Facebook, the largest social network with 1.55 billion monthly active users, is consistently one of the top employers in America. Don't you wonder how a company with nearly 13,000 employees and 49 offices around the world manage to lure top talent year after year? Let's examine Facebook's magnetic appeal and see how we can all learn from it to recruit exceptional talent.
Facebook Recruitment Relies on Fit, Unique Tactics, and the Ability to Change
Fit comes first at Facebook; if you don't share common values that drive the rest of the team, it probably won't work out. "We want to make sure that we approach recruiting in the same way that we approach the design of the product and the services that we deliver to the world," said Miranda Kalinow-ski, Facebook's head of global recruiting, in an interview with in an interview with Business Insider. "And that's with the focus on connection. We want to connect to our candidates in the recruiting or inter-viewing process pretty deeply." This means everyone from engineers to accountants should be driven to make an impact that will help connect the more than 5 billion people who aren't using Facebook yet.
But the fit is just the beginning: Talent, diversity, and a strategic screening process are also critical. Re-cruiting company Recruiting company ERE dissected some of Facebook's recruiting methods and identi-fied the most important aspects of their HR philosophy.
- Facebook sees employees as vital corporate assets. The company understands the value of its workers; they put a dollar value on employee assets to make calculated risks with recruiting and retention practices. Recognizing the actual value of employees makes it easier to prioritize their growth and success, instead of keeping a narrow focus on the end product.
The company commits serious time and effort to the recruitment process. It has some of the most unusual and innovative approaches to attracting new staff. Facebook:
- Acquires businesses for their human capital. Some companies buy small enterprises for their customer base or product; Facebook pays close attention to existing talent within the firm. This lets them acquire an entire team that already works well together instead of piecing together something new.
You can use Facebook's recruiting wizardry as inspiration to make meaningful changes; to improve em-ployee engagement and satisfaction as well as your ability to meet strategic business goals. How? Try this:
- Think of recruitment as akin to product marketing. Smashfly, a recruitment marketing platform vendor, is built around a concept it calls "recruitment marketing"--the idea that finding the right candidate is a very similar process to acquiring ideal customers. If you market your compa-ny to the talent you want, using the same channels they use, you can more effectively reach and attract the right people. Use brand advocates as part of your efforts; they're an effective way to leverage employee networks, humanize your brand, and provide insight into company culture. Recruitment marketing doesn't replace recruiting; it enhances the process.
Facebook wins at employee recruiting. Companies can't all be like Facebook--and don't need to be. Look for recruiting ideas that make sense within your organizational framework, and don't be afraid to learn from a few mistakes along the way.
Smashfly is a TalentCulture client but the views expressed in this post are my own.