NetHire

Social media strategy: should you be using Google+?

2011-11-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

This past week Google launched business pages on their social network Google+. If you have been following the trends in social media you will undoubtedly be aware of the much discussed launch of Google+ several months back. The launch was popular with people vying for an invite to join the network. By minimizing the amount of people that could join the network in its infancy there was increased attention and desire to join. However, it was prevalent from the beginning that many of those early members were avid social media junkies; by this I mean that these were the type of people to already be members of numerous social networks. I would describe the 'normal' social media user as someone who may use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and will use these accounts regularly and consistently. A social media junkie on the other hand may have accounts on five or more social networks and use each one sparingly.

As someone who helps in the planning and management of social media development for businesses my first priority when developing a social media strategy is to evaluate the goals of the organization and to formulate the best plan for the resources available that will garner the greatest return on investment (ROI). After much review, I have decided that I will not be advising clients of NetHire to spend or divert their resources from worthier avenues to pursue marketing their organizations employment opportunities on Google+.

The launch of Google+ was highly successful, the time it took them to amass 30 million users was faster than any social network before. However, they also had the benefit of being Google with a pre-developed base of people using their other products. Google+ now has approximately 43 million users worldwide; Facebook has 15 million ACTIVE monthly users - JUST IN CANADA! Canadian Facebook users also average 20 minutes per day on Facebook. Google+ has been seeing a decrease in traffic. Once you get past the media hype surrounding Google+ their statistics are not impressive.

Being that it is my job to be updated on the latest in social media and social networked recruiting I thought that I would be the perfect person to test Google+. I have a large network of contacts on Facebook and in my address book who I can connect with. I am in my mid-twenties and am in the group of the most active demographic on social media. Surely when I try Google+ there will be numerous people I know using the service? Unfortunately not! When looking for people I know from my contacts I was shocked to see less than 30 on Google+ and all but 6 were blank profiles lacking a picture or any information. It appears that others, just like me, created an account to see who else was there and never came back.

The most important thing about advertising is advertising to your target market. Be where your market is; at this time that place is not Google+. Unlike Facebook, pages on Google+ do not allow businesses to interact with the people who like (or + in Google’s case) their businesses page. Wasn’t that the primary focus of social media? To be social? To interact?

Here are some staggering statistics for business pages:
Since the launch of Google+ business pages 61% of the top 100 companies have created a page, 99% have a Facebook page (all but Google).
Of this 61% only 12% have links from their webpages to Google+, whereas 53% have a link to their Facebook page.
More than 24 of the top 100 companies have over 1 million likes on Facebook, none have over 50,000 on Google+ and in fact 24 companies have ZERO followers on Google+ (at the time this was written)
Pepsi is one of the best companies for promoting their organization using social media and was one of the first to have a Google+ page. They even have a page dedicated to their employment opportunities. Although it does a good job of promoting their organization, it advises you to go to their website to apply - diverting you away from Google+.

Google+ is still in the early stages and may yet surprise us, but as of now, continue with your current social media strategy. NetHire continues to monitor the effectiveness of Google+ in attracting talent and uses it as part of our social media mix; though its effectiveness is still minimal. Contact us today to assist you in creating or improving your social media strategy for targeting job seekers via social media!

Do you hire students?

2011-09-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

It is the time of the month again where we at NetHire are preparing to launch our monthly newsletter. It is no small feat to produce a monthly newsletter that we as an organization feel can be of a benefit to our readers. Each month we set out with a goal; our goal this month was to educate our readers about the benefits of hiring students and interns. As crazy as it sounds, the time is here to start recruiting talented students to fill your summer positions, bring on as interns and to hire new graduates for full-time placements.

I hope that you enjoy this months newsletter and share it with your friends and colleagues. If you would like to be added or removed from our newsletter list, or if you have any suggestions for future newsletters please email editor@nethireinc.com.

Keep a lookout tomorrow for this month's edition!

Don’t let stock market fluctuations impact your long-term hiring goals

2011-08-30T09:16:00.001-07:00

July and August have been a roller coaster of emotions for those who are invested in the stock market and it seems that companies are basing their future plans on the prediction of the day that emerges from news organizations and economists. The ups and downs of the economy change weekly in major newspapers. One week we are headed towards (or already are engaged in) a massive economic recession, and other weeks we are optimistic and growth is mediocre.

In the days leading up to the debt ceiling crisis in the US, news media projected a catastrophic event that would derail the economy and force a recession. Yet one day after the deal to raise the debt ceiling was reached the employment numbers in the US were released to the dismay of the news media. Job growth far exceeded expectations and outperformed previous months.

The Canadian economy has been growing for months and yet job growth is slowing on fears from the Bank of Canada that home prices are going to drop 10% in the coming two years. They also project major metropolitan areas such as Toronto and Vancouver could see condo prices fall 20%. The Canadian Real Estate Association begs to differ. This past week they announced that home prices are in fact not falling as demand continues to increase.

Never before have large corporations been in a better position for growth: larger stores of cash, efficiencies as a result of the economic downturn in 2008 and the possibility of growth make this a prime time to reach emerging markets, cater to niche industries and capitalize on increasing spending by consumers and other businesses.

Saks Fifth Avenue released its sales projections after increased demand for their most-expensive designer products. Money in financial circles is flowing freely. The oil industry in the Canadian prairies is again growing and they are experiencing shortfalls in skilled labour. High-end consumer goods manufacturers such as Apple are experiencing unprecedented growth for premier products. Demand for luxury items is thriving.

What recession are people talking about?

It is important that your organization not change its long-term strategic goals based on the greatly fluctuating news of the day. Growth is abundant and if you are not growing with it you will be left behind. Recruiting for top talent has always been difficult and it is not about to become any easier. IT companies on average have more cash stores than any other industry. Transportation is growing so quickly and the search for experienced truck drivers and owner operators is becoming more and more difficult.

In the past few years with higher unemployment many employers have forgotten what it is like for job seekers to have multiple options for employment. It is time again for employers to show job seekers why their particular organization is the place they should want to work for. Be prepared for signing bonuses, increased financial and non-financial incentives and work-life balance initiatives increase in prominence as employers fight for top talent.

What you need to ask yourself is: are you on the sidelines waiting for the economic roller coaster to stop or are you getting on and reaching the high points?

July Hiring Specials!

2011-06-30T13:26:00.001-07:00

It has been a little while since we have done a post here, but its about time we jumped back into blogging full swing. Summer is finally here and that means employees taking time off for vacations, new graduates are on the market for new opportunities and you should be scouting for top talent before most companies start their hiring spree in August.

NetHire has just released its July Hiring Sales and you will not be disappointed. The June Hiring Special which was a 10 job slot package for $995 per month which is 10 NetHire postings showing at any one time and can be changed as needed up to once per week and included the NetHire Facebook Application which allows job seekers to view and apply for your jobs on your Facebook page was a huge success and July is only going to be better.

We are determined to provide our clients great value every month and an opportunity to join NetHire at a discounted rate to see why we are such a phenomenal service. We provide personalized attention to you and your job postings as we disseminate your job posting to hundreds of job boards, optimize it for search engines and integrate it into the social media mix.

Take a look at what we have on sale this month and we hope that we can be of service to you!

Single Job Posting Special
Buy 4 get 2 FREE…..Postings can be used any time up to 6 months from purchase.
Buy any of our single job postings and get 2 more of equal value FREE.
Includes the following postings…medium Posting $299, Maximum posting $375, Maximum 3 city posting $489, Maximum 3 city Guaranteed Posting $499, Maximum 5 city posting $595 and all multi city single postings.

Posting Pack Special
10 Job Posting Pack. Regularly $2,560, on sale for $1,995
Get 10 jobs to use for up to 24 months…only $199.50 per job posting

Job Slot Package Special
5 single city Job Slot Package…Reg $689 month on sale for $499 per month
5 three city Job Slot Package…Reg $955 month on sale for $773 per month
5 Jobs showing any time: Change jobs anytime; your own control panel; 3 city job postings show and are marketed in 3 cities. This is a 1 year agreement price. 30% extra for a month to month, minimum 3 months.

Complete Recruitment Package Special
10 Job Posting Complete Recruitment Package….Reg $1,795 month on sale for $1,298 per month.
The best package NetHire offers to companies who want to cover all the basis when it comes to recruiting and hiring.
10 jobs showing anytime; your own control panel; single posting point; Job postings appear on Your website, your Facebook page via NetHire Facebook App; on entire NetHire network of 100’s of job boards as well we write Facebook posts, Tweet all jobs out and write blogs and PR to attract highly qualified candidates. 1 year term. 30% extra for a month to month with a minimum 3 month term. See Complete Recruitment package info.

Who and What is NetHire?
NetHire is a process and service provider in hiring using the latest and greatest in recruitment techniques and best practices including profiling and benchmarking to identify whom the right candidate will be, then write and edit a job posting that targets these ideal candidates and then uses the entire internet including social media, search engines and hundreds of job boards to touch and reach out to those qualified people to present your job offer. In turn you get the best candidates in the right area, with the right skill sets, even for the toughest hard to fill positions anywhere in Canada or the US. NetHire puts your open job postings in front of more of the right people than any single job board or newspaper in Canada or the US.

For more information contact one of the amazing Account Managers today for more information by calling 1(800)973-4641 and press 1 for sales.

Canadian CEOs view HR executives as trusted confidants who provide strategic value to organizations

2011-05-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Canadian CEOs view HR executives as trusted confidants who provide strategic value to organizations
By Canada NewsWire | May 19, 2011

TORONTO, May 19 /CNW/ - There has long been a myth that HR professionals are 'supporting cast members' vs. having a 'starring role' in modern-day business. A new survey of Canadian CEOs by the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) reveals that HR does play a lead part at the boardroom table but has more to do to become the star.
In conjunction with Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions, the survey—The Role and Future of HR: The CEO's Perspective—asked a series of questions of 20 Canadian CEOs, including the value HR brings to the business; how well HR has performed over the past several years; what CEOs consider as their biggest human capital challenges; and what they look for in a Chief Human Resource Officer.

Results reveal disconnect
While many HR executives feel their contributions aren't valued by chief executives, the CEOs view strong HR leadership as critical to the success of the organization. Overall, the survey revealed CEOs see their Chief HR Officers as valued contributors to the business; and trusted advisors who often play the role of confidant to the CEO and other executives. They believe HR is on an equal footing with other business areas.
"In fact, the executives felt their HR leads were instrumental in guiding their organizations through the recent economic downturn," said HRPA CEO Bill Greenhalgh.
"One half had experienced big growth during the period, while the other half underwent significant downsizing. In both cases, HR's ability to manage workforce levels and workforce effectiveness was critical," concluded Mr. Greenhalgh.

Room for improvement
However, the CEOs did identify areas for improvement. Many felt HR executives fall short of really understanding business challenges, largely because they don't get "in the trenches" enough. The CEOs said HR needs to get out of their "ivory towers"—where they are perceived as too often developing impractical policies and programs—and better understand the challenges of supervisors and front-line managers.

As one CEO stated, "If you don't have a business-savvy HR team, it's time to re-tool it!"
Moving out of the recession, the CEOs confirmed that HR professionals continue to play a significant part at the boardroom table, leading the organization on key challenges including managing across generations, continuous change management and communications in the age of social media.

About the Survey
The survey was conducted by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions on behalf of HRPA through phone and in-person interviews of 20 CEOs representing a cross-section of Canadian organizations.

For full survey findings, please go to:
www.hrpa.ca/Documents/HRPA_KB_CEO_Perspective_Research_Highlight.pdf
About the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA)

The Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) is Canada's HR thought leader with more than 19,000 members in 28 chapters across Ontario. It connects its membership to an unmatched range of HR information resources, events, professional development and networking opportunities and annually hosts the world's second largest HR conference. In Ontario, HRPA issues the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation, the national standard for excellence in human resources management and the Senior Human Resources Professional (SHRP) designation, reserved for high-impact HR leaders. www.hrpa.ca

Consumer Confidence Rises as Jobs Outlook Improves

2011-05-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I came across this really interesting article in the Globe and Mail regarding consumer confidence in major purchases. The article also briefly describes the disparities in regional optimism.

Consumer confidence rises as jobs outlook improves
Ottawa— Reuters
Published Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011 9:49AM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011 9:55AM EDT

Consumer confidence in Canada rose in April as more people felt ready to make a major purchase and their outlook on jobs improved, the Conference Board of Canada said on Wednesday.

The board’s consumer confidence index rose to 87.7 in April from 83.7 last month, above its level of 12 months ago but still below pre-recession levels.
The survey was conducted April 7-17, in the early days of a federal election campaign leading up to the May 2 vote, which is focusing largely on the economy and jobs.

Participants in the survey were, on balance, more optimistic on their current finances, future finances, job creation and major purchases in April.

“While all questions showed improvement, the driver behind the overall increase in consumer confidence was the sharp turnaround in attitudes toward major purchases (such as a new home, vehicle or large appliance),” the board said in a release.

For the first time in 11 months, positive responses on this question outnumbered negative ones. The percentage of consumers who said now is a good time to invest in a major purchase rose 4.1 percentage points to 45.7 per cent while those who consider now a bad time fell 3.1 percentage points to 42.7 per cent.

The survey also revealed regional disparities, with the western province of British Columbia showing the most optimism. Ontario, the most populous province and base of the hard-hit manufacturing sector, retained the lowest level of relative confidence even though the index rose there in April. Quebec was the sole province to see a drop in confidence in the month.

Hiring in Calgary!

2011-04-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

I was really happy when I recently saw this article in the Calgary Herald. It just goes to show that things are getting better. With 27% of employers planning to hire in the second quarter it also means increasing competition for skilled labour. With the already at times difficult hire in the western provinces it is time for employers to look beyond their previous hiring methods with the large job boards and to start to diversify their recruiting to reach potential employees in ways they may not have before. NetHire is the perfect place for that, we are a service that disseminates your job postings to as many places as possible while integrating search engine optimization and social media to garner the greatest response for your open positions. Check out this article below, and if you have any more questions about NetHire then check out www.nethire.ca

Calgary Herald – Mon, 7 Mar, 2011 7:00 PM EST
CALGARY - Calgary area employers expect a healthy hiring climate for the second quarter of 2011, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
The survey, released Tuesday, said 27 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter (April to June), while one per cent anticipate cutbacks. Another 70 per cent of employers plan to maintain their current staffing levels and two per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions for the upcoming quarter.
"Calgary's second quarter Net Employment Outlook of 26 per cent is an increase from the previous quarter when area employers reported an outlook of 18 per cent," said Randy Upright, chief executive of Manpower's Alberta Region. "It is also a 15 percentage point increase from the outlook reported during the same time last year indicating an optimistic hiring climate for the second quarter of 2011."
The net employment outlook is the number of employers who respond saying they intend to hire minus employers who responded to the survey saying that they expect cutbacks.
Byrne Luft, vice-president of operations, staffing services for Manpower Canada, said the national net employment outlook is strengthened by the western region of the country.
"Overall, Canadian employers are telling us that they plan to hire at a similar pace as they did in the previous quarter," said Luft.
Among the 10 surveyed industry sectors, employers in the mining sector report the most favourable results for the second quarter of 2011 with a seasonally-adjusted Net Employment Outlook of 25 per cent. This is followed by the Services and Transportation & Public Utilities industry sectors both of which reported positive hiring outlooks with Net Employment Outlooks of 16 per cent.

Canada Facing Technology Labour Shortage

2011-04-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

Jameson Berkow Mar 29, 2011 – 6:30 PM ET | Last Updated: Mar 29, 2011 6:15 PM ET

TORONTO — Canada is facing a “systemic” technology labour shortage, a new study has found.

Companies will be looking to fill 106,000 new positions in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in the next five years, according to the study released Tuesday by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). That may be good news for a recovering economy, were it not for a severe lack of qualified candidates to fill those positions.

As the sector returns to employment levels unseen since the tech boom of the early 2000s, the study said companies will be looking for applicants who are more than just “code-monkeys” but who also have a degree of business acumen and a diversity of skills. Women are also still severely underrepresented in the industry.

“We are quite comfortable in saying ‘ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem’,” said Paul Swinwood, chief executive of the Ottawa-based industry group.

With demand for ICT professionals growing, annual enrollment rates for Canadian software and computer engineering programs appear to have flattened in recent years. Meanwhile, immigration of foreign workers with relevant ICT training and experience has recently been in decline. As a result, the study warns of “serious and pervasive” recruitment challenges in the coming years, with shortages being most severe for positions requiring several years of experience.

“The people with 5 to 7 years experience just don’t exist anymore because we didn’t hire them 5 years ago,” said Mr. Swinwood. “The jobs have changed and the people that we need for them have changed.”

When the industry last peaked in 2001, the most sought after ICT workers were generally programmers who could be assigned to write specific pieces of software individually.

“But the skills in anticipation of what will be required going forward is certainly going to be different than it was 10 years ago,” said Evelyn Ledsham, global talent management leader at Open Text Corp. With about 1,200 Canada-based employees, Waterloo, Ontario-based Open Text is the country’s largest software company.

“In the past, people might have only looked for what I would call very silent functional skills, but in today’s marketplace that is just not going to be enough anymore and so many of us have to have the ability to adapt and be flexible,” Ms. Ledsham said.

That flexibility will require gaining expertise in other domains such as e-health, e-finance and digital media, the study said. Unlike the previous tech boom, which was virtually exclusive to tech-focused companies, the one fast approaching will have its tentacles across the economy.

“This time around, it is the growth of the economy and the growth of information technology in the economy, and the employment is everywhere,” said Mr. Swinwood. “It is with Canadian Tire, it is with Canadian National, with CGI and Microsoft. All of Microsoft’s value-added resellers, the little fires as we know them out there, are just dying for people.”

Eric Gales, president of Microsoft Corp.’s Canadian division, said the software giant has long been aware of the limited talent pool in Canada and has been actively working to expand its outreach.

“There are not enough graduates entering our sector, that is a problem,” he said. “There are also not enough immigrants coming in with the right skills and there is going to be a battle if you like for the skilled professionals in the marketplace [for companies] to be an attractive destination for them,” he said.

Expanding recruitment to more diverse groups is one of several ways to close the gap recommended by the study. It notes that women in particular make up only 25% of all Canadian ICT employees, a figure which declined as recently as January.

“This gender imbalance limits the pool of workers industry can recruit from and compounds the skills shortage in Canada,” the report said, also noting that Aboriginal and First Nations people are under-utilized as ICT workers.
Posted in: FP Tech Desk Tags: Employment, ICT, ICT Professionals, Information And Communications Technology, IT, IT Sector, Jobs, Labour, Open Text Corp., Unemployment, Workforce

US Labour Market Rebounding

2011-03-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

Here is both some good and bad news for hiring managers. The good is that business is growing, the bad for you (good for us :) ) is that it is becoming more difficult to hire skilled people with the unemployed workforce shrinking. Here is an article outlining the latest statistics for the USA. Its a good read.

American employers finally are hiring at a pace that will begin to lower the country’s elevated unemployment rate, the best evidence to date that the economic recovery is gaining traction.

The U.S. jobless rate fell to 8.9 per cent in February, almost a full percentage point decline since December, making it the fastest drop since 1983, according to National Bank Financial. The unemployment rate dropped below 9 per cent for the first time since April, 2009, ending the longest period of monthly joblessness at that level or higher on U.S. Labour Department records dating back to 1948.

“Confidence is coming back,” said Andrew Schuman, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Hammond’s Candies, who plans to add about 60 workers this year to help keep up with demand for his handmade candy bars and chocolates from customers in the United States and Canada, including Whole Foods Market and Indigo Books & Music Inc. “It’s slow, but I do see the consumer spending a little bit more.”

A separate survey released by the U.S. Labour Department on Friday showed company payrolls increased by 192,000 last month, the most since May. Hiring in the private sector rose by 222,000, which accelerated the three-month trend to an average of 152,000 new jobs a month from 121,000 in January. An index that measures the share of industries showing job gains climbed to 68.2, the highest since May, 1998.

The rebound in the U.S. labour market is at an early stage and will need to continue for at least another few months to fully convince policy makers such as U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke that the economy is strong enough to survive without government life support.

Mr. Bernanke told lawmakers in testimony this week that there are “some grounds for optimism” that hiring is picking up, although he reiterated that it “could be several years” before the unemployment rate returns to a more normal level.

The U.S. economy lost almost nine million jobs from early 2008 through 2009, and recovered only one million of them in 2010.

According to the Hamilton Project, an economic policy group attached to the Washington-based Brookings Institution, it would take five years to replace all the jobs eliminated since December, 2007, with payrolls increasing at a rate of 321,000 a month – the monthly average of the best year of job creation in the 1990s.

At a pace of 208,000 jobs a month, which is the average of the best year of hiring in the 2000s, it would take until June, 2023, to close the job gap.

“We have a long journey back,” Josh Feinman, chief economist at DB Advisors, the institutional asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, said from New York. “It’s slow, but we are moving in the right direction.”

U.S. stocks tumbled after posting the biggest rally in three months on Thursday. Some analysts were expecting a payroll figure greater than 200,000.

The U.S. Labour Department report showed that wages were unchanged in February, suggesting that consumers will struggle to cope with higher gasoline and food prices. Crude rose as much as 2.9 per cent Friday, breaching $104 (U.S.) a barrel.

The Labour Department revised its payroll figures from January and December, adding an additional 58,000 jobs, putting the three-month average at 135,000.

Some economists predicted the unemployment rate will jump back to levels greater than 9 per cent in the months ahead.

One reason is that the current rate of decline appears too good to be true: Economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch noted that at the current pace, the unemployment rate would drop below 6 per cent by the end of the year.

Also, the size of the labour force has been little changed in recent months, which suggests that many of those millions who lost their jobs in the recession remain discouraged and on the sidelines. As the economy continues to improve, they likely will resume looking for work, which would put upward pressure on the unemployment rate.

The Social Media Revolution

2011-02-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

Here is an article I recently came across in the Globe and Mail. With the emergence of social media as a mainstream way of communication with clients and customers ( in our case clients, prospective clients and job seekers) it is important we are all using it as effectively as possible. Here is someone's insights into how social media is changing companies:

This revolution is changing companies
MICHAEL SLABY
Special to Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 9:23AM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 2:10PM EST
The social media revolution – the phenomenon that has my mother friend-ing me on Facebook and asking me what “following on Twitter” means – is more about society than it is about media. In a similar way, the differences in the ways small businesses and big enterprises engage social media are more about social structure and organizational dynamics than they are about media tactics.

Social media is fundamentally a shift in the culture and the expectations of how people consume and, more importantly, participate in media. In a world where communications must contend with an audience that expects an opportunity to engage, expects that an organization will listen and converse, and expect people’s voices to be amplified as loud or louder than those of media outlets, how we communicate is fundamentally different from the broadcast-driven, one-way silos we grew to accept over the latter part of the 20th century.

Social media forces organizations to reconsider not just where, when, and how they communicate, but why. We tend to get caught up in discussions about platforms and tactics. We argue over questions like “should I be on Twitter?” or “does my CEO need to be writing a blog?” or “how should we be using Facebook?” But we need to ask “why” first.

This will drive us to question who we are as an organization and what our purpose is.

The business school definition of corporations – entities that exist to maximize shareholder value – is no longer a sufficient framework for driving organizational strategy and it is definitely not an effective communications strategy. If we believe that social behaviours in media have altered the expectations of the people with whom we want and need to communicate, are we willing to participate with them, and do we genuinely believe in the value and power of that engagement?

If the answer to those questions is yes, and we have spent time thinking about the values and missions of our organizations and the role of communities in driving our goals, we can start asking how leveraging social media platforms and programs can help us engage the communities – internal and external, big and small – that are essential to our success.

As companies of all sizes pose these questions, the biggest differences in the answers they find lay in the social structures at play in the organizations. In order to engage in social spaces, businesses must be prepared to engage in more open dialogue about themselves, their products, and sometimes their competition than they are typically used to. They will absolutely be forced to collaborate more efficiently internally than most of them have ever even attempted.

A person asking a question of your organization on your Facebook wall doesn’t care about your org chart. My mother isn’t going to hunt through your sitemap to track down the right expert on her problem – if I’m lucky she’ll try to ask you instead of calling me. She doesn’t care that the marketing department manages the Facebook presence, or that there is an entirely separate process she is supposed to follow to solve her problem. She has a question, she’s asked you, and it’s up to you to find ways to collaborate within your organization to connect the marketing departments and customer service group to answer her – if you want to keep her as a customer.

In this way, big enterprises often find social media engagement more internally disruptive than more agile smaller organizations – especially as they take their first steps.

The second reality of social media engagement is that for organizations used to the 20th century media landscape of silos and one-way communications, they more than likely lack some of the subject-area expertise and tactical understanding required to execute digital communications and social media effectively. In small organizations where employees often wear multiple hats and function in multiple roles, expanding into an entirely new area of expertise on top of existing tasks can be daunting at best and impossible at worst.

Big enterprises that have and can expand specialized employees more readily may be able extend their internal capabilities more quickly. Additionally, they can often lean on outside agencies for expertise and strategic guidance, training, and consulting to ease the internal evolution required to align with the new realities of social media engagement.

Social media can help any organization create more meaningful relationships with the communities around them – employees, customers and partners. Fundamentally it isn’t about size of audience or opportunity, it’s really about what social media does to a company and what the organization is capable of that defines the different challenges. Engagement is always about a willingness to listen, telling compelling and authentic stories, and a genuine desire to participate.

In the end the essential understanding is that participating in social spaces is about being more engaged, not appearing more engaged.

February NetHire Newsletter

2011-02-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

See our promotion for this month! $200 off a 5 job posting pack! Hurry up, promotion ends at the end of the month! Our newsletter can be seen on our Facebook page in the PDF section...

visit: www.facebook.com/NetHire

We're Back!

2011-02-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

Thank you for visiting us at www.nethire.blogspot.com . We at NetHire are on a journey to always be ahead of our competition, and as such we are continually learning and improving our practices. We have recently reviewed our social media platform and are making some drastic improvements to be able to serve our clients better. This new blog is one part of that social media platform. We are also amalgamating our Facebook profiles to one page which will be a central point of contact and information with other recruiters and HR professionals on Facebook who would like to stay apprised of trends in hiring and promotions at NetHire.

On behalf of the NetHire Team I would like to say thank you for joining us on this epic journey as we strive to be the best... and nothing less.

Stephanie Littler
Social Media Manager

Canadian Economy Ended 2010 on an upswing

2011-01-31T13:50:00.001-08:00

Julian BeltrameThe Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The Canadian economy expanded at the fastest pace in eight months in November, recording a better-than-expected 0.4 per cent gain during the month.

The increase was one tick higher than economists had expected and suggests the recovery is back on track — if at a middling speed — after the disappointing one per cent growth performance of the third quarter.

Statistics Canada said November’s gain was based on a strong month for oil-and-gas extraction, as well as wholesale and retail trade, real estate and the finance and insurance sector.

“The Canadian economy looks to have ended 2010 on an upswing,” said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets.

“There were no special factors in today’s solid result, suggesting the economy is indeed regaining momentum.”

There were, however, familiar soft spots. The battered manufacturing sector, which is having to cope with a strong loonie and weak world markets, fell a hard 0.8 per cent. The agency said part of the decline reflected temporary plant shutdowns for retooling in the motor vehicle assembly industry and shift reductions in the motor vehicle parts industry.

Construction declined by 0.4 per cent, reflecting the general slowdown in Canada’s housing market.

Scotiabank economists said while the monthly gross domestic product performance was encouraging, it doesn’t change the overall outlook for Canada. It will take a big 0.5 per cent advance in December, they noted, just to match the Bank of Canada’s expectation of a moderate 2.3 per cent fourth quarter wrap-up of 2010.

“We therefore expect no Bank of Canada implications attached to this report, since at a minimum it does nothing to alter the BOC from the path it laid out in the January (forecast),” wrote Derek Holt and Gorica Djeric in a note to clients.

The central bank has kept interest rates unchanged since last September, and most economists are expecting governor Mark Carney to also remain on the sidelines at the next announcement date on March 1.

That’s partly because any move to raise the policy rate above one per cent by the Canadian bank, while its U.S. counterpart stays at virtual zero, would further boost the loonie to the detriment of manufacturers.

The dollar rose 0.32 of a cent to 100.21 cents US in early trading Monday following the report.

The gross domestic product gains in November were fairly spread out, although the services sector did better — 0.5 per cent — than goods producing industries — 0.2 per cent.

Wholesale trade rose 1.5 per cent on the strength of trade in machinery and equipment, farm products, building materials as well as food, beverage and tobacco products.

Retail trade advanced 1.4 per cent, and the finance and insurance sector rose 0.7 per cent.

There was a widespread increase in the home resale market, leading to a 7.6 per cent rise in the output of real-estate agents and brokers, the industry’s fourth consecutive monthly increase.

Support activities for mining and oil-and-gas extraction declined 3.4 per cent due to decreases in rigging and drilling activities.

Iron-ore extraction grew 10.8 per cent, returning to its August level after two consecutive monthly declines.

Hiring in 2011 Increasing - Moneyville

2011-01-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Businesses ready to start hiring

Job seekers at a Montreal Service Canada centre.

RYAN REMIORZ/THE CANADIAN PRESS

By Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew | Mon Jan 10 2011

Businesses are putting aside anxiety over sales growth and plan to hire more staff this year, according to a quarterly Bank of Canada survey released Monday.

Firms with ties to mining, oil, and other commodities tend to have the brightest forecast for 2011, according to the central bank’s business outlook survey covering the October-to-December period of 2010.

A separate survey of senior loan officers also found that lending conditions continue to improve across large and small businesses, another good indicator of future investment.

Taken together, the surveys are further evidence of an improving economy and make it all the more likely that the Bank of Canada will hold off on raising interest rates, economists said.

“Overall, both surveys are bullish for growth, although not really surprisingly so in light of the better economic data of late,” Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, wrote in a research note.

The outlook is not entirely rosy: firms still expect to face headwinds in the form of modest, rather than robust, demand and strong competition from domestic and foreign rivals.

Because of these challenges, the Bank of Canada is expected to keep monetary conditions “accommodative,” through the spring, Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist for RBC Economics wrote.

“The surveys reinforce our expectation that a return to tightening mode will be delayed until the second quarter.”

Just over half, 51 per cent, of firms in the latest survey said they expect sales volumes to rise over the coming year, and 29 per cent expect a decline. The remaining 20 per cent expect no change.

That’s slightly more pessimistic than the autumn survey, where 55 per cent said they expect a boost in sales over the coming 12 months, and 26 per cent said they foresee a decline.

But firms are also indicating they are planning to invest in machinery and equipment to become more competitive, raise productivity, or expand into new areas, the report said.

They want to be ready to meet strengthening demand in the next 12 months.

Nearly half of respondents, 49 per cent said they expect their firm’s level of employment to be higher over the coming 12 months than the previous period.

That’s up from 39 per cent who shared that sentiment in the autumn survey.

“This positive sentiment, supporting firms’ sales expectations and planned investment for expansion, is widespread across all sectors and all regions,” the report said.

That optimism is evident in other sectors, such as legal, accounting, financial services, technology, and marketing, said Mike Gooley, regional vice-president of Robert Half International, an employment agency that specializes these areas.

“Our clients seem to be continuing to hire because the demand is here,” he said.

The survey is based on about 100 interviews conducted across the country between Nov. 15 and Dec. 10.

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates on Jan. 18.

The latest labour market report from Statistics Canada showed a net gain of 22,000 jobs in December, largely due to an increase in full-time jobs in the private sector.