Many business processes create useful data for companies to use. One that should not be forgotten is the recruitment process. Companies that keep track of their recruitment and staff retention practices can use it to inform their strategy, tactics, and company philosophy. But to do so, companies need a robust data management process in place, which can be challenging to implement.
Here’s how companies of all sizes can put recruitment data to use.
Invest in the right tools
Data management needs to be automated so that it doesn’t take up too much time. Some companies are slow to implement automation into their data management process, but that risks losing out on the best candidates and the most useful insights.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is the preferred tool for managing the recruitment process. These are designed to make it easy to nurture the most important candidates by collecting all the relevant data from various online channels. These systems help attract, engage, and nurture candidates because they can store and process information that is tailored to the needs of recruiters.
A good CRM will integrate with other tools like applicant tracking systems (ATS) so that you can access candidate information and application progress in one place. This is the reason top recruiters opt for solutions that offer both CRM and ATS so that they can make the most of each function in one place.
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The value of recruitment data comes from the insights, not the process of managing it. By outsourcing the management to automated systems, recruiters can spend more time analyzing the insights to make smarter decisions.
Comply with regulations. Now that GDPR is firmly in place, companies need to take more responsibility for their data management processes. Customer information (for EU residents in particular) is more protected than it’s ever been before, so it’s really important that everyone in the company knows how to store and manage it properly.
To ensure your organisation is compliant with GDPR, some rules for your candidate data are as follows:
- Ensure legitimate interest from the candidate to process their data. You’re allowed to source and store candidate data only if you collect job-related information and plan to contact them within 30 days.
- Get the candidate’s consent to process their sensitive data. GDPR shifts the focus on opting in rather than opting out. That means candidates need to proactively agree to sharing personal information.
- Create transparent processes for candidate data management. All companies should have clear privacy policies that candidates can review.
- Ensure your contractors are compliant.Ensure that your company and your contractors can demonstrate compliance with GDPR.
Be consistent with processes and reports. Systems and processes will ensure consistency across the board. Spend the time creating standard procedures for everyone to follow, and you will reap the benefits of a more successful hiring process.
Standardizing processes, however, can feel like a mammoth task. The first step is to outline the reasons for the process. For example, what information plays the biggest role in building candidate profiles and why? By working with job content experts to understand what information is most important, you’ll be able to start standardizing the hiring process.
Grant access to the right people. The recruitment process requires involvement from many different departments, from the back office to sales teams. And they need to communicate effectively and all work with the same information – if they work with siloed information, it will have a direct negative impact on the bottom line.
Perhaps the most crucial aspect to a successful data management strategy is granting the right access to the right people. In other words, all consultants need to have access to the right information, to avoid creating isolated or siloed repositories of information. For example, if data detailing hours spent on client work is siloed from candidate payment, it can affect gross margin rates.
Any effective data management process needs to focus on security, access, and insights. If everyone involved understands how to store and manage the data they accumulate from their day-to-day jobs, the better your data set will be. Sharing such knowledge empowers everyone in the company to make better decisions – and the technology exists to help support that.
