Communicating Culture through Social Media

By Mary Kate Hallahan

Most people get their news through the Internet these days. That change has replaced the weekend ritual of picking up the Sunday Times not just for news, but to see if potential employers could offer a brighter future.

The contrary waits for todays job seeker; the classified section is a ghost town.

Even job boards, like Monster.com or CareerBuilder, are outdated modes of recruiting qualified talent. Job seekers, whether trying to fill a career gap or move to a better position, are exploring other tools including social media to find their next position and they want more than just the basic job-description information when they go looking.

For employers, this shift provides greater opportunity to communicate their reputation their employment brand as a great place to work – to attract qualified talent.

In addition to salary, people want a great place to work, in a job that is interesting and that provides them development opportunities. Social media offers a great vehicle for pharma companies to communicate their culture and the strength of their brand.

One reason this needs to be part of any organizations talent strategy is because young people entering the job market need to be recruited differently than older workers. They grew up with the Internet and know they can learn more about a company through their network and their extended network. Another is because more people head online when looking for employment opportunities.

How can pharma companies use new technologies to take advantage of their culture and communicate what its really like to work for their organization?

Build a better career site. Whether job seekers find a company through a Google search, job board or their personal network, the career site is the most visited page next to a companys home page. Make it work for you. Display featured jobs, interactive tools and social media.

Use video to tell your story. Visuals can give job seekers a chance to understand a typical day or what its really like to work for your company. Employees can share their views on why the company is a great place to work. Hiring managers can provide more detail around what the job entails.

Simulations may predict future success. Aptitude and ability cant always be assessed on paper nor do they always give candidates an accurate view of whats required for success. Simulations are a great way for companies to add an experimental element to their recruiting process while enabling job seekers to learn whats expected of them in an interactive setting.

Get active on Twitter and Facebook. There are conversations to be had, connections to be made and opportunities to promote available jobs. By engaging on social media channels, pharma companies can create their own talent communities. Then, when needed, they can tap into this pool of expertise to quickly fill open positions.