How These Three Companies Are Revolutionising Recruiting in Asia Pacific Employees hired via a referral or recommendation tend to be a better cultural fit, contribute more value to the company, and even stay longer

One of the most ironic sights in Asia Pacific's tech ecosystem is when a startup exhibits at a career fair: Companies who position themselves on the forefront of technology should not recruit talent in the same way that corporations do. For if you do the same thing as them, you'll get the same results—people who may not be ready to thrive in the fast-paced, fluid world of tech.

Tech startups instead need to innovate the way they find, source, recruit, hire, onboard, and train their talent with the same creativity they bring to their products. Re-envisioning their recruiting pipeline will ensure that they identify the talent best suited to add real value to their startup and its mission.

The emerging field of social recruiting helps companies achieve this goal. Definitions vary, but social recruiting essentially helps companies leverage the social network of employees—and in some cases, outside stakeholders—to find and refer the best talent. It's the same way that we rely on friends and family for recommendations, only in this case it's for people.

Entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific need to pay attention to the growing class of social recruiting companies in the region. Employees hired via a referral or recommendation tend to be a better cultural fit, contribute more value to the company, and even stay longer. Here are just three companies you need to keep an eye on for your social recruiting needs.

Wantedly

Started in Japan, Wantedly helps tech companies deal with the age old question of culture-fit. Some candidates, after all, may look good on paper, having all the requisite skills and abilities needed for a particular position, but clash with teammates once you hire them and they begin working.

Wantedly enables talent to inquire for a casual drop-in chat with company representatives on its platform. Once the job seeker and the company representative meet to chat, the two parties can move on to a formal interview if there is mutual interest. The fact there is a less formal initial meeting makes it easier for companies and job seekers to gauge culture-fit.

Entrepreneurs should take Wantedly as a kind of case study. While the need to fill some positions may be urgent, they should not rush to ferry anyone down the recruiting pipeline. Taking more time to see if someone will really fit in with your existing team will pay dividends down the road, as they will not only contribute, but collaborate.

Recruitday

Recruitday is crafting out its own niche in this field, creating what it calls "social plus referral recruiting". Companies in the Philippines can post job openings on the Recruitday platform, opening them up to referrals from scouts, who can be anyone. Some scouts are full-time employees, others are freelancers, and still others are people in between jobs.

The breadth in the background of scouts ensures that companies get consistent and high quality referrals. Companies incentivize scouts to do so by offering cash rewards for referred candidates reaching different parts of the hiring process, such as being shortlisted.

Founders should pay attention to Recruitday because its platform solves the challenge of recruiting through a marketplace model, rewarding scouts with income and companies with talent. Companies also need to get into this mode of thinking: How can they actively encourage stakeholders to send talent their way at every possible opportunity?

RippleHire

RippleHire, headquartered out of Mumbai, India, gamifies the referral process by offering rewards to employees who endorse candidates. What distinguishes RippleHire is its product focused on internal job mobility, allowing candidates to apply for internal vacant positions that would represent a step up from their current post.

RippleHire is novel because it implicitly acknowledges that the recruiting process never stops. To retain the best talent, entrepreneurs must always find ways to reward employees with new, challenging opportunities over the course of their entire career with the company and give them a clear path for professional advancement.

In the end, tech companies in Asia Pacific need to re-evaluate their hiring and retention processes. Some of the most innovative companies may provide local companies with a turnkey solution that works immediately. But even before turning to such solutions, founders must acknowledge that in order to find the most innovative talent, the company needs to be an innovative recruiter.