Brenda Burch Dumont's Blog

Many readers know that every year I carefully consider some predictions for the upcoming year in the recruitment arena specifically targeted to the Retail and Hospitality industries in Canada.  Here are last year’s predictions -  http://ow.ly/yVzh.

As I think some of the new developments and trends for 2011 began in 2009, here are some comments on last year’s predictions.  (I wonder if predictions is the right word? This blog is more about observations of trends and my personal opinion of what may expand, work, and die.)

My first point for 2010 was that social media would become a household word.  Duh.  But the reality wasn’t quite as pervasive as I envisioned.  Yes, Twitter has gone from 300,000 in May to nearly 1 billion today and the advent of the Facebook ‘Company/Group/Political Party, etc’ page is being embraced at all levels.  Words such as tweeps, followers, groups, and fans are being used in whole new ways.  BUT, whereas the majority of retailers, rsetauranteurs and hoteliers in Canada are now aware of ‘social media’ and probably have a somewhat decent understanding of the term, there are still many, many individuals who toil in marketing and human resources departments in mid and large size firms still trying to convince their bosses that getting in the social media game is essential and not defined by launching a Facebook Fan page.  I believe in 2011 the acceptance of social media for recruiting, employment branding and merchandise selling will move for all retailers from testing or considering to embracing.

2009 was supposed to be the year that Marketing started working with Human Resources and, for some retailers, this novel concept has started to take root.  But just take a look at most of the wonderful Facebook pages for most of Canada’s retailers -  Lots of the right stuff in terms of selling, promoting, and creating excitement for merchandise.  Contests, timely updates, community-build all over the place.  But most don’t have a single word, little rolling banner or even small listing of what positions are available at the company, what its like to work for the company, interviews with existing employees, opportunities to ask questions about training, promotion or responsibilities in advance.  Why not?  I’m guessing the Marketing department is controlling the Facebook page (and the LouLou magazine/website page, and the YouTube page) and either doesn’t think of the recruitment aspect or is advised not to.  2010 better see lots more cooperation and innovation created between both the Marketing and Human Resources departments together.

A final comment on this – there are still MAJOR retailers in Canada with huge, e-commerce websites where its STILL nearly impossible to find the tiny ‘Careers’ section link for job seekers. Is this Marketing or IT that isn’t listening to the Human Resources Department or the all important store ops people in the field?

By the way, best example of beautiful cooperation is the overall Social Media plan by Lululemon Athletica, following closely by Sodexho.  Check out   http://www.lululemon.com/ or http://www.sodexho.com and follow some links to see how far into both are at not only building and strengthening their employment brand, but leveraging social media in a focused way to fill positions!

For most retailers in North America, 2009 was a better year for hiring and retaining staff at all levels.  The downsizing and even elimination of some competitors put more job seekers on the market.  With returning prosperity will come increased difficulty and labour shortage challenges.  No matter what the economy, the demographics which caused the labour shortage will kick right back in – it is already happening in certain geographic areas.  Tried hiring a quality store or district manager in Edmonton lately?

Social media will forever remain just a tool in the recruiter’s toolbox, but newer and newer shapes and sizes of that tool will emerge in 2010.  A whole new job path was just started in 2009 and will become mainstream in 2010 and that is the job of the ‘Professional Twit’ (my term!).  Individuals with basic social media saavy will be paid to Tweet, Update, report, advise and police websites, Twitter accounts, LinkedIn accounts, etc on behalf of  retailers of all sizes, particularly those without the resources for a full time individual strictly addressing social media.  These people will have to be carefully chosen, and they certainly can’t be junior, and will have to enjoy access to the information to be deceminated but this model will make good sense to some companies dipping their toes in the pond for the first time.

As sales of Blackberries, IPhones, SmartPhones, etc double, triple and quadruple every year and the penetration amongst users of all categories dramatically increases, the use of these type of mobile devices for both recruitment, branding, and selling will increase dramatically as well.  Take the call the next time an Account Executive from Apple or Blackberry, etc. etc. (lots of re-sellers!) wants to pitch you on some exposure on their networks.

Just because I am moving away from the job board industry exclusively effective January 15 doesn’t mean I believe the job board industry is dead. As predicted last year, there will surely be some changes in overall operation of all job boards to affect more socialization and more niche focus.  In Canada I believe there are too many big players for our population or requirements and 2010 will be the year one of them blinks and folds.  All boards are looking carefully and aggressively to the next step in partnerships.  But, the job board won’t die any time soon.  Every company has to post their jobs somewhere with heavy traffic BEFORE they start ;ublicizing the posting urls in new and exciting platforms.

Maybe my strongest prediction is that recruiters at all levels, external or internal, retained or on contract or simply paid when a hire is made from huge companies or independents with less than 20 employees will continue the new era of cooperation.  LinkedIn (and similar sites) began connecting people with similar job responsibilities through their seamless and easy groups and contacts and not only has this developed into a logical and sometimes easy way to hire, it has paved the way for new business relationships, the sharing of information of every type, and very likely the overall improvement in the quality of recruiting in all industries.   As a result, everyone is a little more….well….’social’.  Ignore this new philosophy at your peril.

From me to all of the fascinating, never dull, always opinioned, vocal, energetic and brilliant members of the retail industry in Canada, my very best for 2010.  (I use this phrase every year and every year its still relevant – I am blessed to have had a whole career working with the retail industry in Canada regarding their recruitment requirements.)  As mentioned, 2010 will see me move into the next phase of my retail recruitment career as I begin to offer consulting on all manner of recruitment topics (but specifically social media recruiting) to my cherished network of professionals in the retail industry in Canada.  A joyous way to start the New Year.  Joyeux Noel, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakkuh, Mele Kelikimaka and all good wishes for whatever this season means to you.

See you in cyberspace:

Blog:  http://retailrecruit.workpress.com

Facebook:  http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/retailblog/

LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/brendadumont

Twitter: retailblog

Sundown on 2009

Filed under:
Retail, recruitment by cobblehillgarden