Wedged between the Zoom and Loom

The one thing that we have learned through this pandemic is that ways of working and in particular communicating have changed, possibly for good. New ideas on how to execute your role with the lack of a physical presence have cast an array of players and technologies upon society. These offerings have nuances and distinguishing features with the benefits of delivering the specific messages we need to deliver; in real time or recorded, as an audience or a presenter or just a conversation.

Enter a cast of millions broadcasting theirs mugs far and wide. Brace yourself LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok and others! Some, like naturals, some like natural disasters.

(I recently witnessed an Irish MEP answering questions in the virtual European Parliament. He was clearly sitting on the end of his bed at home . It is not clear whether he was wearing anything underneath his shirt as he sporadically scratched his white pasty legs as he imparted his opinion on equitable spreading of European Funds to the nether regions or some such banter)

In this article, I want to briefly highlight 3 platforms and what they offer to the world of business . I won’t go through the fact that these tools will ever replace what we were used to, that’s a subject for another article and I won’t discuss which is the best to use . This article represents my opinion only

Zoom ….probably the most heralded of all tools during the crisis . It has ridden in on its white horse, muscled itself onto the big boys bench with FaceTime, Webex, Skype and a few others and taken its place at the top table of videoconferencing …It’s share price will tell you the full story . It’s easy to use. It just works, it facilitates gatherings and for the best part you have to wait your turn to talk .This is what I believe is really good part; it’s teaching people to listen to each other (a bit like the principle of the prisoner's dilemma, if both of you speak at the same time nobody hears a thing) It could actually have been brought to the fore years ago if only to teach salespeople that their ability to listen to their clients is their greatest trait.

I must say I have become a Zoom fan and I absolutely love what it offers . In the intense network building I have been doing for the past number of months it has helped me put meaning to my clicked connections on LinkedIn. Literally; it’s the conversation starter and your best friend for enriching your internet presence and all from the comfort of the home office.

The Loom. I have just recently considered this platform as a way of communicating with potential clients and candidates. I have been playing around with it’s features while practicing looking into the camera, stop humming and hawing and throwing in the odd smile. It’s a perfect solution for recording a company presentation. As you can practice and edit the final version repeatedly before you post it. My face contained in a bubble at the corner of the screen or full screen mode or even with PowerPoint presentation and highlighter pen, delivered with as a link to a desktop social media platform near you .

What a great branding tool for onboarding new talent! ...for learning about the company and receiving messages or training modules from different parts of the company to make a wholly positive experience.  It ticks all the boxes and ensure all the interaction is consistent professional and clear.

The Wedge …. This is an asynchronous video interviewing platform. For those who are not aware, it represents the new way to mass screen candidates effectively, efficiently and fairly ….Face to face too (in a virtual way) If you have a role to offer which requires the candidate to have a mix of Emotional Intelligence and soft skills …( like a sales role) well this could be the first stop for when have to screen a large number of applications. You can use it to deliver information about the role to the talent pool and talk to the candidates in recorded video mode . You get to ask competency or character-based questions and time limit the answering window . You get to review in your own time and if you like, watch over and over until you come to a clear decision on the candidate’s fate. You can share the “wedges” with your team and other stakeholders in your organisation.

At first, it can be a bit of a shock to the system for a candidate. You need to be ready to deliver your Wedge when the system has counted you in to action, but it can allow you a retake and the hiring manager can let you know the questions or at least style of questions in advance . The bottom line is …it’s fair; everyone is treated the same way and the candidate won’t suffer because the person in HR is having a bad day .

It’s all about Branding !

With the current global skills shortage, branding of your firm is going to be key in the onboarding process. Each touch point with the candidate needs to be a positive experience.

You now have the tools to see what you look like , test and try all of them they all work in different ways and all have their strengths and weaknesses. I am sure the answer is wedged somewhere between the Zoom and the Loom.

“69% of jobseekers would not take a job in a company with a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed“ Glassdoor

“96-98% of candidates who had a positive experience would refer others to apply” Bullhorn

“A structured effective onboarding process increases the hire retention by 82%” Glassdoor

“90% of HR leaders know they need to be more strategic” Human Capital Institute

I am happy to help out anyone who wants to discuss how you can optimise the use of these new conduits to your audience.

Contact me at Target Impact for a consultation