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E-Meet & Greet
September 01, 2009
By Lorri Freifeld
My co-worker, Anthony DeRico, first introduced me to the term, "virtual handshake," so I have to give him credit for the cover line on this month's technology issue. He is a big fan of connecting people via e-mail, providing dozens of these "virtual handshakes" each week (many of which have led to sources for articles, speakers for Webinars, and podcast subjects for Training editors).
When moved into the larger-scale arena of social networking, virtual handshakes can be an invaluable tool for recruiting and onboarding. According to a study, "Tapping the Power of Social Networking to Manage Talent," by Saba Software, Inc., and the Human Capital Institute (HCI), organizations are more than likely to be using social networking to improve onboarding (71 percent) and support recruiting (62 percent). As Senior Writer Margery Weinstein discovered when writing the cover story this month (see p. 18), virtual job fairs, and recruiting via social networks, can be great strategies for finding your next batch of high achievers—allowing you to touch thousands more possible applicants in half the time while incorporating real-time communication. KPMG, for example, had more than 11,000 visitors to its two-day virtual job fair. At any given time, KPMG had between 400 and 700 visitors, and more than 12,000 resumes were submitted.
Intel began its foray into virtual recruitment a few years ago, with an online platform that allowed it to chat virtually with potential recruits. Its target audience for that initial effort was U.S. college students, who Intel asked to an invitation-only virtual event. "We used it as a way to get people excited about Intel, and also to keep them 'warm' so they would stay interested in us until we could make them an offer," says Recruitment Marketing Program Manager Allen Stephens.
In keeping with this virtual event trend, Training magazine will host its first Virtual Trade Show December 10. The event will include a keynote presentation by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," plus three interactive sessions: tying training to achievement of corporate strategic goals; blended learning; and training via social networking. Check www.trainingmagevents.com for more information and to register later this month.
While you're online, be sure to read our digital e-training supplement (www.nxtbook.com/rss/nxtbooks/nielsen_training.php), which looks at the economics of e-learning, creation of the "classroom community" environment virtually, and a framework to optimize the use of e-learning technology.
Our cyber focus continues with our Online Learning Conference held September 23 to 24 at the Digital Sandbox in New York City. Learn more and register at www.OnlineLearningConference.com. Participants will learn best practices for designing, deploying, and managing effective learning technologies.
Speaking of best practices, September 25 is the deadline for the 2010 Training Top 125 application. Visit www.trainingmag.com/top125 to download the application.
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