Richard Adams, The Access Group (previously ChangeWorkNow) will present ‘Are your recruiters
stuck in reaction mode’ A discussion around how recruiters should be more proactive with the resource
available in 2016 and how to manage applicants / candidates through an ATS and taking a look at specific
areas such as:Previous applicants, CV databases, Work experience and Networking
A challenging question that any organisation should ask themselves.
What do I mean by Reaction mode?
To understand this let’s take a look at how you’ve been recruiting for your organisation.
Firstly, what are the Common reasons for recruiting?
My point is that all of these point towards a necessity to recruit.
I find that this necessity is usually accompanied with the precursor statement of “We need to because…”
This will more than likely sit hand in hand with a colleague leaving the business, in one way or another, and commonly with short notice, usually between 1 – 4 weeks. This encapsulated with a department or line manager who is jumping up and down shouting in a panic ”we need to fill a space” creates the perfect storm for the necessity hire.
So, the necessity hire has now put you into reactive mode so the next natural question is do you use your in-house recruitment team with all the tools available to them? OR do you push the role out to an agency who will have their own managed database of candidates at the ready?
Audience Question – where would you look if wanting to change jobs?
Previous applicants. If you were lucky enough to have too many applications for a particular role then this is the perfect place to start. Do you recall those people who got to the final or later stages of interview but were beaten by more suitable candidates? Don't just thank them for their time and throw away their details moving onto the next: add anyone with future potential to your list of prospects
CV databases. Great tools, but do we have the time to log into several different job boards and then sift through the CV’s anymore? Time is money as they say, and having talent pool software that allows you to post your jobs to the major boards and then centralise a well-qualified shortlist would be great, right?
Work experience. Many organisations don't have the capabilities to run an extensive schemes with the required investment in training and development. However, work experience schemes give you the chance to give your prospective employee their first taste of the business, whilst helping you identify the shining stars who may help your company in the future. Having the capabilities to manage this process can be made easier by having talent pool software.
Networking. Using industry conferences, professional associations or just chance meetings, you should always be on the lookout for people who could help your organisation grow. Don't go in all guns blazing with a pitch about how great your company is to work for. Find out about them, what they are up to and what they are interested in. Remember this is a two way street.
Online networking. LinkedIn, Facebook and the hundreds of other online social networking websites make it easy to keep in touch with what people are up to. Having a talent management solution that also integrates with Social Media platforms is a must have for the modern recruiter, Social Media is changing the face of recruitment and providing recruiters with new avenues and fresh challenges.
Referrals. Arguable the best source of attraction, a personal recommendation from someone within the business. This is great as it gives the current employer recognition and most organizations also offer a reward. Always best to run the same process as you do with any candidate to ensure quality and the right decision is made. This can also be a proactive way to build a talent pool as if you always hire the same type of person a position will likely come up at short notice so having someone ready is always key.
But what’s important when looking for an ATS partner?
Ease of use is the most important factor that determines if your recruiters will actually use a piece of software, why? Well because they don’t have, or may not want, to spend time figuring out clunky features that slows them down in the process of what they are employed to do, RECRUIT! To maximize adoption across your organization choose a recruiting solution that has
A consistent user interface across the entire recruiting platform
A presentable dashboard that surfaces the most important information for your recruiters to take immediate action on
Easy scheduler, a Smart schedule functionality and email templates that are available right within the system so that there’s no need to go back and forth from your recruiting platform.
Ideally when you have a vacancy and the candidates you want to fill the position would be active job hunters ready to step into the role immediately. You may also have this skillset internally. This is the ideal, but in reality it's unlikely these people will be available when you want them. Conversely, when they are looking, you may not have a position to suit.
This is where talent pooling becomes the most important recruiting tool for in-house recruiters. Talent pools not only ensure that new talent is recruited effectively but also that opportunities are given to the individuals within your organisation. Far too often we see in-house recruiters spending budgets on external postings, searching high and low, when quite possibly the best person for the job could be at the next desk over.
But because you don’t manage your organisations talent effectively you’ll have to hope that that colleague sees the opening and then applies. Worth the risk?
So where are the best places to start looking for the people who will shape the future of your organisation?
How do we alleviate the Necessity Hire and turn your recruiters from reactive to pro-active?
Better tools and Education!
A recent study showed that organisations had a better retention and hiring rate when their recruiters took their department from reactive to pro-active candidate seeking, it also showed that those organisations we’re building talent pools to stay ahead of the talent needs.
I’m sure most of you know about talent pooling, but for those that who have not here’s a quick description. A talent pool is a centralised database of people, comprising both employees and non-employees, who could fulfil a new or existing role in your organisation.
Having and building a talent pool is an effective way for recruiters to ensure a constant flow of candidates as and when they are needed. A recent study suggested that recruiting software can improve your hiring process and efficiency by 94%.