It is not hype, social media has pervaded everyday life comprehensively. In its uses, social media has transcended its nomenclature, and is now regularly used for activities that are traditionally considered, not ‘social’, such as job recruitment. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), approximately 84% of organizations used social media for recruitment in 2015.
“Social media platforms can be searched to identify and connect with those people who possess the skills an organizationneeds. Skill gaps throughout the organization can be more easily identified when HR is integrated with other systems like production, finance and supply chain,” contends Mr. Raaid Damati, Human Capital SaaS Sales Strategy Director, Oracle, ECEMEARegion. Oracle is a Gold sponsor at the upcoming 2nd annual HR Tech Summit organized by QnA International.
Mr. Damati is right, the number of individuals on social media increases the size of the talent pool. However, social media recruitment is not only carried out through LinkedIn which has 100 million subscribers, but also through Facebook which has 1.5 billion subscribers, Twitter which has 320 million subscribers and Instagram which accounts for 400 million subscribers according to Statista- an online statistics portal.
Leveraging these social media sites can be done effectively and efficiently through the use of digital HR systems which can traverse the large amounts of data while reducing the company time and resources used for these functions. “The biggest contribution that a digital HR environment makes is the ability to move with an employee from recruitment and on-boarding through to development, skills assessment, performance management and career path advancement. Furthermore, digital technologies automate dozens of routine HR operations, thus freeing up HR staff to add more value to the company’s management of its staff,” continued Mr. Damati.
HR digital systems add value to both employer and employee stressed Mr. Damati, who said “From the employer’s perspective, there is the ability to view all aspects of company performance in terms of productivity and the efficacy of the skills sets, and from the employee’s perspective the ability to develop their own career paths and track their performance.” Skill upgrading is becoming extremely important in today’s organization which can provide both hard and soft skill development programmes through digital HR systems.
HR functions once digitized will free up time and resources for organizations to concentrate on talent development, measuring and increasing worker productivity, planning for new skills sets as the business grows and changes, nurturing diversity and worker well-being, all which will contribute towards improving productivity and staff satisfaction.
“The way in which we conduct business is drastically and continuously changing. Reskilling and redeployment is more cost-effective and less disruptive than firing and rehiring. In all elements of the employee’s work journey, savings are realized through the use of innovative systems,’’ stressed Mr. Damati.
Furthermore, “With software solutions and applications moving to a new model of delivery—software as a service (SaaS)—organizations of all sizes can take advantage of sophisticated features and functions that were once available only to large enterprises,” said Mr. Damati, suggesting that all organizations in the UAE can take advantage of these systems and social media for recruitment.
“Organizations in the UAE and across the world are familiar with Oracle systems, and to have them present their ideas and concepts for HR at the Summit is exciting. We are looking forward to their keynote presentation which will tackle issues in HR recruitment and turnover, amongst others,’’ said Sidh N.C, Director, QnA International.
The 2nd annual HR Tech Summit is scheduled to be held from 18-19th May, 2016 in Dubai, UAE.
