There are a smaller number of jobs, however, that I believe will very shortly REQUIRE SOCIAL MEDIA in order to be done effectively. These are not jobs where logging in online can help to add dimension or offer a useful outlet. In this category of social media enabled jobs, the people doing those jobs who are NOT using social media will find themselves falling behind. Here are a few of these types of jobs that come to mind for me:

1. Customer Service Representative: It is already a part of many customer service groups to allow people to interact with a company by email. More and more, social networks and social media tools are offering a chance for companies to offer proactive customer service. In some cases, like Comcast, there is an entire channel of customer service professionals who are responding to customers. In others, a company may be using a social media community through a service such as Get Satisfaction to offer this type of service. People are talking about their experiences online, and increasingly they will expect companies to be listening to them there. We are at the beginning of a large trend that in the next few years may become as ordinary and expected as being able to call a phone number to receive customer service.

2. Concierge. The sad fact of many hotels (even 5 star properties) is that the individuals they have sitting behind the concierge desk are little more than glorified order takers and bellman (or women). Think I’m being unfair? Unfortunately, my consistent travel schedule (more than 100 days a year) has led me to the truth that a good concierge who actually is an expert at knowing their own city and how to get just about anything done is few and far between. There are, of course, those concierges still available on occasion and nothing can replace their expertise. But for 95% of hotels in America (and perhaps even that percentage is too low), social media can offer the one thing that those concierges alone cannot. Through social media, you can have instant access to real restaurant reviews, shopping recommendations, direct connections with small businesses and more. All the things that a great concierge would spend years learning are now available through social media to the savvy web user.

Any other jobs come to mind that should make this list?

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Many companies outsource their HR for legal reasons. HR departments have to act independently, and to keep from cases of favoritism, outsourcing is an option. HR Consultants many times provide a safer avenue, than simply going out and hiring a team on your own. Depending on the quality of the firm, you’ll have an experienced staff who knows how to deal with situations and makes the investment worth it.

Your HR department should be a representation of the size of your company. Outsourcing to a large firm might not be beneficial if you have only five employees. For a situation such as this, hiring a single HR rep should be enough to suffice. As the size of your business grows, it can be tough to decide how large you need your HR department to be and what services are needed to keep up with your growth. It’s vital to keep in constant contact with your HR reps to judge job performance and decide on whether expanding or outsourcing will be profitable.

Hiring a HR Consultant can be a great help for increasing efficiency in the workplace. Many businesses never realize the array of services needed to conduct sound HR practices, and a consultant can help increase quality. Consultants can provide information pertaining to current changes in the market, point businesses in the right direction for HR software.

James McKerrell, chief executive of CRS Technologies SA, provides wonderful insight into searching for HR solutions, “Human resources has evolved and now become a value-add to many departments in many large organizations.” He continues, “The use of a successful HR solution should enhance the visibility of HR in a business, and provide managers and employees with easy access to valuable information, flexible and powerful reporting, and a reduction in administration.”

Like many other aspects of your business, there’s no cut-and-dry strategy when deciding the direction your HR department should take. Debating the factors of legality and size, you should have a good start for deciding on successful HR solutions.

This morning there was a message on Facebook that made me stop and think for a moment, should we delete our Facebook accounts when we are looking for a job?

There are a lot of reasons for doing this, and while your data is still going to be in Google Cache for a very long time (unless you ask for it to be removed) this might end up being the next “big thing” as people start trying to return to work.

Our study found 70% of surveyed HR professionals in U.S. (41% in the UK) have rejected a candidate based on online reputation information. Reputation can also have a positive effect as in the United States, 86% of HR professionals (and at least two thirds of those in the U.K. and Germany) stated that a positive online reputation influences the candidate’s application to some extent; almost half stated that it does so to a great extent. Source: Microsoft Research

While we do want to be social, there are a ton of reasons not to friend your boss, or in some cases post stuff online that reflect negatively upon you, that does not mean that people still do not pay attention to what they are posting online at all. They do, but the connection between public and private is so blurred by social networking that people are failing to make the connection that what they do privately reflects upon the ethics and morals of the HR person who is trolling Facebook (or any other service for that matter) looking at potential hires. If the HR person does not mind drunken partying – then you might be ok to that HR person.

What we have entered is the reputation economy we are who we are online, because that is what people see. For some who are job seeking that might mean pulling your Facebook profile for a while as they are going about job searching. For others it might mean that they polish up their professional contacts, recommendations on LinkedIn, and otherwise change their image to the simple portrayal of the perfect vision of the “company person”.

This is where this all gets interesting, but even more interesting when people believe that they have to dump their Facebook profile when they start the job search. If anyone else has done this, let’s talk about this here, or on your blog, ping back so I know you are discussing it. This could be an interesting discussion.

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It’s hard to argue with his words, because the ultimate goal is to keep all of your employees. Darton’s claim is that their software can help streamline the human resource management process, providing clearer options as to an employee’s worth. A startling statistic used by Darton is that cost of losing talent “may be at least one and a half times the budgeted salary for employees.”

Right now there’s a trend in human resource management which relies heavily on analytic data, involving employee’s performance. The analysis then provides optimal data to managers when deciding who to keep or potentially let go.

Oracle has released its latest software, PeopleSoft 9.1. The software offers ‘end-to-end’ solutions, utilizing a single interface. The program allows you to set expectations and track employee performance over a given period of time. Depending on the amount of employees the software could be considered a boon.

When deciding on software such as this, there’s a couple of questions to ask yourself. First – how much reliance are you going to put on software to help decide an employee’s worth? Second – what exactly are you going to track, and will be the optimal results?

Relying on software can be tricky when it comes to evaluating performance. Are the numbers being based solely on speed, or how much emphasis do you put into quality of work? How much weight will punctuality play in employee evaluations? Dress code compliance?

The point is not to be completely apprehensive about human resource software, but it’s important to know what you want out of it. Remember, it’s just a tool and you’re the decision maker. When employee’s jobs are hanging in the balance, a piece of software will not have all the answers but can help you start in the right direction.

The section of the hiring market most people are eyeing is the full time positions. According to the survey, twenty percent of the employers plan to hire for full time positions in 2010, while only 14 percent responded this way in 2009. Another section of the survey which was interesting is employer’s plans for increase in salary. 57 percent of the companies involved plan to increase salaries for current employees, which is a decrease from the 65 percent mark in 2009. Those are some revealing statistics; it seems employers are optimistic about hiring but are being conservative about how much money is paid out.

Going into more detailed aspects of the survey, there are some highly curious trends to watch in 2010. First, companies are looking to go after laid off workers they had to let go in 2009. Of the companies who laid off employees in 2009, 32 percent of them plan to hire back those same workers in 2010.

Keeping with the times, many companies are going to offer flexible scheduling arrangements. Here’s a list of various scheduling options, and the percentage of companies that plan on using them:

Allowing employees the option of coming in early/leaving early or coming in later/leaving later – 72 percent

Telecommuting options- 41 percent

Allowing employees to work the same hours in fewer days – 32 percent

Summer hours – 18 percent

Job Sharing – 13 percent

Sabbaticals – 6 percent

While scheduling options are going to be more flexible, employers are taking a harder stance on perks and benefits. Thirty seven percent of the companies surveyed will cut perks and benefits in 2010, up from 32 percent in 2009. Bonuses, healthcare coverage, 401k options, are all on the docket for being cut.

According to CareerBuilder it looks to be a reshaping year for businesses as it pertains to hiring. Human Resource professionals will certainly have their hands full trying to juggle all of these trends. Good luck to everyone, and hopefully this will be a more positive year going forward.

Of course for every bit of good news there must be bad news. Recent data released by the Labor Dept. shows many employers are still hesitant to hire. The latest data shows an overall less un-employment rate, but there were a few numbers which showed a potential dire future. As it stands now there are more potential candidates per job openings than in recent history. This of course creates a fiercely competitive job market, and can put a strain on HR. Which if you’re reading this isn’t good news to hear.

While employment rates will fluctuate, a staple of HR which will stay constant, is the need for communication. Keeping in constant contact with employees and having available channels for them to contact you, is a must for success. Going into 2010, this should be a good time to reflect on the technologies you use to communicate with employees.

Doug Caverly wrote earlier of how Twitter is becoming a more prevalent tool in the workplace. The problem is allowing for social networking usage at work, while making sure it’s being used strictly for business purposes. While there’s always potential for abuse, going into 2010 might be a good time to look at social networking as a viable communication tool with your employees. This allows for faster and more efficient correspondence.

Coupled with the implementation of social networking, 2010 should be a year you expand your technical knowledge and your social skills knowledge. The patterns of attitude in the workplace is continually changing, as older generations leave and younger ones take their place. This is a more general point to remember, but going year to year it’s important to know employees who are joining your company and what traits they bring with them.

People who’ve sworn off Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace may be appealing in certain regards, after all – employers will have to worry less about them playing with their friends all day – but folks who know how to use social media bring certain networking and broadcasting abilities to the table.

Marshall Kirkpatrick recently wrote, “Businesses that are down with the internet are generally down with the Twitter, it’s emblematic of adult social media use these days. . . .  There’s a whole world of business opportunity on Twitter that’s based on listening . . .”

A lot of firms are paying attention to it, too.  Kirkpatrick found that quite a few job listings on Craigslist mention Twitter, with a whopping 196 tied to New York doing so.  159 San Francisco job listings and 115 Boston job listings mention Twitter, as well.

So consider embracing what some folks consider off-topic.  There are a number of advantages, and by making a move now, you’d get ahead of the curve.

Head to Google’s “Search Settings” on any computer to enable the lock.  Then, as a post on the Official Google Blog explained, “When you lock SafeSearch, two things will change.  First, you’ll need to enter your password to change the setting.  Second, the Google search results page will be visibly different to indicate that SafeSearch is locked.”

In fact, four large, brightly colored balls will appear in the upper right-hand corner of search pages, making it clear to just about everyone in any given room that SafeSearch is active and sexual content is off-limits.

Of course, employees could just skirt SafeSearch by switching to a search engine other than Google, but since Google’s so dominant, that would be sort of an eyebrow-raising decision even under normal circumstances.

If you’d like to significantly decrease the chances of employees getting into some inappropriate stuff while on the clock, then, Google’s provided a cheap and easy way to do so.

The SHRM started the LMO survey in the first quarter of this year to help anticipate hiring trends, due to the recession. The LMO is based on a quarterly survey of more than 400 HR professionals, who are in charge of managing staff issues with their respective companies.

The third quarter survey showed that 47 percent of the HR employees said their company would keep payrolls flat. 24 percent of the respondents stated that their company would increase staff, and 30 percent would cut jobs.

Of the one third of employees cut during the third quarter, senior execs retained their jobs more while hourly, temporary, and professionals got the pink slip. Stability, strong core leadership, and low management turnover were reasons behind this trend of cuts.

The fourth quarter survey with more improved numbers projected 59 percent would maintain current payroll levels. While 20 percent said they would hire going into Q4, and only 14 percent would cut jobs.

Jennifer Schramm, manager of forecasting trends with SHRM discusses the numbers, "HR managers are optimistic that the economy is inching towards a recovery but are crafting cautious hiring plans with more aggressive recruitment not expected until 2010"

A closer look at the fourth quarter data shows that publicly owned for profit companies are the most active hirers at 28 percent looking to fill positions. Privately owned companies follow closely behind at 25 percent, nonprofit and government follows behind at 12 and 11 percent.

Dividing the numbers up regionally, HR professionals from all across the country are tightly grouped when it comes to outlook. Here are the percentages of ‘positive forecasts’ for each region:

Northeast Region: 30 percent

Midwest: 27 percent

West: 26 percent

Southeast: 24 percent

The full SHRM LMO report can be found here. More detail is provided concerning demographics and looking at different sectors. Comparisons between the third and fourth quarter are looked at a bit more closely as well.

More than half (54%) of chief information officers (CIOs) said their firms do not allow employees to visit social networking sites for any reason while at work.

CIOs were asked, “Which of the following most closely describes your company’s policy on visiting social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work?” Their responses:

54% prohibited completely
19% permitted for business purposes only
16% permitted for limited personal use
10% permitted for any type of personal use
1% don’t know/no answer

“Using social networking sites may divert employees’ attention away from more pressing priorities, so it’s understandable that some companies limit access, said Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology.

“For some professions, however, these sites can be leveraged as effective business tools, which may be why about one in five companies allows their use for work-related purposes.”

Willmer added that employees should always use good judgment, no matter how lenient their company’s policy.

“Professionals should let common sense prevail when using Facebook and similar sites — even outside of business hours,” he said. “Regrettable posts can be a career liability.”

The study found that fifty-one percent of executives surveyed said they fear social media could be detrimental to employee productivity, while 49 percent assert that using social media could damage company reputation.

Apparently with these fears in mind the following reasons that management uses social media were reported. The top reason is to read what customer might be saying about the company (52%). Next was to monitor a competitor’s use of social media (47%). Third was to see what their employees may be sharing, The fourth reason was to check on the background of prospective employees (25%). Thee reasons seems to bring in the vast majority of management into the social media space as only 16% said they use social media for personal use or not at all.

However, as the Communications Strategist noted, these were mostly defensive uses. For example, what about engaging in conversation with employees, customers, and the market in general. They also seem to display a lurker mentality. You really need to more fully engage to understand how social media might help the enterprise. The study also points out the many studies that show a rise in the use of social media should look closely at the reasons the various social media are being used.

This is especially important since despite their apprehensions, social networking is being viewed as a key strategy. According study, eight in 10 senior management, human resource and marketing executives believe social media can enhance relationships with customers/clients (81%) and build brand reputation (81%). Almost 70 percent feel such networking can be valuable in recruitment (69%), as a customer service tool (64%) and used to enhance employee morale (46%). The most popular vehicles being used include Facebook (80%), Twitter (66%), YouTube (55%), LinkedIn (49%) and blogs (43%). However, they seem to leave active participation to employees and simply want to monitor what is happening for various reasons noted above.

It was also interesting to read that, in fact, the majority of those surveyed who are not using social media on a corporate basis say this is primarily because they simply do not know enough about it. Again, the best way to learn is to engage.

So does your management use social media? If, so, how do they use social media? If you are management how do you use social media?

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