Some of the most successful recruiters, that I’ve encountered, have very little to do with social media.

Last week, I caught up with a friend and a former colleague, a top-notch recruiter; one of the best in the business. Curious, after five years since we last met, I asked about his social media footprint. Zilch. He doesn’t tweet nor blog. I cannot find him on Facebook or MySpace, and his LinkedIn network is limited to a miserly 33 connections. It turns out he’s doing very well regardless of his limited presence on social networks. The downturn has been hard on his current employer, but not surprisingly, I am told he is consistently one of the best performers. His secret: the phone; the phrase “let’s do coffee” and a deliberate and determined strategy of building real relationship with candidates and clients over the years.

I pondered if my friend will be at a disadvantage if he does not embrace social media in the near future. Unlikely, because the use of ‘social media’ is largely tactical and he got the strategy part sorted out. Besides, I suspect his limited involvement in social media is because the demographic he targets are not on it yet. I am sure, like any other tool that he has used over the years, he will embrace social media if that is what his clients and candidates wanted. For him, strategy comes first; tactics and tools are secondary.

Look at companies applauded for using social media effectively.  Often, they are organisations who have a history (strategy) of caring deeply about customer service and building long-term relationship.  Social media is embraced as a tactical tool, just like any other tool used over the years, to pursue an overall strategy of serving their customers with distinction and enhance relationship.

I am convinced it’s not any different for recruiters. The larger strategy should be a relentless focus on building relationship with candidates and clients. If enriching the relationship requires the use of social media, by all means embrace it. If a phone suffices, invest on more phone time. Obsesses on strategy and find the right tactical tool to support your obsession. As Kathy Sierra puts it “Please, businesses, don’t DO ’social media’. Do ‘user happiness’, which may, or may not require use of social media tools.”

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 2:37 AM and is filed under Marketing, Recruitment strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.