web and other digital channels to communicate, update each other, and talk (Forrester’s 2007 stats indicates nearly two-thirds of teens access a social network at least once a month) and nearly 1/3 of adults access social networks a month. This doesn’t include other tools, just social networks. The truth is, this next generation of natives will enter the workforce with connections to employees, customers, prospects, partners, and even competitors, firms must be ready.

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