How to improve efficiency in the recruitment process

Advances in technology are revolutionizing the way businesses operate within a global community, but talent and recruitment programs are experiencing more disruption than most.

As an indicator, just consider how technology has turned the workplace into a mobile working culture and the tremendous impact this has had on candidate sourcing. The ability to log on and operate from almost any location has expanded the talent pool to planetary proportions, and worker expectations have altered in kind, with 85% of millennials now preferring flexible working on a full-time basis.

Recruiting systems have also diversified, with searches now delving into professional and social network sites in a bid to find the right person for the job. Unprecedented levels of data and increased ways to share and analyze information have conspired to create organizational inefficiencies that many talent recruitment executives will recognize.

Seeing the woods for the trees

Scanning applicant resumes is integral to the recruitment of new employees, and teams are under pressure to optimize their methods as they sift the weaker applicants from those who have the right balance of qualification, experience and professionalism to be a success.

Fraught with inefficiency, the process is considered the trickiest part of recruitment by over half of talent acquisition leaders. This is understandable, given that an incredible 88% of applications to any one job posting are deemed as inadequately qualified, leading executives to spend an average of 23 hours of reading through resumes in a bid to fill a single position.

With hiring volumes only set to increase in 2018, and most recruiting teams staying the same size, the need to streamline the screening process has never been more urgent.

Data confusion

Does the way you analyze data give you the insight you need?      

It’s a regular complaint for many recruiters, for whom progress is frustrated by disconnected corporate knowledge spread across various departments and locked inside different applications.

Regaining control starts with getting on top of the numbers – understanding and manipulating KPIs to measure results so that more effective recruitment strategies can be built, based on facts. Only then can management obtain clarity on what’s gone right, what’s gone wrong, and how those experiences can inform a productive, more efficient pathway forwards.

Recruitment metrics can help to increase corporate intelligence, but many bosses are not able to use these to best effect and become bogged down in complexities as a result. But as companies grow, so too do their metrics requirements; time is then lost in efforts to collate and analyze critical data needed for any occasion.

Automated workflows for more effective productivity

The good news is that there’s plenty of help at hand for executives who are prepared to embrace digital transformation. The pathway to increased efficiency begins at automation, and it’s a game changer.

First and foremost, automation takes care of many tasks that can be replicated, but this goes one step further with intelligent software that can soak up employee performance data to learn ideal candidate profiles for specific roles.

Automation software can also be calibrated to remove subconscious bias, allowing executives to optimize the candidate search without discrimination and in the fairest way possible. This is especially good for transparently addressing issues such as gender or cultural diversity within your workforce.

A dynamic overhaul for the digital era

Recruiters can add even more speed and agility to their processes by relying on cloud technology. Centralizing disparate data sources on a single online hub allows critical processes to be integrated, simplifying operations and driving corporate insight.

Cloud platforms allow all authorized members of staff to access and share knowledge at any time, meaning collaboration and productivity levels escalate. Removing silos is a key issue here, it puts an end to duplicate documents being worked on in multiple departments and promotes clarity of communication.

In place of confusion grows a culture that produces fully current data that can be channelled through personalized dashboards and easily analyzed. No more time-consuming manual searches and cross-checking the facts; business operations are streamlined, and executives gain the purpose-specific business intelligence they need, whether in the office or operating remotely.

In real terms, recruiters are given control and visibility, and teams can source the best candidates for any given role. It’s a process that builds its momentum, continually improving over time so that business owners are freed up to scale and respond to market challenges with greater wisdom and intuition.

Conclusion

Recruiters and talent agencies can access all these efficiency-boosting advantages and far more when tapping into cutting-edge, industry-leading cloud technologies, such as Sage Business Cloud People. When partnering with Sage, executives build a cloud-based platform that unifies front and back ends, bringing departments, operations and people together. Your recruitment processes become smarter and project management becomes simpler, enabling more stable business growth.

Core to this offering are cost-conscious solutions that grow as you scale. An IT environment and organizational infrastructure that are centrally upgraded for maintenance and security give business owners the new power to maximize services, develop the client base and revitalize processes for the digital age.

The cloud has many silver linings

Many organizations are still experiencing far-reaching problems that stem from silo working, despite our awareness of the damage being done.

Cloud technology is this change. It represents the start to understanding organizations as “networks of people,” and is a cornerstone to nurturing talent through collaboration at every level.

In such a climate, business leaders are liberated to take on a more social form of leadership within a fully connected business. The cloud becomes the final piece of the corporate jigsaw, so that bosses and employees can see the big picture for now and years to come.