Recruitment Innovation Summit 2011 Interview - Harpaul Sambhi, CEO Careerify Corp

Recently, Joe Minaudo, Social Community Manager of the upcoming Recruitment Innovation Summit interviewed Harpaul Sambhi as part of a dynamic line of presenters that will lead sessions on October 26 and 27th 2011 in Toronto. The theme of Harpaul’s presentation will be "Social_HR: Keys to Building Your Organization’s Success Story."

JM: The words Innovation and Social Media tend to not be synonymous with many HR functions. Could you tell our audience how you believe HR can be more “social”?

HS: If HR is choosing not to be social, this is a grave mistake. The fundamental principle of Human Resources is managing and supporting talent, whether the talent is prospective candidates, employees, or alumni. Communication is quintessential to HR, which is what social media is. Using social media is unique to a corporation much like their culture. Core principles you need to have to be more social include: A clear Definition of the Purpose, Metrics, and Engagement.

JM: When speaking with HR leaders, have you found that  the perception in value of Social Media changed over the past couple of years? 

HS: From afterthought to main initiatives, it’s great to see how HR leaders define social strategies and utilize social media with HR initiatives other than recruitment. That being said, I see many leaders speak of social media, but very little action or execution actually occurs. They are often bogged down by policies they themselves or legal create, and it’s up to them to create a purpose that is fruitful.

JM: I'm sure we'll hear about many examples during your presentation at the upcoming Recruitment Innovation Summit, but can you provide an example of a company that leverages Social HR well?

HS: Ernst and Young has always been a modern staple, but other companies that are leveraging social media effectively include Siemens, Avaya, and locally in Canada – Blast Radius.

JM: How do you define Social Engagement? What are the key characteristics of a company that is considered an exemplar within this space?

HS: Key characteristics of a company that is exemplary in Social Engagement include being transparent, proactive and unique with their practices. Thinking outside of the box and being creative is also a key characteristic.

JM: Your organization is considered an emerging leader in helping organizations with leveraging Social Media in order to enhance employee referral programs. What do you see as risks and common pitfalls some organizations are not aware of when exploring a Social Employee Referral Program?

HS: We are at a unique position as we are collecting data from customers that previously struggled with engagement prior to Careerify, and now are accelerating. I think the first pitfall is organizations not consistently refreshing their referral processes. Many companies become complacent in having rules that were implemented 5 years ago and not concerned in optimizing this, though industry unanimously agrees that referrals are the best hires.

The second and third pitfalls I often see are lack of support and administrative nightmares. This is where automation such as Careerify makes life easy, but for those who are yet to look at technology, many companies don’t engage the employee proactively suggesting opportunities that they could help refer an ideal candidate to, tracking is through excel sheets, and employers don’t have an emphasis on being proactive with their employee and referred candidate communications.

Finally, a risk and pitfall is how they reward employees. I will cover this a bit more in detail during the presentation when I provide three ways to immediately optimize social referrals.

JM: I hear that Careerify is adding some very interesting functionality to its suite of features. Something called “Sonar,” could you tell us more about it?

HS: Our mandate is to connect the social world with HR technology, and at this moment, we are extremely focused on the sourcing/recruitment aspect. With the tremendous success of our social recruitment and engagement technologies, Careerify’s R&D is focusing on Sonar, which will be one of our first social “headhunting” tools. Sonar will allow employers to detect, engage and connect with competitor’s employees via personal networks.

JM: Thank you for your time Harpaul. We look forward to your presentation on "Social_HR: Keys to Building Your Organization’s Success Story" at the Summit.

Harpaul Sambhi is Founder and CEO of Careerify and author of a book entitled Social_HR that was recently recognized by the Globe and Mail as a Best Selling Business Book in Canada for the month of August.

Harpaul’s organization Careerify focuses on helping companies optimize their employee referral program through social recruiting, employee engagement and automation tools which create less administration, more engaged employees and reduced cost per hire. Careerify is becoming one of the hottest HR tech start-ups in North America winning such awards like Microsoft’s 2011 Blue Sky Award for Innovation to Top 25 Canadian Start-Ups awards