Literature Review
Nowadays social media is becoming more and more important either for individuals or for businesses worldwide. It plays a significant role in the life of almost every person. Therefore it is natural that it attracts much attention of the researchers, especially those trying to study its influence upon the business activity of the companies. This Literature Review is an attempt to research the effects of social media on employment in the UK.
Social Media in the World
According to Diercksen et al. (2013), websites of social media may be considered to be a huge resource to the world of business. Employees that use social media are 9% more productive in their work (Diercksen et al., 2013, p. 2). Websites of social media are not just assisting employees with becoming more productive; also, they are permitting them to remain familiar with aspects important to consumers and market trends.
Nowadays around 70% of the companies worldwide use websites of social media for many purposes. Research have proved that organizations that involve social media as an integral part of their activity are capable to develop faster in comparison with those that have not used it yet. The most important social media benefit is that it is usually free of charge (Diercksen et al., 2013, p. 2).
According to The Impact of Social Media on Recruitment (2011), social media may be cost effective, efficient, and fast when utilized as a tool for recruitment. However, it has also its limitations, such as:
social media adoption and diversity trends. Even though applicants can be effectively sourced by means of websites of social networking, some talent can still be missed;
issues of transparency. Internet profiles of the individuals do not necessarily offer an accurate information about them;
issues of discrimination. Estimating individuals’ prospective employability just based on an internet profile foresees unethical practices;
issue of confidentiality and self promotion;
branding of the employer.
In general, social media websites have improved the process of recruitment by making it more democratic and open. However, this method’s exclusive using puts the “personal touch” out of candidate identification and relationship building. For this reason, it is unlikely to replace completely the methods of traditional recruitment in the coming future (The Impact of Social Media on Recruitment, 2011, p. 3).
Social Media in the UK
The quantity of adult internet users reached 41 million in the UK by the end of 2011. Such people enjoy the benefits of the large variety of communication and information possibilities ensured by the internet space (Green, De Hoyos and Li, 2011, p. 75).
At the same time, there are also around 9 million individuals in the UK having no internet access. Among those 9 million, 4 million included disabled people, minority ethnic groups’ people, older persons, and individuals with low socio-economic status. The above-mentioned individuals may not get internet access without support intervention and may probably miss many opportunities of employment (and similar services) by means of the internet (Green, De Hoyos and Li, 2011, p. 75).
According to Green, De Hoyos and Li (2011), the internet as an innovative spreading information tool has provided companies and people with significant benefits and eliminated traditional commercial practices barriers, e.g. high engagement and transaction costs and geographical distance. Online shopping and e-business have greatly contributed to the economy of the world and created thousands of new workplaces. Large companies have significantly improved their performance, small, startup entrepreneurs and individual consumers have developed faster. Also, the internet and particularly social media is now a major driver of economic modernization and business transformation (Green, De Hoyos and Li, 2011, p. 76).
Employment and Social Media
The employment nature has significantly changed due to the social media and it has created challenges, however, also provided with the new possibilities. New working ways have caused generations differences in terms of internet use. It provokes challenges that include older people that should adapt to the new employment requirements to understand better how the behaviors and values of “net generation” are influenced by technology (Green, De Hoyos and Li, 2011, p. 77).
Recruiters in the UK are facing a highly challenging market nowadays, against the skills shortage backdrop. 86% of HR professionals anticipate the labor market to become more competitive or remain the same. 65% of them suppose that the modern economic environment can make many complications for them to search for the best candidates. 58% of HR professionals state that the largest challenge faced by their organization in quality talent hiring is the lack of qualified or skilled employees (UK Social Recruitment Survey, 2015, p. 3).
Meanwhile, the pressure is significant and timeframes matter. 49% of HR professionals are experiencing a significant pressure to find the appropriate candidate in a timely manner. Such a pressure is made by the organization’s Board (20%), business lines managers (39%), companies’ management (67%), and 68% of HR employees around 11-60 days in order to find a right candidate (UK Social Recruitment Survey, 2015, p. 3).
The country is just starting its journey in social recruitment. 60% of HR professionals have not utilized channels of social media during the recent year to look for employees. However, it may change soon: 33% of all recruiters plan to improve investment in social media recruiting in the coming year. Most of them have used Facebook as it is the most popular channel in the UK (UK Social Recruitment Survey, 2015, p. 3).
According to the survey conducted by Broughton et al. (2013), 42% of HR decision makers admitted that they would more broadly use social media tools for the employment purposes in the future. Another 32% stated that they would continue using social media at the same level, and just 1% stated that they would reduce their social media tools use for employment. However, approximately 25% of surveyed individuals were undecided concerning their use of these tools in the recruitment in the future (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 35).
Specifically, in case applications for job are being posted using websites of social media and prospective applicants possess the possibility to directly communicate with a company instead of going through standard channels of HR, usual HR department functions may face the risk of getting superfluous (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 35).
However, the organizations that took part in the study of Broughton et al. (2013) all supposed that there was no significant threat to HR. They also stated that websites of social media is a great method of their profile raising and feedback encouraging (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 35).
In general there is no doubt that social media use for the purposes of recruitment is growing, as organizations become familiar with the new tools, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and etc. A wide variety of social media tools are used by the companies for recruitment. It depends on aspects such as the size of the company and economic sector in which it operates, as well as the employee type that the company is looking for (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 36).
Reasons for social media using in employment include: working within an environment where the competitors are using such tools (for example, retail); desire to find particular people groups, especially in the senior jobs case; and connecting the social media use to awareness and brand-strengthening (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 36).
There are many benefits for employers in social media using for the purposes of recruitment, e.g. time and cost savings. Companies that utilize tools like LinkedIn for hiring people to strategic and senior positions rather than using head-hunters or agencies are admitting that this leads to the significant savings of funds. Also, websites of social media may assist companies with targeting their hiring with more accuracy, offer their workplace’s realistic image, and reach a larger quantity of prospective applicants (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 36).
According to Broughton et al. (2013), there are also several possible costs and risks associated with the social media use for recruitment purposes. There may appear actual expenses of dedicating resources to the sites of social media, as far as the traffic can be unpredictable and significant. Also, it is not for sure that the individuals’ information posted on their pages in social networks is trustworthy (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 36).
Issues may also appear around the applicant pool depth that the tools of social media may access, leading to prospective problems around discrimination and diversity, especially with regards to contacting older applicants and individuals that are not using computers and internet. There are also complications related to the decisions of HR due to the use of inaccurate data, problems with the privacy of employee, diversity and equality and the use of candidates’ standardized information (Broughton et al., 2013, p. 37).
Conclusion
Taking into account the above information, it is possible to confirm the important role of social media for the employment in the UK. HR professional in many companies are using (or are going to use) it for the employment purposes. Individuals also consider social media to be important in searching new jobs and learning about companies. According to the researchers, the importance of social media will only grow in the coming years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Broughton, A., Foley, B., Ledermaier, S. and Cox, A. (2013). The use of social media in the recruitment process. ACAS, [online] pp.35-37. Available at: http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/0/b/The-use-of-social-media-in-the-recruitment-process.pdf [Accessed 28 Jun. 2016].
Diercksen, M., DiPlacido, M., Harvey, D. and Bosco, S. (2013). THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN TODAY’S WORKPLACE. Roger Williams University, [online] p.2. Available at: http://www.nedsi.org/proc/2013/proc/p121102007.pdf [Accessed 29 Jun. 2016].
Green, A., De Hoyos, M. and Li, Y. (2011). Employment and the internet. Nominet Trust, [online] pp.51-78. Available at: https://www.nominettrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/NT%20SoA%204%20-%20Employment%20and%20the%20internet.pdf [Accessed 28 Jun. 2016].
The Impact of Social Media on Recruitment. (2011). Nigel Wright Recruitment, [online] p.3. Available at: http://www.nigelwright.com/media/1032/the-impact-of-social-media-on-recruitment.pdf [Accessed 29 Jun. 2016].
UK Social Recruitment Survey. (2015). Jobvite, [online] p.3. Available at: http://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/jobvite_UK_Social_Recruitment_Survey_2015.pdf [Accessed 29 Jun. 2016].
