Looking to hire top talent from the graduating Class of 2012?  Learn where and how Millennials are searching for jobs!  Experience, Inc. and Achievers recently surveyed 8,000 students to learn more about their job search behavior.  The survey determined that 83 percent of Millennials currently use social media in some capacity, and an increasing percentage is turning to social media for job searching.  LinkedIn, in particular, is becoming far more popular in Millennials’ job search—35 percent claim to use LinkedIn as a primary source for their job hunt, compared to only five percent two years ago. 

However, the Class of 2012 is not overlooking more traditional methods.  About 88 percent of those surveyed said they plan to submit applications directly to employers, and 73 percent will be using their college career centers.  In addition, 72 percent want to attend networking or recruiting events.  When asked what they think is important when choosing a job, most Millennials said career advancement opportunities (54 percent) was the most important factor, followed by interesting, challenging work (51 percent), and salary (51 percent).  So if you’re looking to hire young talent, take this knowledge into account!  Hiring the best talent can be a challenge these days.

How do you motivate your employees? Mangers have used many tactics over the years, from monetary incentives, to positive feedback, to employee competition, to general fear.  But some of these approaches may be more effective than others.  According to a recent study, “Rankings and Social Tournaments: Evidence from a Field Experiment,” by Iwan Barankay a management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, ranking employees against each other might not generate the results that many managers believe it to.  While some managers are of the impression that publicly benchmarking employees will motivate them to work harder, Barankay found that in reality, it often reduces employee productivity. 

In the study, employees who were identified as top-ranking tended to become complacent as the result of their success—their productivity suffered considerably.  Meanwhile, those ranking at the bottom became tremendously discouraged and unable to perform to the best of their ability.  In an experiment involving 330 employees, Barankay determined that 66% of employees who were not ranked offered to do more assignments, while only 42% of employees who were ranked came back to do so.  

Of course, every work environment is different, so make sure management style is catered to your employees.  Know how your employees will respond to feedback; while some may thrive in a competitive environment, it’s important to remember not everyone does.  Great managers are able to take the individual into account.

How much of an impact can a bad boss make?  According to recent findings, bad bosses can do a considerable amount of damage.  Not only can they completely diminish employee morale; they’ve been linked to poor employee health—especially increased risk of heart disease—an even employees’ family interactions!  When bosses are abusive, significant others report more family conflict and tension at home.  A direct correlation has been determined between bosses’ management styles and the happiness of their employees—when bosses are controlling, as opposed to encouraging, employee morale is far lower.  A study by the Employment Law Alliance found that 44% of U.S. employees report they have worked for an abusive boss.  So if you’re in a management role, make sure to treat your employees well.  They will perform better if you offer them a little autonomy and respect!    

Could Facebook be a good indicator people’s job performance?  According to a recent study, maybe so.  To test the theory, three “raters,” including one professor and two students, were asked to review 56 Facebook profiles of undergraduate students who had jobs.  The raters were permitted to review each profile for around 10 minutes before answering personality-oriented questions about the people they were reviewing.  They looked through photos, groups, basic information, number of friends, and beyond to determine job performance traits, such as conscientiousness and agreeability.  After six months, the researchers collected evaluations from each of the students’ employers.  The results show a strong correlation between the raters’ evaluations and those of the employers.  Could Facebook become a trustworthy recruiting tool? Maybe one day, but much more research needs to be done first!

According to a recent survey by CareerXroads, there were some interesting hiring trends in 2011.  The survey found that the participating companies filled 59 percent of their openings externally, as opposed to internal transfers and promotions.  This percentage is considerably higher than 2010, when almost 50 percent of hires were filled internally.  According to recruiting expert Gerry Crispin, these results suggest that the economy is recovering, and hiring is slowly returning to normal levels.  Based on the survey results, most hires were the result of referrals and job boards—apparently not as much on the decline as once thought—followed by career sites and recruiter efforts.  While social media made up for a mere 3.5 percent of hiring, the increase is significant compared to previous years.

General Electric recently announced its commitment to hiring 5,000 military veterans over the next five years, adding to the 10,000 veterans who are already employed there.  A significant portion of those hires will contribute to its growing aviation unit—GE will be adding over 400 manufacturing jobs in the next year to jump start production at three new plants.  In addition to this “Hiring Our Heroes” partnership, the corporation has also committed to sponsoring 400 veterans’ job fairs, alongside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  Other companies are also showing interest in hiring veterans.  Five investment banks, including Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs, recently established VOWS—Veterans on Wall Street—an initiative dedicated to honoring and employing veterans in global financial services.  Has your company considered a veteran hiring program for 2012?

Are your employees happy?  It may have to do with the industry you’re in.  In a recent survey based on over 43,000 employee reviews, employees rated their happiness.  The ratings measured relationships with bosses and co-workers, work environment, job resources, salary, opportunities for growth, company culture, daily responsibilities, and a sense of control over one’s work.  Here is a list of the top happiest and unhappiest industries:

Happiest
1.    Government
2.    Education
3.    Wholesale & distribution
4.    Real estate & construction
5.    Tie between financial services and telecommunications

Unhappiest
1.    Agriculture & mining
2.    Nonprofit
3.    Software & internet
4.    Tie between media & entertainment and retail

Oracle announced today its acquisition of Taleo, a human resource technology company, for $1.9 billion.  The transaction took place in response to SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors, which occurred this past December.  Both Oracle and SAP were seeking to build out their cloud-based business – cloud software is becoming increasingly popular because it’s far less expensive and easier to implement. In addition, the transactions were meant to act as a buffer for lost sales to Workday, which recently announced its IPO.  Since the announcement, Taleo shares have increased 18 percent, landing at $46 per share.  Many experts in the space believe that more consolidation will occur within the industry over the next few years…Plan accordingly!

Although traditional job boards have received a lot of negative attention in recent years, it seems they still hold some value for job seekers and employers.  According to a number of recent studies, jobs board applications led to the greatest number of external hires this fall, followed closely by employee referrals.  Depending on the study, job boards made up for anywhere from 17 to 25 percent of hires!  However, recruiters shouldn’t get too excited—another report found that 75% of job board visitors do not take any action on the jobs they review.  In addition, when job postings are promoted too heavily, it can lead to an influx of applications that can take hours upon hours to get through.  So if you’re looking to use more recruiting tools, make sure you diversify!

Want to become a better recruiter?  Here are three tips to send you on your way:

1.    Referrals are key.  It’s pretty safe to say that your top performing employees know driven candidates with similar backgrounds, whether it be from school or a former employer.  Referrals can greatly expedite the recruiting process.

2.    Recruiters are salesmen.  Remember that recruiting is a two-way street.  You have to convince candidates that they want to work for your company, as much as they want to convince you that they would be valuable employees.

3.    Use talent acquisition technology to make your life easier.  Find a single platform that can help you streamline your recruiting process.  Don’t pick a bunch of un-integrated systems – they can slow you down!