Recruitment technology evolving to keep pace with intelligence of jobseekers
After several years of forced vacation the job market is making some slow and deliberate steps toward recovery. But it’s stepping back into a recruitment world dominated even more by the Internet than it was a few short years ago.
The web impacts nearly every facet of how organizations identify, interview, hire and enrol and manage new employees.
It’s crucial to have the right processes and technologies in place to find, recruit and retain the right people. An organization needs to put its best face forward with a website that both pushes and pulls back information about jobs and recruits.
Pulling back on a push technology
In the decade or so since the Internet exploded in popularity with the masses, the process of hiring has shifted. Job hunters expect employers to have up-to-date websites with job postings, content and resumé management capabilities.
As the Internet picked up steam, software vendors were busy developing systems that provided quasi-artificial intelligence capabilities that matched candidates to positions. These tools have proven useful for increasing the speed of reviewing the flood of electronic resumes, but they haven’t proven quite as useful in keeping up with the real intelligence of jobseekers.
Job candidates are wise to the various flavours of language that act as wrappers for preferred skill sets — they can figure out what key terms the employer is likely looking for and ensure their applications make the cut. While the scanning process is rapid with this technology, the pile flagged for call backs might be sub-par. Candidates who on paper appear to be the right fit may, after the initial interview, prove to have very limited experience in core skill areas.
Because of this, companies are beginning to mitigate the risks and costs of bringing in the wrong candidate by moving toward a model that allows assessment of an individual’s skill set prior to an interview. If a candidate claims to be a Java expert, an employer can automate the process of pre-screening by putting in a test that requires the candidate to prove Java skills as part of the online application process.
The next wave in the smart-hiring process is coming in the form of closely examining and profiling the characteristics of current employees. Integrated enterprise resource planning systems pull together critical workforce information into one repository and create profiles that clearly map out the skill sets critical to the organization. Using that repository of information, organizations can craft a talent management model that highlights where the recruitment focus needs to be.
Arcane systems force departments into silos
Most companies are behind the curve when it comes to recognizing the value of talent management. That’s because their systems simply don’t support it.
Too many organizations are still using arcane systems that force organizational departments to operate in separate silos with fragmented processes. This makes it impossible for companies to understand even the most basic HR information such as the total number of employees at any given time.
When focusing on talent management, companies require systems that help the organization grow and keep track of employee capabilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses. As employees aspire to new positions with new responsibilities, HR applications should support this progress and provide the framework for growth at the inception of employment.
Payroll, time and labour, benefits administration and training — pretty much every facet of HR administration — needs to be seamlessly integrated using a secure repository for all workforce and company data.
Effective Internet recruitment applications should be built on a single data repository because it allows HR departments, regardless of location, to use the same pool of information. When a new hire is entered into the system it starts a chain reaction that:
•informs all recruiters and hiring managers that the position has been filled;
•inserts the new employee’s information into the system for things like benefits administration, payroll, facilities and information technology support; and
•provides the estimated start date and appropriate new hire information to the new employee’s manager to ensure a smooth entry into the organization.
Using technology in recruitment, hiring managers will be able to perform their jobs more effectively by:
•providing a true end-to-end recruitment solution;
•offering skills assessment in the selection process;
•providing the ability for integrated background checks and resumé extraction;
•allowing the organization to establish a manager-candidate-recruiter relationship;
•managing control and processes in the organization for regulatory compliance;
•managing recruitment processes in real time to eliminate costly delays; and
•managing worldwide privacy and local regulations.
Karen Williams is sales consulting manager, human resource management systems, for Oracle Corporation Canada.
The web impacts nearly every facet of how organizations identify, interview, hire and enrol and manage new employees.
It’s crucial to have the right processes and technologies in place to find, recruit and retain the right people. An organization needs to put its best face forward with a website that both pushes and pulls back information about jobs and recruits.
Pulling back on a push technology
In the decade or so since the Internet exploded in popularity with the masses, the process of hiring has shifted. Job hunters expect employers to have up-to-date websites with job postings, content and resumé management capabilities.
As the Internet picked up steam, software vendors were busy developing systems that provided quasi-artificial intelligence capabilities that matched candidates to positions. These tools have proven useful for increasing the speed of reviewing the flood of electronic resumes, but they haven’t proven quite as useful in keeping up with the real intelligence of jobseekers.
Job candidates are wise to the various flavours of language that act as wrappers for preferred skill sets — they can figure out what key terms the employer is likely looking for and ensure their applications make the cut. While the scanning process is rapid with this technology, the pile flagged for call backs might be sub-par. Candidates who on paper appear to be the right fit may, after the initial interview, prove to have very limited experience in core skill areas.
Because of this, companies are beginning to mitigate the risks and costs of bringing in the wrong candidate by moving toward a model that allows assessment of an individual’s skill set prior to an interview. If a candidate claims to be a Java expert, an employer can automate the process of pre-screening by putting in a test that requires the candidate to prove Java skills as part of the online application process.
The next wave in the smart-hiring process is coming in the form of closely examining and profiling the characteristics of current employees. Integrated enterprise resource planning systems pull together critical workforce information into one repository and create profiles that clearly map out the skill sets critical to the organization. Using that repository of information, organizations can craft a talent management model that highlights where the recruitment focus needs to be.
Arcane systems force departments into silos
Most companies are behind the curve when it comes to recognizing the value of talent management. That’s because their systems simply don’t support it.
Too many organizations are still using arcane systems that force organizational departments to operate in separate silos with fragmented processes. This makes it impossible for companies to understand even the most basic HR information such as the total number of employees at any given time.
When focusing on talent management, companies require systems that help the organization grow and keep track of employee capabilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses. As employees aspire to new positions with new responsibilities, HR applications should support this progress and provide the framework for growth at the inception of employment.
Payroll, time and labour, benefits administration and training — pretty much every facet of HR administration — needs to be seamlessly integrated using a secure repository for all workforce and company data.
Effective Internet recruitment applications should be built on a single data repository because it allows HR departments, regardless of location, to use the same pool of information. When a new hire is entered into the system it starts a chain reaction that:
•informs all recruiters and hiring managers that the position has been filled;
•inserts the new employee’s information into the system for things like benefits administration, payroll, facilities and information technology support; and
•provides the estimated start date and appropriate new hire information to the new employee’s manager to ensure a smooth entry into the organization.
Using technology in recruitment, hiring managers will be able to perform their jobs more effectively by:
•providing a true end-to-end recruitment solution;
•offering skills assessment in the selection process;
•providing the ability for integrated background checks and resumé extraction;
•allowing the organization to establish a manager-candidate-recruiter relationship;
•managing control and processes in the organization for regulatory compliance;
•managing recruitment processes in real time to eliminate costly delays; and
•managing worldwide privacy and local regulations.
Karen Williams is sales consulting manager, human resource management systems, for Oracle Corporation Canada.
