Social Networking Enters HR with Mentor Scout 2.0
<p><strong>Honolulu — July 11</strong><br />Mentor Scout, a division of Nobscot Corp., has released a new edition of its talent management software that adds broad social networking capabilities designed to help nurture and retain the 75 million Generation Y workers entering the workforce. </p><p>The program is the first to use social networking tools — a vital part of everyday life for younger people today — to promote employee interaction, collaboration, recognition and self-expression.<br /><br />Mentor Scout’s new Talent Networking Edition enables employees to create MySpace-style profiles about their professional and personal lives as a means of engaging them with the organization. </p><p>The social networking functions are arranged in tabs such as “Projects” (for posting information about work projects, challenges or ideas); “Applause” (for praise or thank-yous from colleagues); “Favorites” (for listing preferences on issues such as Web sites, books, blogs, classes, lunch spots and productivity tools); and “Get Togethers” (for arranging social meetings). <br /><br />These tools are intended to help employers address the retention challenges posed by the up-and-coming generation of workers who are more likely to job-hop, require constant praise and seek a work-life balance than their baby boomer counterparts. </p><p>By adding social networking to talent management, Mentor Scout is pioneering a new “talent networking” strategy aimed at speeding employee onboarding, increasing job satisfaction, encouraging cross-departmental cooperation and reducing turnover.<br /><br />“The new generation of workers has a completely different work style, including an intended one- or two-year tenure per job that could paralyze employers, as well as result in billions of dollars in productivity losses,” said Bruce H. Daly, president of Nobscot’s Mentor Scout division. “Keeping these employees happy in the workplace is becoming a top priority, and social networking offers a practical vehicle that fits their habits, preferences and reliance on technology for connecting with other people.”<br /><br />Mentor Scout’s Talent Networking Edition also includes all the features available in the earlier edition of the mentoring and networking platform, including a self-service mentor matching function that has facilitated more than 650 mentorships between senior and new or high-potential employees in the last two years for organizations from Best Buy and The Home Depot to General Mills and the Magazine Publishers of America. </p>
