No headcount for social recruiting? How to get the funds you need.

It appears that Social Recruiting is here to stay. The social recruiting site options are growing in number (I pity the person managing a global social recruiting campaign) and the expectations for a great candidate experience are mounting.

From Life on Demand ROI Research

While most of the, surveys, statistics and comments I’ve read from Jobvite, CareerXroads and ERE  (there are already 18 articles this year with the tag social recruiting) seem to indicate that the jury is still out on its effectiveness, one thing’s for sure. To do it well takes a passion, a strategy and a lot of time. And time is a commodity.

There are many lucky companies who have dedicated support people to manage the process, but most of the corporate recruiters in my network either squeeze it in among other tasks, or assign it to their latest intern. In either of those two cases, strategy may fall to the wayside.

As you plan budgets and headcounts, here are two very compelling arguments that you might be able to present to your CFO to get some dollars to support your social efforts.

1. Reputation Management.

 Employee referrals are hotter than ever from the traditional internal programs, to the latest social integration apps and options. Last month Glassdoor published a report on the highest rated CEO’s for 2013. Show your CEO and tell her (him) that next year you want her (him) to be on it. Do a Twitter search for “my boss is a jerk” and let them know that the conversations are happening and you want in. Is it really a good idea to leave it to an intern?

2. A New Way to Figure out SR-ROI.

There’s a new site called The Social Recruitment Monitor that will keep track of your share of social voice through the SRM Index. It comes from a company called Maximum, a recruitment marketing agency doing great things around the globe.

Though the site is still in beta, it uses advanced digital technologies to track data for the major social networks, and refreshes it weekly to keep figures up to date.

The SRM Index is formulated from a mix of 3 measurable parameters : popularity (number of subscribers) , activity (frequency of content) and interactivity (social engagement.) Once you sign up (it’s free), it will allow you to benchmark your performance against other employers in a number of specific areas, and to compare employers with one other.

The SRM Index will allow you to measure your SRM Index over time, and against your competition for talent, and provide real proof of the impact of your new social recruitment star.

So good luck and let me know how you did.