Is social media changing how employers recruit new talent?

The use of social media to recruit new talent is increasing according to new research commissioned by workplace experts, Acas.

The research, carried out by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) for Acas, looked at how and why HR professionals and employers use social media when recruiting staff and the implications for the workplace, including the benefits and risks.

The research included a poll of 400 HR decision makers, a literature review and three case studies. It found that:

Get our essential weekday HR news and updates. URL This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Work Email Keep up with the latest in HR... This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_form This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_date Year Month Day This field is hidden when viewing the form Batch_Newsletter

• Forty-five per cent of HR decision makers said they were already using social media tools in recruitment and 16 per cent said they were planning to in future
• Around 40 per cent said they would make greater use of them in the future
• Social media tools are often used as well as traditional recruitment strategies
• There are a range of ways in which social media is used in the recruitment process including searching for potential candidates online and ‘screening’ candidates by viewing their social media profiles
• The main reasons for not using social media were a preference for more traditional forms of recruitment and concerns over privacy.

Andrea Broughton, IES report author, said:

“Our research has found that there has been an increase in the number of employers using social media when recruiting, often to complement more traditional recruitment methods.

“The extent to which the profession relies on its use depends on factors such as the size and sector the organisation operates in. For example, young growth companies were more likely to use social media.”

Anne Sharp, Acas Chief Executive, said:

“Organisations are getting more sophisticated about using social media when recruiting new employees. Employers should not be afraid to use these tools, but they need to consider the potential issues. For example, increasing the use of social media will require employers to think more strategically about their whole recruitment process and the extent to which it is appropriate and relevant to seek information about a potential employee’s private life as part of a fair process.”

Acas launched the first guide of its kind on How to handle social media in the workplace