IMPACT OF SOCIAL HIRING ON TALENT ACQUISITION STRATEGY IN 2019 - Report

2019
IMPACT OF SOCIAL HIRING ON
TALENT ACQUISITION STRATEGY IN
©2019. TopCHRO. All Rights Reserved.
R E P O R T

CONTENTS
BENEFITS OF
SOCIAL HIRING
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
METHODOLOGY
KEY FINDINGS
SOCIAL HIRING
CHALLENGES
03
05
12
19
21
22
04

In the last few years, social media has emerged as the new town center of the online
world where people visit, interact and engage, o en. With more and more tech-
savvy millennials and Gen-Z employees joining the workforce, social hiring has
ﬂourished as the most prominent, probably the only, preferred employment
pla orm. TopCHRO conducted a survey to know the extent, impact and modes of
this pla orm.
The survey was designed to get maximum diverse views and was ﬂoated across a
range of industries and regions. Its interpreta on in this report is limited to
prominent observa ons and major devia ons. The results have been approximated
and should not be taken as exact numbers. To get the exact picture, numbers and
understanding of the method, a detailed and broad study is advised.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
YOU CAN’T
TEACH
EMPLOYEES
TO SMILE. THEY
HAVE TO SMILE
BEFORE YOU
HIRE THEM.
”
”
03

The Social Hiring Survey Report 2019 has been
compiled on the basis of feedbacks collected from
3128 HR professionals. These professionals represent
various na onali es, industries, demography,
organiza on sizes and come from mid-level to senior
HR roles in their respec ve organiza ons. The
respondents were given a primary survey
ques onnaire to fill and their responses were strictly
kept individual to avoid any kind of bias or influence.
Sample size and structure of the survey was restricted
keeping in view the me availability and diverse
responses were collected to understand varied
perspec ves. Respondents from the US, Africa, EMEA
and APAC regions par cipated in the survey. The
authen city and validity of samples and their
responses were pre-confirmed in separate
communica on with their respec ve organiza ons. All
par cipants were above 18 years of age as on June
2019.
METHODOLOGY
04
Experience level more than 4 years

KEY FINDINGS

KEY FINDINGS
Social hiring is a must for 66.09% of the
respondents and is well-integrated in the systems:
Use and effec veness of social hiring are
indisputable. 11.64% of the organiza ons say social
hiring is most important for them and 54.45% say
social hiring is very important for them. Though
most organiza ons use social hiring, there is a
striking ambiguity in its use and different
organiza ons are using it differently and for
different purposes.
Importance of Social Hiring
06
5.14%
28.77%
54.45%
11.64%
Very
Important
Moderately
Important
Most
Important
Not so
Important
CURRENT USE OF SOCIAL HIRING

PREFERRED APPLICATION METHODS FOR EMPLOYERS
By asking them to
ﬁll social media forms
By redirec ng to the
company’s career site
By asking candidates to
message on social media
By asking them to upload
resume directly through
social media
By asking candidates to
mail their resume
0
12.3%
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
39.4%
53.9%
52.6%
25.5%
Big Companies Are Making Bigger
Investments in Social Hiring:
A notable shi is building in large
organiza ons. Only 53.9% of organiza ons are
now redirec ng applicants to their career site.
12.3% have adopted social media forms. They
are now turning to social hiring for a rac ng
talent and popularizing their company culture.
The bigger chunk of small and mid-size
organiza ons pie is invested in recruitment.
Small and mid-level organiza ons need to
explore more poten al uses of social hiring
like branding and job adver sing.
07
KEY FINDINGS

Industries That Are Using Social
Hiring Most:
About all respondents from
diﬀerent industries rated social
hiring from being important to
most important. 100%
respondents from Human
Resources, Healthcare and, Sales
and Marke ng sectors said they
are using social hiring for talent
acquisi on. It is also being used
extensively by IT/Telecom,
Educa on, CPG, Automobile/
construc on, Banking/Finance and
Consul ng industries. Its poten al
in other industries needs to be
explored.
08
KEY FINDINGS
Human Resources
Healthcare
Sales/ Marke ng
IT/ Telecom
Business/ Consul ng
Educa on
Retail/ CPG
Manufacture/ Construc on/ Automobile
Banking/ Finance
Others
0 20 40 60 80 100
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
97.40%
96.15%
92.86%
90.24%
90.00%
88.89%
90.00%

Though many hiring mechanisms are available, not all of them are uniformly used. While social media and group pos ngs are widely used,
others not so much despite their ease and eﬃciency.
Popular Social Hiring Pla orms Used:
Instagram
Whatsapp
Myspace
17.75%
4.78%
3.07%
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twi er
51.54%
21.16%
94.88%
09
KEY FINDINGS
Social media:
Facebook helps in targe ng demography, interest
and, skills and, LinkedIn validates the candidate’s
experience and skills. Twi er is being used to
target candidates based on their interest. 94.88%
of respondents are using LinkedIn which makes it
the most popular hiring pla orm.
POPULAR SOCIAL HIRING MECHANISMS

No 43.80%
Yes 56.30%
10
KEY FINDINGS
Employers Perspec ve: Should ATS be integrated
with social pla orms?
Employers Perspec ve: Are Chatbots Beneficial?
No 29.11%
Yes 69.86%
Chatbots: 69.86% of respondents find
chatbots useful. Only 16.10% of organiza ons
have included chatbots in their website’s
career sec on. But the ones that have used
chatbots have found them effec ve.
ATS: 56.30% of respondents say ATS should
be integrated with social pla orms for
effec ve social hiring. Respondents find
linking ATS with social pla orms effec ve yet
cumbersome since it is to be done manually.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIAL HIRING

SOCIAL HIRING BEST PRACTICES
Send direct
messages to
poten al candidates
64.73%
Ask for
referrals
60.62%
Include Chat
bots on the website’s
career sec on
16.10%
Create a job pos ng
on the company’s
page
65.41%
Ask internal
employees to share
jobs in their profiles
51.37%
Post jobs for
specific roles in
relevant group
76.71%
11
KEY FINDINGS
The popularity of groups is rising. 76.71% of employers post jobs in relevant groups while 65.41% of post jobs on their
career page. Organiza ons that have used forms have found them to be effec ve. Budget limita on is restric ng
organiza ons from using social forms in their post and applica ons.

SOCIAL HIRING
STRATEGY
The preferred choice for
employer branding:
Social hiring has emerged as a
one-stop bouquet for variety
of uses. But, most of these
uses are in their nascent
stages and need to be
explored further. 100% of
respondents with 500-2000
employee base prefer social
hiring for branding.
12
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Least Important
0
20
40
60
80
100
6.85% 9.41% 15.38%
4.94%
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Somewhat Important
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Not Important
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Most Important
0
20
40
60
80
100
32.88% 32.94% 34.62% 28.40%
2.74% 2.35% 0.00% 1.23%
57.53% 54.12% 50.00%
65.43%
PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL HIRING FOR EMPLOYER BRANDING
Social Hiring Strategy:

13
SOCIAL HIRING
STRATEGY
Leveraging social media pla orms for
referrals and iden fying passive candidates
Leveraging social media pla orms
for adver sing job openings
for recrui ng candidates
for communica ng company culture
46.13%
66.77%
30.32%
47.42%
0 20 40 60 80 100
66.77% of respondents are using
social media pla orm for
recrui ng candidates. Recruiters
are also using social hiring for
loca ng passive candidates. Social
media has emerged as an excellent
tool for seeing the person as a
whole and making a be er
judgment.
POPULAR USES OF SOCIAL HIRING

Budget a Constraint:
Organiza ons are exer ng themselves for
social hiring budget. Even the ones that
have not demarcated any budget for social
hiring priori ze it for finding passive
candidates and for employer branding.
New and mid-level organiza ons that have
lately taken it up seem to be struggling to
meet budget demands and only 23.87% of
organiza ons feel that social hiring cost is a
concern. These organiza ons have limited
their budget to target poten al candidate
and to reduce hiring cost.
14
25.16%
27.10%
23.87%
18.06%
5.81%
SOCIAL HIRING
STRATEGY
EMPLOYERS PERSPECTIVE: DO YOU HAVE A BUDGET FOR SOCIAL HIRING?
Yes, but not much.
Yes, we have a sufficient budget. No, we don’t have a budget but definitely need one.
We may have a budget by the next quarter. No, we don’t need a budget.

15
SOCIAL HIRING BUDGET ALLOCATION
SOCIAL HIRING
STRATEGY
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Yes, but not much
0
20
40
60
80
100
21.92%
29.07%
26.92%
20.99%
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Yes, we have a sufficient budget
0
20
40
80
100
60
17.81%
18.60%
34.62%
38.27%
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
No, we don’t have a budget but
definitely need one.
0
20
40
60
80
100
26.03%
12.35%
22.09%
13.46%
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
No, we don’t need a budget.
0
20
40
60
80
100
27.40%
21.15% 20.99%
26.74%
Though organiza ons concur social
hiring is a cost-effec ve op on for
hiring and brand building, they are
yet to calibrate a suitable budget for
it. 26.03% of respondents from small
organiza ons said that they don’t
have a budget for social hiring but
they need one. Convincing the board
would be another challenge that HR
professionals have to take. A cost-
benefit model could help.

16
SOCIAL HIRING
STRATEGY
PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF HIRING MEDIUMS
Social Hiring Has Heavily Impacted Other
Hiring Methods:
Fewer organiza ons are relying on their
career pages and job portals. Five
mediums came out as the most preferred
methods of social hiring. 52.94% of
respondents find social media most
effec ve for hiring. Conven onally the
most preferred medium of hiring, cold
calling has declined in popularity and only
22% find it effec ve.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
LeastEffecve
SomewhatEffecve
MostEffecve
Cold Calling
41.32%
37.15%
21.53%
LeastEffecve
SomewhatEffecve
MostEffecve
Company
website’s
career sec on
16.55%
50.00%
33.45%
LeastEffecve
SomewhatEffecve
MostEffecve
Job Portals
(Monster,
Indeed etc.)
10.18%
44.91%
46.67%
LeastEffecve
SomewhatEffecve
MostEffecve
Outsourcing
to a
recruitment
agency
23.08%
51.05%
25.52%
LeastEffecve
SomewhatEffecve
MostEffecve
Social Media
(LinkedIn,
Facebook etc.)
4.50%
42.21%
52.94%

SOCIAL HIRING
CHALLENGES

SOCIAL HIRING
CHALLENGES
18
Social hiring budget is an impediment
and 52.26 % of respondents feel that
cost is not a limi ng factor.
Inadequate informa on from candidates
and sor ng applica ons/ iden fying
quality candidates came out as the two
most challenging aspects of social hiring.
Respondents found linking social hiring
with their ATS difficult. LinkedIn stood out
as the easiest ATS integra on process.
While others including Facebook and
Twi er were rated difficult. However,
given the effec veness of linking social
pla orms with ATS, it is recommended
that organiza ons move ahead with it or
find alterna ve solu ons to ease linking
issues.
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
No, our system doesn’t have the feature
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
We don’t use ATS
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Yes, but we add them manually
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-50 50-500 500-2000 2000+
Yes, it makes the work a lot easier
0
20
40
60
80
100
13.70% 22.09% 26.92% 23.46% 35.62% 27.91% 17.31% 7.41%
15.07% 19.77% 19.23% 24.69% 35.62% 30.23% 36.54% 44.44%
Employers Perspec ve: Is integra ng ATS to social hiring medium easy and effec ve?

BENEFITS OF
SOCIAL HIRING

BENEFITS OF
SOCIAL HIRING
THE SURVEY BROUGHT FORTH 6 MAJOR BENEFITS OF SOCIAL HIRING
Increased
job visibility
Improved
hire quality
Building
employee
brand
awareness
Employee
referrals
Employee
engagement
Reduced
cost to hire
With more tech-
savvy millennials
and Gen-Z in the
recruitment
pipeline,
broadcas ng
jobs on social
media gets
maximum
a en on. This
also improves
the chances of
finding be er
quality talent.
59% of
respondents say
that social hiring
gives be er
quality hires.
Social hiring is
linked to
strengthening
brand trust.
A whopping 78%
of employers find
candidates this
way. Employees
can share links to
jobs and can
encourage their
friends and peers
to apply for
them.
Only 13% of
employees are
engaged in their
workplaces.
Defining a social
media policy and
nomina ng
employee
champions can
boost employee
engagement
upto 58%.
Pos ng jobs on
social pla orms
costs much less
than pos ng on
tradi onal job
pla orms.
20©2019. TopCHRO. All Rights Reserved.

RECOMMENDATIONS
21
Chatbots
bring
Engagement:
17.81% of organiza ons that are using chatbots on the career page of their websites have found them
effec ve. Respondents have said that chatbots are encouraging engagement among applicants.
Closed-ended chat op ons ease the applica on process. However, its applica on will depend on
coopera on between the HR and the tech team. Support from stakeholders will be required. Integra on
of chatbots however, seems inevitable considering the popularity of AI, Machine Learning and NLP.
The integra on needs to be pondered upon.
ATS: Respondents find linking ATS with social pla orms effec ve but cumbersome since it is to be done
manually.
Mails and
career page:
54.11% of organiza ons ask candidates to mail their CVs and 53.08% of respondents direct candidates
to their career pages.
Social
media:
Facebook helps in targe ng demography, interest and, skills and, LinkedIn validates the candidate’s
experience and skills. Twi er is being used to target candidates based on their interest.
Forms:
Organiza ons that have used social forms found them easy and effec ve. But only a small percentage
of 13.02% of organiza ons, notably big organiza ons, are using them. Given the ease and effec veness
of social forms, these can be be er used.
Group
pos ngs:
76.71% of respondents rated pos ng jobs for specific roles in the relevant group as the most important
social hiring prac ce.

The TopCHRO survey Social Hiring 2019 establishes social hiring as a prominent and popular hiring and brand building mechanism. It has
replaced, if not completely wiped out, tradi onal hiring, brand building and employee engagement methods and its benefits are
uncontestable.
Recent demands of disrup ve workforces and diversity challenge the HR managers to up their recruitment and employee engagement game.
The current and upcoming tech-savvy millennial and Gen-Z workforce is more or less oblivious to the tradi onal hiring mechanisms. They
cannot be used anymore either to a ract or to retain talent. Applicant preferences reinforce the use of social hiring.
With social hiring, both reach and impact can be exponen al. Its applicability is enormous and it seems we haven’t explored the complete
possibili es in social hiring and have restricted ourselves to few tried and tested uses.
To get maximum advantage, organiza ons must build and apply strategies that align social hiring with their goals. It is recommended that the
organiza ons use social hiring for iden fying the desired candidate, employer branding and talent acquisi on if they are medium or small in
size and, for brand building too if they are big. Integra ng interfaces like chatbots, ATS and forms are likely to increase the effec veness of
the social hiring process.
Bigger organiza ons are inves ng more on social hiring while medium and smaller organiza ons are trying to invest more in it. Its prevalence
and preference indicate that social hiring will con nue to be a preferred or probably the only hiring and engagement source for a long me
to come. Deligh ully so.
Our sincere thanks to all respondents who took out their valuable me and made efforts to respond to this survey. If you have an opinion or
a sugges on for us, please feel free to respond to us. We greatly appreciate your interest in the TopCHRO ini a ve.
Thank you!
CONCLUSION
22©2019. TopCHRO. All Rights Reserved.

TopCHRO is commi ed to the growth and development of HR and Talent Management profession and leadership. Periodically, it iden fies
the world’s 100 best-performing CHROs and senior HR professionals, and shares lessons from their success and vivid experiences, which have
impacted and influenced business and the profession of HR in significant ways. TopCHRO aims to be a comprehensive, one-stop resource
for the global HR community on new trends, perspec ves, discussions, developments, research and emerging best prac ces in human
resource and talent management.
To contribute to the knowledge base please feel free to write to us at support@topchro.com
TM
ABOUT TopCHRO
© 2019. TopCHRO. All Rights Reserved.
This report is a property of TopCHRO.com. The insights or the informa on cited in the report should be used for informa on purpose only. Facts and figures presented in this report are based on the primary research
conducted by TopCHRO & are subject to change, based on the dynamics of data at any me without any prior no fica on. Certain statements made in the report are based on the primary insights derived from the
survey responses conducted by TopCHRO. These carry risks and uncertain es and may differ from actual events.
TopCHRO™ does not guarantee applica on or validity of informa on and insights in this report and will not be responsible for any loss that may arise from use of the informa on or insight cited in the report. Readers
are advised to use their own judgment while making related decisions.

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