LinkedIn Is a Lot More Than a Professional Networking Site Now

I recently attended LinkedIn’s annual human resources event, Talent Connect. Held in Anaheim, California, the event showcased everything LinkedIn  has been working on in 2018 and its plans for the future. LinkedIn presented on everything from its new applicant tracking system to how it is expanding online learning systems with LinkedIn Learning (formerly known as Lynda.com).

Today, however, I want to focus on one announcement in particular: LinkedIn’s acquisition of employee engagement platform Glint.

Glint’s platform aims to help HR better understand organizational performance, identify new sources of talent, and calibrate alignment between individual teams and the overarching needs of the business. Glint’s technology encourages companies to seek regular employee feedback on work, culture, and leadership. Then, it feeds those insights back to the leadership team, who can make more informed decisions as a result.

“With LinkedIn’s insights into the larger workforce alongside Glint’s internal view into employee engagement and skills, we will be able to help talent leaders answer all those difficult questions,” Dan Shapero, vice president of Talent Solutions at LinkedIn, said during the event.

It’s obvious what LinkedIn sees in Glint, as the company offers a solution that many organizations need. Replacing employees is expensive, and organizations want to keep turnover as low as possible. Glint can help employers identify employee pain points, like disengagement or a lack of career growth, before it’s too late.

I wanted to focus on Glint today because I think it illustrates something that I realized during my time at Talent Connect: LinkedIn is integrating itself into every aspect of our professional lives.

Ten years ago, LinkedIn was a simple networking website. Today, it is a collection of technologies that can impact every step of the career journey. We use LinkedIn to research target employers. We look for and apply to jobs on LinkedIn. We use LinkedIn Salary to estimate our market value. We ask for referrals and references on LinkedIn; we stay in touch with current and past coworkers. We use the site as a continuing education resource. Many of us have even thrown away our business cards because we know we can use LinkedIn instead.

Now, companies are using LinkedIn to stay in touch with their own workforces.

Regardless of where you are in your career journey, one thing is for sure: LinkedIn is a part of your everyday professional life, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon.

A version of this article originally appeared on Copeland Coaching.

Angela Copeland is a career coach and CEO at her firm, Copeland Coaching.