Days ago, I received a pdf deck from my friend, which is called "Global Economy Impact on China HR Practice" by Hewitt China. There are some China data about market reaction to economy downturn, impact on HR budget, impact on C&B planning, salary adjustment and impact on employee variable payouts/budgets as well as their suggestion on HR strategy in 2009.
You can download this deck from my box file: "Global Economy Impact on China HR Practice"
BTW, I also would like to share one article from ERE, which called "13 Trends In Corporate Recruiting for 2009", in which the red hightlights are my personal comments about that specific trend.
The Latest Trends in Corporate Recruiting
Based on conversations with recruiting leaders, questions asked during seminars, advisory requests, and best-practice research, expect to see an increased emphasis in:
Upgrading employment branding.
Nothing is hotter around the globe in recruiting than employment branding. Firms throughout Asia, in particular, are increasingly adopting employment branding as a wildly important activity for 2009. The success of Google, a firm that has built the world’s strongest employment brand over an amazing five-year period, has led others to focus on this impactful long-term strategy. Key focus areas include increasing media coverage, increasing visibility online, building your “green” brand, and countering your “negative” employment brand. Firms to watch: Facebook, Google, Yum Brands, Tata, E&Y, Enterprise, U.S. Army, and Sodexo.
My comments: there is an obvious trend in China which more and more companies are going to conduct their employer branding projects to define or refine their EVP and communication strategy in China through field research including street intercept, leadership interview, internal & external focus groups and concept test. This will become a hot business opportunity those HR consulting firms should look at.
Reinvigorating referral programs.
Despite the growth of career-related Internet sites, the highest volume and quality candidates still come from well-designed employee referral programs. While heavy adoption was initially hampered by cultural issues around the world, today such programs are proving highly effective everywhere. Key focus areas include proactively approaching key employees for referrals (program targeting), leverage non-employee referrals, making reward systems more comprehensive, immediate, and visible, and last but not least, helping employees leverage social media to restore relationships, make new relationships, and build stronger relationships. Firms to watch: AmTrust Bank, Edward Jones, Whirlpool, and Amazon.com.
My comments: If we look at the sourcing channel breakdown, the contribution of employee referral bonus program has accounted for 20%-40% of total new hires. It's always the most efficient and cost effective way to source qualified candidates. However, if you want to drive the ERBP ratio up to next level, you might think about innovative solution to reengineering the exsiting program. Another trend is that the the scope of eligible referrer will be expanded to Alumni referral, external referral by candidates and social networking referrals etc. We will see more business model like external referral by candidates with award in money or exchangeable gifts or bonus.
Renewing the focus on quality of hire
As a result of strong research by organizations like staffing.org, recruiting leadership has begun to refocus its efforts on identifying factors that increase the quality or the on-the-job performance of new hires. Key focus areas include improved quality of hire metrics, calculating the performance differential between average and quality hires, and identifying sources that produce high-quality hires. Firms to watch: Aimco and Wipro.
Reinforcing the business case for recruiting.
As budgets tighten and slow economic growth continues, recruiting budgets will face constant constraints. Instead of whining, many leading talent organizations are seizing the opportunity to reposition themselves as non-transactional organizations. When the focus in recruiting is placed on non-transactional, more systemic issues, such organizations can work with the CFO and risk management to demonstrate the importance of supporting recruiting even during times of reduced hiring volume. The key focus areas include predictive modeling, dollarizing recruiting results, and showing the dollar impact of vacancies in revenue generating positions. Firms to watch: Aimco, DFS, Wipro, and Google.
Utilizing social networks
Although using social networks as a recruiting source has been a well-discussed concept for a while, few firms have found productive ways to truly leverage social media sites. However, as new approaches are developed that more accurately align with the paradigm of social media audiences, recruiting on social networks will become more mainstream. Focus areas include encouraging your employees to be more visible online and using networks to identify innovators. Key networking sites include Facebook (global), MySpace (global), Friendster (global), LinkedIn (global), Twitter (U.S.), Multiply (Asia), Mixi (Japan), Cyworld (Korea), and Xiaonei (China). Firms to watch: E&Y, Zappos, CIA, Yum Brands, Google, and Facebook.
My comments: We have seen a dramatic downturn in terms of the revenue of Chinese Job Portals including 51jobs, Chinahr and Zhaopin.com happened since 3Q. On the contrary, recruitment services provided by social networking websites, like Xiaonei, Linkedin.com get more market shares and more and more companies in China would like to leverage social networking websites to approach target passive candidates. The pay-to-post model has been threatened by new service model in terms of pay-for-performance.
Utilizing video
While it may be hard for some to fathom, 1:1 and 1:many video has become a very popular communication medium, surpassing all other forms of Internet traffic. Second only to employee referrals, the most impactful tool for effectively demonstrating the excitement and passion at a firm is online video. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then moving pictures demonstrating what it’s like to work at your firm would have to be “priceless.” Focus areas include posting on video-sharing sites such as YouTube (global), Youku.com (China), and sharing employee-generated “unscripted” videos on your corporate site. Firms to watch: Deloitte, Microsoft, and Google.
My comments: the video interview solutions will be adopted by more companies for overseas hiring and cross-board hiring which save hiring costs and more efficient.
Upgrading succession planning
A common practice becomes much more critical as global growth and large-scale retirement loom on the horizon. Focus areas include replacing retirees, improved succession planning metrics, adding external candidates to your plan, and fast-track leadership development. Firms to watch: Intuit, Eli Lilly, Deloitte, and TVA.
Using employee blogs for recruiting
A practice that is finally beginning to enter the mainstream is employee blogging to support recruiting efforts. The very best firms use blogs not just to spread their message but also to answer questions and to make their company appear more “real” and approachable. Key focus areas include blogs by employees other than recruiters and micro-blogs. Firms to watch: Microsoft, Google, and Sun.
My comments: one show case you can find is Microsoft "View My World".
Using mobile-phone recruiting
As mobile phones with amazing features spread throughout the population, recruiting managers are beginning to realize that they can be a powerful recruiting media. Key focus areas include text messaging, mobile video, and mobile-accessible corporate careers sites. Firms to watch: Google and nearly any firm in Asia!
Revitalizing corporate jobs page
Recruiting managers are beginning to understand that pitifully dull and dated websites drive away innovators. Focus areas include providing personalized information to the visitor, Flash video integration, blogs, podcasts, and virtual Q&As. Firms to watch: Microsoft, Google, and Deloitte.
Using a CRM model for hiring
I’ve been touting the values of the CRM (customer relationship management) model for years. More firms are beginning to understand the value of improving the experience at each “touch point” with the candidate. Key focus areas include relationship recruiting, automated applicant profiling, automated event calendaring, and robust lifecycle metrics. Firms to watch: U.S. Army, GlaxoSmithKline, and E&Y.
Hiring innovators
Rapid product copying and the high visibility of innovative firms like Apple and Google are forcing recruiting managers to modify recruiting processes in order to successfully recruit innovators and game changers. Key focus areas include relationship recruiting, pre-need hiring, and tolerant/inclusive screening and interviewing processes. Firms to watch: IBM and Google.
Recruiting globally
Recruiting managers are beginning to learn how to differentiate multi-national recruiting from true global recruiting. Key focus areas include global sourcing, globalized websites, and globalized employer referral programs. Firms to watch: Infosys and IBM.
