Automation has become an essential feature in the recruitment process. It’s also clear that using the right recruitment tools does save time and money while creating convenience and a more interactive experience for applicants.
In the coming weeks, Pontoon COO Mike Drolet will share conversations with various talent experts in a series of blog posts as he delves deeper into technology and questions impacting the relationship between organizations, efficiencies and candidates.
There are more than 1,000 recruitment technologies on the market today with many more currently in development and testing. These technologies cover all the various phases of the recruitment process, expressing a diverse and flexible technology ecosystem available for configuration and implementation. In addition, most organizations have some form of talent tracking system, but within the technology (like other systems) configuration depends on the organization, program scope and regional/country-specific requirements.
Considering recruitment and the technologies, the recruitment experts agree that any repeatable and consistent step in the recruitment process could be a contender for automation. Whether it is sourcing, screening, interviewing or onboarding, there could easily be a set standard workflow and an automation tool to accommodate at least some of the existing processes with greater efficiency.
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For finding the best talent, let’s first start with sourcing. Annie Hammer, vice president, technology, at Pontoon, says “Sourcers are working online with a pretty defined set of criteria that could be completed via technology.” Lee Baldwin, vice president, program management, agrees there are “some very innovative matching software programs capable of resume scanning to match skills and job descriptions.” The ability to review a resume in seconds, compared to a few minutes, could significantly improve the ability to identify the most ideal candidate. Smart. Brilliant. And a game changer that adds up to more time and greater value. The use of automation provides efficiencies that often can augment the current processes. And with consistent advancement, these tools have the potential to uncover strong candidates that typically would have fallen through the process-heavy traditional search.
Once the talent is sourced, it is time to schedule and interview the candidate. And these are two areas where technology can play a significant and time saving role for both the hiring organization and the candidate.
Let’s look at two examples – one where the use of scheduling technology works and one where it doesn’t work. At an airline and catering services organization, standing interview times are loaded into the application and candidates can self-schedule at their convenience, creating ease of use and process efficiencies. While at a technology organization, an automated recruitment solution doesn’t work because the process has numerous variables and isn’t consistent. To schedule an interview, it typically takes this organization nine days. Same action, but done differently due to organizational needs.
According to Hammer, “As technology systems evolve and expand the ability to learn and understand process variables, we expect that there will be systems capable of handling the more complex tasks.” But as it stands today, consistent and repeatable are key words in the dynamic world of recruitment automation.
As clearly indicated, the technology should fit the organization’s need. But it is necessary to look at the organization’s process first. Is the process streamlined? If not, can the process be reconfigured? Regardless of the tool used, the organization using the tool must agree to a standard and be ready for it.
In our next blog in the series, we will discuss factors to consider, strategy and tailoring the recruitment process.
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