Company Branding on Pinterest

Pinterest. It seems as though it came out of the blue this year. While clearly a lot of people were using it prior to 2012 it certainly didn’t have the media coverage and clout it does today. Pinterest is equivalent to an online bulletin board. Genius idea but I actually thought it sounded silly until I played around on the site. Two hours and 50 pins later I came up for air realizing I had converted into a pinner. 

Not only was I now a pinner but I was immediately all edumacated on crafting. Oh, and my diet was going to be crushed by all the peanut butter and chocolate delights I would be baking. This got me thinking.  If it only took me two hours to become a great crafter AND baker on Pinterest how could I use this for recruiting. I don’t always like to think practically but I truly enjoy incorporating new media into recruiting and branding.  Pinterest though?  

I did some research but found there weren’t many articles about recruiting with Pinterest. With no solid track to follow, I decided to go all willy nilly and try and figure it out on my own.  I set up some boards for recruiting and I found others who were doing the same thing. I followed them and they returned my follow. I quickly realized Pinterest’s power for Employment Branding.  Proper branding is huge in recruiting top talent and getting people to KNOW your company and who you hire. To me this most definitely precedes having a fancy job ad, which is a more common focus in recruiting departments. Not that job ads aren’t important but having a company people know and want to work for will trump a fancy job ad any day. 

Most people would describe themselves as visual and Pinterest is such a visual tool. One way to brand your company on Pinterest is to create several boards and use them to paint a 'corporate culture' picture. This can also be done on YouTube and other picture/video sites but Pinterest has the massive referral potential that makes most recruiters salivate. The ease of use and the referral potential are two reasons why Pinterest should not be overlooked as just a crafts and recipe site. Pinterest is very easy to learn and use, which explains its exponential growth and probable staying power.  

Some ideas on how to use Pinterest to promote your company as a great place to work:

Board Ideas

• Work Culture
• Who are you as a company?
•  Future of your Industry
•  Forecast articles on your industry.
• Innovative Ideas
• Did your company develop a groundbreaking product?
• Company Perks/Benefits
• IPADS for all? Flexibility? Casual Dress?
• Volunteer Day at your company?
•  People love working for companies who gives back. Post pictures of it.
•  Employees, outside of their job
• A lot of people have side interests. Helping cross promote those interests helps shape you as a company and your employee as an individual.

Since I signed up for Pinterest I have seen articles on Recruitiing + Pinterest increase in droves. This means that Pinterest isn’t a fad. It’s definitely gaining traction and if you don’t have an account, get one, it’s fun!

Top Talent Talk

The past year or so I attended numerous meetings about how to find top talent. It's the "new" initiative.

New? What?

Isn't that always the goal? Any recruiter or hiring manager with half a brain already does this. In fact, we sometimes take a little longer to hire someone because of this very objective. Contrary to the "I don't care how, I want it now" crew our slower than desired 'time to fill' is not laziness or incompetency but due diligence. We are fully aware that hiring a great employee makes our lives easier.Yet, the great and powerful Corporate Ozes do not think this is common practice. Why?

I scratched my head to ponder. Scratching one's head for thinking purposes can be pure magic because I have already thought of two reasons why companies don't have 'top talent'. Well, to be honest, I have more but only two are objective enough for me to write.

Reason One: We DO have top talent.

They just lost motivation.

It happens.

It happens a lot.

I just spoke with someone who was almost in tears about a potential hires background check failing.  The depression in this poor girls voice was heartbreaking. She wanted me to tell her it was OK to hire. Alas, I could not. No, we can not hire people who lie to us. I am not the most sympathetic chappy on the block; yet, I felt really bad for her. She said, " I have been doing 3 jobs for 6 months and am just tired".

Sing it sista.

The way companies are slashing departments and expecting more and better results is amazing. The way the Oz creatures blame the lack of talent for dipping numbers is just cruel.  I don't understand how they (the big guns in the corner offices) don't get it. Are they really that removed? I understand these Oz creatures tend to be work-a-holics and actually enjoy never seeing sunlight, their family or the daytime drunkscapades of Snookie. They don't even notice they stopped living with the rest of us. However, they shouldn't expect this from top talent because work-a-holism is a trait of a CEO and most of us won't ever be a CEO. To be perfectly honest, I would rather own my own Kangaroo Scrotum Key Ring making company than be a corporate CEO.

My advice on finding the ever elusive Top Talent? Staff and train your departments properly. Watch the magic reappear.  These over-worked, over-tired and under-napped superstars are just stuck in mudd. Mudd that the Oz creatures slung at them. It's time to take a rag, clean up the mess and watch your munchkins shine!

Reason two: Sometimes we F up and hire a lemon. Mistakes are made and lessons are learned.
Whadda ya want!