Using 2.0 for “insert business”

I have been thinking a lot recently about the ways that many businesses could benefit from a web/enterprise 2.0 approach to using technology. There are the obvious wins that a business can achieve in terms of productivity and revenue increases and there are the less obvious wins of changing the fundamental structure of the business.

For instance recruiters have been on the leading edge of the Web 2.0 movement. They realized early on that using tools like LinkedIn, Facebook and Plaxo extend their reach in terms of building relationships, making connections and quickly qualifying prospects to increase their revenues. Over the long term, however, I think many recruiting firms will begin to use Web 2.0 technology as a way to build a community that brings together prospects and clients in an interactive way that adds value for both parties. This would include the use of social networks, wikis, blogs and video. Kevin Wheeler on ERE Blog Central makes the case for these types of uses.

In the same way that the Ladders uses the $100k barrier to filter and initially qualify it’s prospects and clients, a smaller boutique recruiter could use linkedIn to encourage conversations and build a network of people who fit their market niche. They could then invite qualified prospects to participate in a an open or even private social network to build closer relationships over the long term and through that, become the recruiter of choice for both the prospect and the recruiting client. They could also allow hiring companies to engage in conversations directly with prospects in ways that facilitate the hiring process.

I haven’t yet experienced this, but I believe it would radically alter the perception of the hiring process from the perspective of the prospect and the hiring entity. This sort of fundamental business process redesign would ultimately restructure the nature of the recruiting business and redefine the way prospects and hiring clients approach the task of managing talent.