Who will win the recruiting war?

We have HR in the blue corner and Recruitment Agencies in the red corner.  HR look as if they are at long last paused to conquer with vast sums of money, CEO focus on talent management, applicant tracking systems, fancy career sites and more widgets than you can fit in a Tesco EXTRA.

But is it enough or are HR not focused on using some the tools at their disposal?

I am going to generalise somewhat and no doubt upset a few people but here goes:

1. Most people who work in HR are female.
2. Most people who work in HR are 25 - 44.

The above is based on my own experience of having met many HR people and attended a number of conferences over the years; feel free to argue your case.  This is not in anyway suggesting men are better than women but it is used to demonstrate the following point; that assuming the above to be representative according to the Groundswell Social Technographics profile tool we get the following:

Age 25 - 34: 8% creators.
Age 35 - 44: 5% creators.

Age 25 - 34: 53% inactives.
Age 35 - 44: 64% inactives.

What this means, is that IF the above is correct, then it will take around 1,000 HR professionals to create a regular discussion in a Talent Management Social network.  However, although they may not actively participate as they are:

Age 25 - 34: 36% spectators.
Age 35 - 44: 28% spectators.

they will be 'reading' posts and comments so, the information is not being ignored.  So, what we can learn from this is that providing the widgets and tools and assuming they will automatically be used is not necessarily the best thing to do.  Maybe we need to recognise the make-up of HR and provide more information so that informed decisions can be made rather than just expect them to jump in without thinking (like men generally do).  So, maybe we will be able to help HR survive as they are not yet doomed to extinction as PwC suggest.

Interestingly, men are a lot more engaged in social networks and gadgets; so what does this mean?!  Anything?  Nothing?  Just don't assume silence means lack of engagement.