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Hiring managers as well as human resource leaders at Burger King Corp. had grown increasingly frustrated with the fast food company’s paper-based job application process. Paperwork was unwieldy to manage, restaurant managers too often spent valuable time screening candidates who didn’t pan out, and there were significant cost and time inefficiencies in processing I-9 and Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) forms.

While social media outlets appear to be changing the way employers identify and recruit job applicants, the impact and long-range implications of social media on staffing functions remain unclear. According to the 10th Annual Sources of Hire Study released by CareerXroads on March 17, 2011, more than 88 percent of employers responding to a survey reported that they consider social media to be a part of their overall direct-sourcing efforts.

There was a time when social media was cutting edge. Now it is mainstream. Case in point: Facebook has more than 500 million individual members worldwide.

As with all communication, social media presents business benefits and legal risks. This article discusses four ways social media and HR have become inextricably intertwined: hiring, harassment, off-duty disparagement and “friending” of colleagues.

CHICAGO—A “Blues Brothers” comedic skit helped, but American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) President and CEO Tony Bingham and opening keynoter Daniel Pink are the ones who really got the crowd jazzed during the ASTD 2010 International Conference & Exposition, which kicked off here officially in the Windy City on May 17.

This year’s conference theme: Social media and learning.

Huge demographic shifts in the workforce — from Baby Boomers staying in the labor market to Millennials unable to enter it — were at the forefront of today’s “Workforce Mosaic Policy Summit” at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Other demographic trends including rapid growth in the nonwhite population and military veterans re-entering the workforce were also highlighted.

More employers are using social networking tools to enhance employee interaction. 

Improved engagement, turnover, brand visibility and credibility among clients are goals