The next guest post in our countdown to TruLondon 6 is from Alastair Cartwright, MD of Ingenium People, a training company working with in-house recruiters.

Alastair will be leading the track ‘Training In-house Recruiters’ at 10.30 on Tuesday 23^rd October, and here he sets the scene for some the topics that will no doubt be covered…

“Every so often, a new phenomenon comes along that is immediately heralded as the panacea for the biggest recruitment challenge of all – namely, converting candidates into employees. Most of these miraculous new inventions tend to be technology enabled, promising to take the ‘hard work’ out of winning the hearts and minds of flesh and blood talent.

Social Media is just such an animal.

Now, I’m not a Luddite and am indeed a firm fan of the way that Social Media allows us to share information, experiences and ideas, authentically and almost in real-time. But – and it’s a big ‘But’ – many in-house recruiters are simply hiding behind the technology and relying on the channel when using Social Media as a hiring tool.

I deliberately use the term ‘hiring’ because that is where the art of recruitment lies. Actually hiring the person. And that takes the human touch – the phone call, the conversation, the building of empathy, the overcoming of objections, the sense of building a gradual shared understanding. Social Media doesn’t do that. It CAN do ongoing Engagement and, sometimes, initial Attraction. But it can’t do the actual Hiring. That takes a person – or to be more precise, a professional with the skills and experience to turn a candidate’s interest into a firm commitment.

The technology is not to be blamed, of course. It’s just doing what the operator is telling it to do. The challenge – and the solution – is with the operator.

Most In-House Recruiters come from either an HR or agency background and have had no specialist training in hiring. That in itself is a recipe for trouble given that in-house recruiters are the guardians of the employer brand – everything they do and publish is a direct reflection of the organisation they represent. Also, many in-house resourcing teams struggle to gain credibility with their internal clients. It’s vitally important that they position themselves as valued consultants within the business, but that doesn’t happen as often as it should.

So what’s the answer to the conundrum? Quite simply, good training and proper management.

Emerging technologies have distracted in-house recruiters from their core responsibility which is to engage with candidates, talk to them, provide them with a positive experience, promote the employer brand and manage them safely through the recruitment process. I know many of these things can be achieved online. But my argument is that you only truly engage with a candidate when you speak to them. This is fast becoming a forgotten skill – and it’s a dangerous trend.

Of course, many social media recruitment commentators claim that candidates can be engaged through social media.

I disagree.

Yes, social media can be used to raise the awareness of an employer brand, but candidates are only truly engaged once they have had verbal communication with a person (in house recruiter) within that organisation.

So, let’s have some sense on this matter. Social media sites should be used to:

1. Raise awareness of the employer brand
2. Raise awareness of the internal recruiter and position them as thought leaders within their sector
3. Identify good candidates operating within the specific sector

In-House Recruiters should be:

1. Reaching out, connecting, converting and managing the prospect – converting a valuable candidate into a prized employee.

And that’s it. No more Voodoo, please!”

If  you want to be part of Alastair’s track, as well as more than 60 others across the two days, then there are still a small number of tickets available for TruLondon 6. You can register here and using the code ‘jobsite‘ will get you a discount of £25.

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