Many companies have accepted the fact that they need to have a presence in the world of social media.
However, according to Michelle Krier, marketing services manager at Brookfield-based Pinstripe Inc., only a few companies are embracing the social medium very well as a recruitment tool.
Pinstripe has developed its Pinstripe Recruitment Intelligence for Social Media or PRISM tool, to help companies better understand their current reputation in the social media realm and how they match up to competitors.
“We’re in the business of providing recruitment process outsourcing for our clients,” Krier said. “And we know that the first step in any successful social media strategy is listening, even when it’s being used as a recruitment tool. That’s how PRISM was born.”
According to Krier, really innovative companies want to look at social media as a recruitment strategy.
“Before Pinstripe can help them with that though, we need to find out what their existing reputation as a recruitment brand already is,” she said. “We have to listen in a variety of different spaces to find out if they are already seen as a desirable place to work to find out the best way to proceed.”
Part of the PRISM strategy is that mini assessment, Krier said. The mini assessment really focuses on the brand image in the realms of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. However, PRISM can also monitor blog posts, forums, online news sources, other social networks and micro-blogs as well if the company desires that kind of feedback, she said.
“Social media sites can reveal invaluable information about how employees, prospects and consumers perceive a company’s brand. Gathering this information proactively is the critical first step in addressing and reformulating brand perception in the marketplace,” said Sue Marks, CEO of Pinstripe. “Our ultimate goal with PRISM is to give our clients insights into how key audiences are reacting to and influencing their employment brand image, so that they can actively participate in the social media dialogue. Companies cannot afford the ROI, return on ignoring of social media.”
PRISM is offered as part of a bundle of Pinstripe services, Krier said. After the assessment, Pinstripe will offer the PRISM results in the form of a report and then a discussion on the best way to proceed usually follows.
“We will present our clients with a five or six page report that really represents where they fall when compared to their top three competitors,” Krier said. “We can literally show them what’s being said about them currently, where they fall and then present options or solutions to get them where they want to be or enhance their recruitment strategy. It really gives them a benchmark and a spot to become leaders in their industry.”
Pinstripe has been working on the PRISM tool for the past year, and is constantly adapting the components to match the evolving realm of social media.
“We’re constantly on the look-out for new social media components to add to the service,” Krier said. “We’re always fine tuning and tweaking it. It’s very much a work in progress.”
Pinstripe is currently working on ways to incorporate mobile technology in to its recruitment services.
“The feedback we’ve gotten has really been great,” Krier said. “A lot of companies out there don’t really have the resources to be able to do this kind of assessment themselves. Companies really appreciate this sort of 30,000 foot snapshot we’ve been able to give them to establish their social media recruitment strategy.”
