Mastery Of Google Is Key To HR Success

Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping my neural circuitry, reprogramming my memory. I can’t remember a single phone number or the name of my high school science teacher. I honestly believe my mind is changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. Or maybe… just maybe someone is thinking on my behalf.

Yes… I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching, surfing and simply Googling all! And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.

In the era of Google memory doesn’t matter. Google has become the source of wisdom for people all around the world. It is the Encyclopedia of the XXI Century available to Maria in Argentina, Luc in Australia and Kaito in Japan with a single screen in front, some quick clicks and a few relevant keywords. In words of its founder, Sergey Brin, Google is A revolution just like the industrial revolution.

In May 2011, the number of monthly unique visitors to Google surpassed one billion for the first time. Google has become the place where millions of people are searching to find there next big job, the best Italian restaurant in town or a moving company to make that exhausting process a bit less painful.

So… for all those HR professionals out there, I have news for you. Mastery of Google is key to human resources success. Today HR professionals must communicate directly with their employees, prospect employees and other stakeholders, when and where they want to, and needless to say those people are currently in the net Googling their way 24/7 through the endless world of information, products and services.

The world today is how Google defines it. So if you and your company want to be part of this world you should better start learning how to master Google and its various applications NOW... sounds like a difficult, underground, hyperlinked, hyper-complicated, hyper-hi-tech world, but it really isn’t. Today I’ll show you various uses of Google that will make the daily practice of HR a bit less painful and a lot more successful. Just hear me out for a couple of minutes, I promise this wont take long.

Let’s start with the basics: Google Search… I will not bore you with this. We all know the power of this magnificent search engine responsible for 2/3 of all the searches made in the US. Google Search has become a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. As HR professionals we have an invaluable tool in our hands that permits us immediate access to an incredibly rich store of information.

Through Google Search we can find out who’s working as brand manager at Colgate-Palmolive, the latest discussion on HR policy that will affect my business, or where we can effectively post a job offer to find the best candidates for the job. In other words, research that once required days can now be done in minutes. I don’t need to have a rich address book of contacts to be hired in a top notch HR department. A few Google searches, some quick clicks and I’ve got it.

Furthermore… I’m sure you have frequently asked yourself: How many people are actually visiting my site? Where did my visitors come from? Twitter? Google? Did people like the stuff on my website? Were they engaged? Well, today you can answer all these questions by just registering to Google Analytics the perfect tool for research addicts, stats lovers and data geeks. With just one click into your report you’ll get your overall site usage numbers. This includes website’s traffic and traffic sources, the average time people spent on your site, number of conversions, percentage of new visitors, among many other metrics.

To make things even better, Google Analytics can also provide you basic demographics, system, and mobile reports. You can easily view visitors by language, country/territory, or city; by browser, operating system, and service provider. What else could you ask? You won’t have to hire any communication firm to tell you who’s your online audience. You can find out by yourself.

Keep in mind that data is no longer the domain of just marketers and analysts.  It is now a requisite skill for all managers. Without a doubt Google Analytics is an application you don’t want to miss.

Another interesting Google application is Google Alerts. In this age of information overload, it is becoming more and more complicated for us to have control over the information generated in the World Wide Web. Additionally, as HR professionals we must be informed of everything that’s being said and not said about our employer brand (or so wishes our boss). Here is when Google Alerts comes to the rescue. This powerful weapon helps us monitor the online presence of terms, brands, organizations and individuals.

Google Alerts is an online content change detection and notification service that will automatically notify us when new content from news, web, blogs, video and/or discussion groups are generated in the web. Notifications can be sent by email, as a web feed, or displayed on the users' iGoogle page. 

Tonight, I strongly encourage you to set up alerts for your company name, stock symbol, executive names, brand or product, and why not… for your competitor’s brand too. You don’t want to be the last one to know that your corporation is at risk thanks to a sloppy customer service, a broken guitar and a creative viral video passing along the Internet... Sorry United but that song is simply catchy. As David Meerman Scott said “Now more then any other time in history, speed and agility are decisive competitive advantages.”

Jumping to the Mad Men world, Google AdWords is an excellent tool to stop buying advertising at absurd prices. Google AdWords is Google’s flagship advertising platform that will allow you to promote your business to Internet users on Google and partner sites. You can start small with AdWords, there’s no minimum purchase size, and so it works for big campaigns as well as small projects.

Today, HR professionals are being asked to post job openings online. Without a doubt AdWords can be an excellent tool to do this. And the best part of it is that you only pay for the number of successful clicks that drive prospective candidates to your site. You’re boss will thank you for this… Be sure to ask for a salary raise.

Ladies and gentlemen the world has changed; today Google defines it and HR professionals must ride the cyber wave. Today we must welcome the new communication strategies that are here to stay. Believe me! Google can become your BFF, the best weapon you can have as a HR professional. Don’t be scared to give them a try.

Oh!... And before I leave I must tell you a little secret. Don’t tell anybody but, for the most part, Google is FREE! Enjoy it!