Discussion 1

Elimination of Job Postings

Rufus

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The benefits of ending job postings may only satisfy saving time and taking pressure away from potential applicants. When time is saved from a posting the focus can be used in other areas. These areas as stated would be getting to know people. Companies with this type of open door policy it depends on the type of work they are doing. The idea of getting to know someone casually is a good benefit of knowing their mental state and life style. These two things are crucial to the success of a company that wants customer orientated people at the counter. The problems this approach has is that many people may just want a regular job without someone in their personal life.

Everyone may not be open to sharing certain things about themselves right away. Some individuals it will take more time than expected to get to know them. Zappos will have to ask themselves how much time are they willing to spend with this approach. Is this approach going to get to a point that it takes time away from other needs of the company? This could be a problem if time for getting to know potential hires goes outside of a set schedule. I think other companies will follow suit depending on what they do or sale. Examples would be be a company like Experience Music Project or a general sales company. A place like EPM is open and you can always walk in and talk to the employees when looking for a job. Sales jobs require knowing how to find out if people need your product or know someone who does. This means getting to know your team can be very helpful. The fact is, not everyone wants a sales position.

Then again, depending on what an individual is selling there could be a change of heart in motivation. I think a company getting to know people is great. To understand others better, knowing ourselves and how we may act in their situation can be very helpful.

Rufus

Discussion 2

JOSHUA

Zappos Recruiting

This reading was interesting. I have not heard about this type of hiring process before. One of the benefits with this approach was mentioned in the article; “Freed from sorting through applications, recruiters will also have more time to spend on targeted outreach…such as following up on employee referrals” (Auriemma, 2014, para 9). I think this will speed up the hiring process for the company and possibly ease the workload for recruiters.

On the other hand, a potential problem I see with this type of recruiting is the fact that they think they will keep a “…pool of willing and able candidates at the ready” (Auriemma, 2014, para 3). It is almost as if they think people are just going to hang around hoping and waiting for a job at Zappos rather than attempt to find a job elsewhere. I think this will have them lose out on potentially great hires that could help the company in their goals. I know if I was a job seeker, I am not going to submit an application to one company and wait around to hear from them. No, I’m going to submit applications at several companies hoping to get hired at one of them.

I don’t think many companies will jump on this type of recruiting because of the potential problems that I mentioned. I did a brief search for other companies and I was only able to find one small company that does something similar. The Spitfire Group provides large corporations with software and is based outside Denver. They have a whopping 15 full-time employees and require a minimum of 10 years’ experience. Amanda Ericson, PHR, director of talent acquisition, uses social media to develop a database of potential employees in the Denver area. She stays in touch and builds relationships with those in the network and recruits them when her company has an opening (Robb, 2014, para 10-14). Even though I don’t think this type of recruiting will catch on, I do think the use of social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter will continue to grow because of the reach it has to a more broad audience.

References:

Auriemma, A. (2014, May 27). Zappos zaps job postings, seeks hires on social media. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://vlib.excelsior.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=96184976&site=eds-live&scope=site

Robb, D. (2014, September). Three companies went social with recruiting. HR Magazine, 59(9). Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/editorialcontent/2014/0914/pages/0914

Discussion 3

JOSEPH

Limiting potential applicants!

 

“Zappos, based in Las Vegas, plans to hire at least 450 people this year, but candidates won’t find out about those jobs on LinkedIn.com, Monster.com or the company website” (Auriemma, 2014). Instead an innovate new approach will be used to recruit. Zappos intends, instead, to use their own social network system, called Zappos Insiders. This new system will allow the company to have a constant pool of potential employees in which they can use to fill shortages as needed.

Zappos is hoping to cut back on the spam on both sides of the recruiting process. “Last year, the company fielded 31,000 applicants and hired about 1.5% of those, according to Zappos. The high volume prevented the company’s seven-person recruiting team from ‘working in a purposeful way,’ Mr. Bailen said” (Auriemma, 2014). This is a problem faced by many companies and seems to be getting worse due to the accessibility of job postings from sites like monster.com.

I believe that this process will be highly successful in finding highly motivated applicants. This will be a difficult process for many companies to implement because there are many companies that are not well-known enough for such recruiting procedures. This strategy is more for companies that have many applicants applying daily for positions within the company. Companies that this strategy may be successful with include Google, Zappos, Amazon, Apple, etc. These companies have a large presence in the world and are often sought out to work for. I believe companies that have such a presence would activate programs similar to this.

This strategy seems like it will be successful, however, I do not believe cutting out other social media recruiting strategies will be smart. According to Aliah Wright (2015), “According to the study The Importance of Social Media for Recruiters and Job Seekers, which was created in collaboration with and commissioned by Ascendo Resources, 65 percent of companies surveyed said they discovered new hires through social media channels within the past year.” This is a large number of applicants that may be overlooked without the use of other social media recruiting strategies. I believe that sites like Monster.com are outdated and only add clutter to actual applicants that are serious about getting the job.

Auriemma, A. (2014, May 27). Zappos zaps job postings, seeks hires on social media. Wall Street Journal Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1528423018?accountid=134966

Wright, A. D. (2015, September 1). SHRM Survey: Social Media Remains a Popular Recruitment Tool. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/articles/pages/social-media-still-popular-recruitment-tool-.aspx

Discussion 4

ANDREW

M5D1

 

What do you think could be potential benefits and potential problems with this approach? Explain and justify your claims. Do you believe that other companies will quickly follow suit? Explain why or why not.

The first crucial step in the recruitment process of filling an empty position is the posting of a job description. “A job description typically consists of six major components: 1) essential job functions; 2) knowledge and critical skills; 3) physical demands; 4) environmental factors; 5) the roles of the ADA and other federal laws such as the Occupational Safety Health Act (OSH Act); and 6) any explanatory information that may be necessary to clarify job duties or responsibilities” (Loy, 2008).

Zappo’s, an online shoe store, has been at the leading edge of innovation and the applications of new business strategies. The most recent and generally unpracticed strategy they are using is often referred to as No Job Posting. Basically stating that it does not put out on mainstream media a vacancy, but allows for potential employees to be the first to engage the company and show their motivation to become part of the team. “The new talent community declares the end to job postings and the painful transaction between applying for a specific job and getting a cold rejection. It further offers the opportunity to become “a corporate insider,” where you join the firm’s exclusive “talent community,” made up of interested prospects and applicants. In essence its own social network that the firm can use to keep in touch with applicants over time” (Sullivan, 2014). Benefits of this approach include making it easier for applicants to become part of the group, top consideration for being a member, potential slotting for a higher level position, better chances at finding innovators, and having a more unique persona. The fresh program concentrates on developing long-term affiliations with the potential job seekers. The overall intent is to keep discussions investigative for as long as needed so that both sides get to know each other.

As with anything new, there will always be downsides and problems that weren’t noted in the planning phases. Initial problems may include increased recruiter time at filtering applicants, maintaining the interest of the potential employee during the process, having active job seekers that are determined, and would appear that the hiring of managers was an afterthought of this strategy. “Disney, Toyota, and the military choose to use onboarding processes that nurture their unique cultural values beliefs and norms. If the talent you need is extremely rare, the optimal supply chain may not hire at all, but rather crowdsource from thousands of candidates who never become employees, removing the need to assess culture fit” (Boudreau, 2014). With the new job pool being tech-savvy, but less determined, an active role from the recruiters must be maintained. “If a person wants a new job, having a job description is immensely helpful as a conversation starter. It’s a rare candidate who has 100 percent of the job posting’s required skills and nothing else. That’s why we conduct interviews rather than hiring on the basis of recruiters matching things from Column A (job description) to those in Column B (résumés). Hiring is all about conversation. It’s like a date, not a beauty pageant” (Lucas, 2014).

My opinion on the matter is probably on par with the masses. I believe that their idea is overall good with its intentions. This concept is an active role in the generation of social media and can potential provide a ready pool of applicants that can be place at a moment’s notice. The downfall in my eyes is having the interaction face to face, in how their demeanor is, and their body language. Although not important in most roles, when it comes to the human resource and personal interaction with future customers or suppliers, the ability to convey your point tactfully and professionally is not a key attribute that a lot of the next generation possesses. I believe that many companies will not follow suit initially, often preferring to sit back and let Zappo’s work out the “kinks.”

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