Press Releases

San Ramon, Calif. – November 18, 2011 – New research from Ventana Research finds that social media is an essential part of organizations’ recruiting practices.  While many organizations realize the importance of social media in regard to recruiting and talent management, most organizations have just scratched the surface of what is possible through integrating it into their hiring processes.

This in-depth benchmark research from Ventana Research, the leading business technology research firm, presents comprehensive, research-based information on companies’ attitudes towards social media and recruiting processes and technology.

While almost every organization benchmarked indicated they currently access external social media to augment their recruiting and applicant tracking activities, 55 percent of survey participants recruited less than one-quarter of their new hires over the past three months through social media sites.  This is a good step in the right direction, but most organizations are still inhibited by not integrating social media into their applicant tracking technologies, which are not designed to support social recruiting.  The research also found that just 15 percent of organizations are satisfied with their social recruiting efforts, indicating a market ready for rapid growth.

“This new benchmark research finds organizations are just beginning to integrate social media into their talent acquisition processes,” said Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Ventana Research.  “Recruiting departments and hiring managers are going to increasingly seek out recruiting software that will help find and hire talent from social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.”

Ventana Research undertook this benchmark research to acquire real-world information about levels of maturity, trends and best practices in organizations’ use of social media in recruiting and talent management.  It explores how they do this now, how they view their existing processes and tools, plans they have to change or improve them, and the benefit they hope to gain by doing so.

Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Ventana Research, will present the findings from this research in a live webinar on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 10am PT. To register for the webinar, or view a recording after December 1, visit http://www.ventanaresearch.com/socialtalentwebinar/.

Those interested in learning more about this benchmark research can find additional information at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/socialtalent/. As a part of your registration you will receive insights and education from Ventana Research on using technology effectively in business. Ventana Research thanks those that participated in the benchmark and our media and association partner Business Finance and HR Marketer who helped make this benchmark research a reality. Ventana Research provides guidance to organizations in human capital management through its Ventana OnDemand (http://www.ventanaresearch.com/ondemand) and with its assessment and educational services offerings. (http://www.ventanaresearch.com/services/)

About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research’s insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Business Week’s Business Exchange.

To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations’ use of information and technology through benchmark research, education and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

Media: Copies of benchmark research report and interviews are available upon request.

Media Contact:

Bailey Donoghue

(925) 242-2412

marketing@ventanaresearch.com