If you’re not using social media to complement your hiring efforts yet, then you’re seriously falling way behind the trend.

Earlier this summer, Jobvite unveiled its annual Social Recruiting Survey, which found that social media has become an essential recruiting tool for successful HR teams. Currently, 92 percent of companies are using social media to recruit new employees, which is up from 78 percent five years ago.

Survey results are based on answers from more than 1,000 human resources and other recruitment professionals who were asked about their social media recruiting activities and intentions.

Some key findings of the survey include:

  • LinkedIn remains the most popular social network among recruiters, with usage increasing from 87 percent in 2011 to 93 percent in 2012.
  • 66 percent of recruiters are using Facebook, up 11 percent from last year.
  • 54 percent of recruiters are using Twitter.
  • 73 percent of employes have successfully hired a candidate through social media, up from 63 percent in 2011 and 58 percent in 2010.
  • 89 percent of recruiters have hired through LinkedIn, 25 percent through Facebook, and 15 percent through Twitter.
  • 49 percent of recruiters have seen the size of their candidate pools increase since adopting social media.
  • 43 percent of recruiters think social media leads to better quality candidates.
  • 20 percent of recruiters say hiring through social media is quicker than through traditional channels.
  • 71 percent of recruiters consider themselves moderate to exceptional social recruiters.
  • 48 percent of recruiters always check a candidate’s social profiles.
  • 80 percent of recruiters like candidates who belong to professional organizations.

“The rise in social recruiting has allowed both candidates and employers an easier way to find the best match,” Dan Finnigan, president and CEO of Jobvite, said in a press release. “We continue to see social recruiting gain popularity because it is more efficient than the days of sifting through a haystack of resumes. It also increases quality referral hires, which our own data on Jobvite proves are hired faster and last longer.”

HR departments are historically considered to be boring and conservative, but some of the cutting-edge policies being created in big companies are giving recruiters a new reputation.

It’s hard enough to find – and keep – good employees in today’s world, and having a good recruiting team and good recruiting software (https://www.pcrecruiter.net) is no longer enough, so a lot of companies are going above and beyond the ordinary tactics to draw potential candidates. From unlimited vacation to bolder branding ideas, employers are pulling out all the stops to bring new people on board.

Here are five of the craziest policies that are setting some companies apart:

  1. Extraordinary benefits – Most companies offer some form of medical, dental, and vision insurance, but some companies are going way above and beyond to make sure their employees are well taken care of. Take Google for example – if an employee dies, the company’s life insurance policy will pay their spouse or domestic partner 50 percent of that employee’s paycheck for the next 10 years.
  2. Unlimited vacation – Employees of most companies – especially the bigger, more corporate ones – typically only get a couple weeks of vacation each year. However, newer companies like Netflix and Foursquare allow their employees to take an unlimited amount of vacation. These companies realize just how much emphasis the younger generations place on the importance of work-life balance and how much they value their time off.
  3. Better health incentives – A lot more companies are focusing on the skyrocketing cost of healthcare and are finding new and innovative ways to keep their employees healthy. Some of the top companies have employee exercise spaces or group classes on-site, while others offer monetary incentives for employees who improve their health and in turn drive down the company’s overall insurance costs.
  4. Intrinsic benefits – We’re seeing a lot more companies acknowledge the importance of intrinsic benefits and implement new ways to appreciate their employees – including everything from setting up game rooms and snack lounges where employees can take a much-needed break throughout the day to offering telecommuting opportunities so employees can work from the comfort of their own home.
  5. Referral bonuses – Some of the best new hires come from the networks of your existing employees, and companies are beginning to place a higher value on this. It’s not unusual for companies to offer a referral bonus of $100 or so, but some companies are offering bonuses in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.