Mobile HR v Mobile Recruitment

There is currently a lot of “talk/noise” about mobile recruiting and in my humble opinion it will be huge, more of that later but for me it is not just about recruiting….mobile has the ability to aid many areas of HR. Why? I hear a cry, well here is my take;

Mobile is NOT a technology but a channel.
Mobile is about personal one 2 one ENGAGEMENT.
Mobile is about PUSH and PULL communications
Mobile is about REAL TIME communications
Mobile is engagement on the MOVE.

HR and Recruiting are about or should be about:

Channels and community.
Personal Engagement
KIT messaging

So how can mobile be “embraced” by HR – some uses as I see it;

Internal Comms - make the intranet site an app.
Onboarding - KIT real-time with your prospective new employees.
Mobile Time sheets for contract staff.
Employer Branding – no not the “recruiting element” but engaging with employees – getting real-time feedback on the “pulse” of the business.
For Recruitment – mobile is the missing link between social media and recruitment but it is also a great database push communication tool.

Some key statistics

Mobile will over take the desk top as the no one way we access the internet.
It took two years to sell a million iPods, it took 90 days for the iPhone and 28 days for the iPad.
One third of all mobile traffic is from an iPhone.

A recent job seeker and the mobile survey found;

96% of Candidates with an iPhone use the mobile to access the internet every day.
100% have downloaded apps.
81% use the AppStore or equivalent as the main search for apps.
4% of candidates download apps from website links and 4% based on word of mouth.

Mobile will be huge BUT don’t please get caught up with the hype, it is not some panacea that will solve your recruiting problems but it will become part of your media armoury….and finally it is NOT a technology BUT a channel.

Next week I’ll look at what can you do with a mobile app.

This article was publisher in Jobsiteadvisor’s weekly newsletter Recruitment Media Monday other articles include;

Print is dead, but the news is not going anywhere – great article below.
A divided Europe? Yes. Consumer spending is growing as is confidence but not across all Europe – will a recruitment recovery be uniform throughout the continent?
Public Relations becomes Community Relations – and a recruiter is now a PR, Marketing and Salesman all rolled into one.
Finally lots about mobile

For your own free copy of Recruitment Media Monday sign up here

Comment by Peter Lanc on July 2, 2010 at 3:29pm: Mobile is the future and is now!

Comment by Gina Cleo Bloome on July 6, 2010 at 10:22pm: Biggest challenge I am seeing is the disconnect between management wanting ROI figures on all recruitment sourcing and the reality that it is really next to impossible to give accurate and meaningful data.

Recruiters are comfortable with this ambiguity...but the people who sign off on the budget, aren't. As I am interviewing a lot lately, EVERYONE is asking about metrics and ROI. Would welcome some suggestions as to how to diplomatically dodge this issue and still get the job. ;-)