Are you looking for the perfect candidate? Rather invest in the perfect bond
There are many parallels between the development of the services of recruitment and mediation agencies and the development of the recruitment software suppliers. Nowadays, it is no longer a matter of transferring CVs, but the relationship with candidates is now paramount, partly due to the tight labor market. Focus on building the relationship with your candidate in order to guide and thereby retain them.
“How do we bring in the right people?” is a question that especially corporations are asking now that the labor market is slowly starting to move again. During the corona crisis, employers have seen people leave, and have not been able to replace them. Now they have to attract those new people. At the same time, workers have seen their workload increase and have started to evaluate their work-life balance. This evaluation is often accompanied by the question: “Is this still the right place for me for the next five years?”
The predicted 'great resignation' will probably not come about, but shifts are being felt, because the labor market has come to a standstill and has to get back into balance.
Don't let demands become the end
There is a lot of throughput in a very tight labor market. What is striking is that corporations are now looking for people who are immediately 'up and running'. This is due to they themselves not having the time and capacity to train people. They expect new employees to have all the skills, be able to work with all systems and to master the processes right away. All requirements must be checked. This makes the already tight labor market for your organization even smaller.
That's a shame, because the budget spent on finding that perfect candidate (who doesn't exist) is better spent on candidates who may not yet meet the requirements 100%, but who have the drive to to learn. In Holland you have a saying: “Go to the nuns and learn French”. A candidate can first attend a course for a week to learn to use a marketing tool or to master a programming language. Be (also) willing to invest in the candidate's route to get it to that 100%.
People want to learn. The new, young generation in particular shows great enthusiasm for this. Make sure they can do this too!
Recruitment and selection agencies keep learning
As a matter of fact, recruitment and selection agencies are already responding to this by expanding their services. In addition to recruiting and selecting, they help corporate clients train, guide and coach new people. So naturally many secondments and agencies set up their own academies.
And, with results! People want to learn. The new, young generation in particular shows great enthusiasm for this. Make sure they can do this (immediately). Not only beneficial for the organization, but also pleasant for candidates, who make a softer landing in their new job. So it would be a good credit for employers to outsource this if they can't do it in-house.
Systems that connect
Some companies are willing to invest money in the search for the perfect candidate, but are then reluctant to invest in the knowledge development and skills development of the new employees.
You see the same thing when investing in a recruitment system such as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). People would still want to pay for the implementation of a new software package, but not for the maintenance and further development of the system. Even though this is really necessary.
When recruitment systems change, the systems change with them. When there is a scarcity on the labor market, you as a recruiter look at profiles differently. When candidates do not have all the hard skills, you look more at the soft skills and the possibilities to let people develop further. This means that you will have to look critically at whether (the current layout of) the system is sufficiently in line with these renewed processes. Dealing with candidates differently means different processes; and the system must be adapted to guide those processes as best as possible.
More time for coffee
With a well-designed recruitment system, you want to automate unpleasant administrative actions as much as possible, so that the recruiter has more time to do the pleasant aspects of his/her job: drinking a cup of coffee with a candidate, having conversations to assess whether the candidate fits into the corporate culture of the organization, for example.
You cannot automate the feeling of a recruiter. Automation should free up time for those kinds of essential things. And every organization knows how important that cultural match is. If you want to keep an employee for a longer period of time, you may want it to match the company culture, otherwise he or she will be gone in no time. (And that's a shame if you've put a lot of time and money into acquiring that perfect candidate.)
Resumes do more than slide
In the past, recruitment and selection agencies were sometimes seen as CV sliders. Which was also possible at a time when piles of resumes came in. Nowadays, agencies have to invest much more in building a relationship with candidates in order to put them in the best possible way.
In the beginning, an ATS was therefore set up to be able to process as many resumes as possible and to automate the rejection process. Now an ATS must be set up to retain and continue to engage a candidate, even if they cannot be placed immediately. By (partially) automating interaction moments with the talent pool, for example, or updating the (soft) skills in the ATS, or a signaling function to send a WhatsApp at the right times, et cetera.
Set requirements for recruitment software
The modern recruitment software meets different requirements than before. Where in the past everything was developed in-house within closed systems, it is now beneficial if software can be linked to optimally streamline your processes.
For example, OTYS offers SaaS solutions in the cloud. In addition to the basic system, various tools can be linked in the network (plug and play), such as assessment tools or marketing automation tools.
The recruiter simply works from one environment and only has to click on a button to start a flow in an external tool. A simple and optimal design for long-term relationships with candidates and customers.
Are you afraid that you are working with an outdated system? Would you like to know what OTYS can do for you and your company? Get in touch with us and discover how you can make recruitment software work for you.
