Recruiters who fail to get to grips with technological advances could be failing the organisations they work for, writes Simon Kent
Software Source, 09 Apr 2001
Their main business may be people management. But modern personnel managers must also understand IT and the ways in which it is transforming recruitment practice.
Change is coming, not because companies are insisting on the use of IT in this area, although they will. Nor because IT departments are highlighting the potential cost savings, although they will.
The key factor is would-be recruits. The dramatic rise in online recruitment is driven not by employers, but by job-seekers - electronic media may be the only way to reach tomorrow’s employees.
"People have been told they need to manage their own careers," says Peter George, managing director of HR consultancy at TMP Worldwide.
"If you want a new job today, the best thing you can do is get on two or three Internet job boards. Once the applicants go online, the employers have no choice but to follow them."
E-mail trumps the scanners
The rise of Internet has brought new techniques to the recruitment market. The way in which CVs are submitted and processed is a good example.
A few years ago, many companies were investing in scanning software to help them record and manage paper-based job applications. But the system was compromised by poor accuracy.
Calls for better scanners were the initial response but, in the Internet recruitment market, there is no longer a need for the procedure.
"If someone creates a CV using a word processor, they will already have an electronic form of that CV," says Michael Richards, managing director of software provider Snowdrop. "It makes much more sense then to e-mail the CV directly to the employer than to print it out and post it."
A new sort of sorting
Another way IT can improve the recruitment process is by speeding up the processing of the thousands of application forms that an employer may receive.
Richards and George agree that the online recruitment and assessment methods - structured questionnaires, intelligent word searches and even psychometric testing - can save time and money.
The end result is a robust list of possible employees drawn from the wide, initial pool of applicants.
Working online with employment agencies
The relationship between employers and employment agencies is also being affected. Technology developed by Netengines, a provider of e-commerce platforms, allows a request for workers to be sent electronically to the resourcing systems of any number of selected staff suppliers. A single message can locate suitable workers immediately, avoiding time-consuming multiple phone calls in search of an employee who fits in.
Such technology could make it easier to address skills gaps within organisations and even across industries.
"The problem with finding candidates is that you're often dealing with a closed group," says Mannion. "Some of the big accountancy houses have as many as 250 suppliers. They dare not reduce that number because people are their product."
Responsiveness is another area enhanced by technology.
"There's no doubt that there's strong competition for people and it's heightened at times when there are skills shortages," Richards says.
"Applicants will be snapped up quicker than at other times so employers need to be in a position to make their offers sooner. Applicants will not wait around for offers."
E-procurement of staff
Kevin Mannion, chief operating officer for Netengines, describes the changes as a move towards the e-procurement of staff.
Many companies have integrated their purchasing systems with preferred suppliers, enabling them to buy office supplies at preferential rates. Now those same companies can apply similar techniques to their relationships with their preferred employment agencies.
"The suppliers still need to do the qualitative work in order to offer the right person for the job, but this allows them to cut down the administration," Mannion says. "The buyer previously had to handle multiple relationships with many staffing suppliers - this system offers one point through which to do that."
Measured response By dramatically reducing the time and money spent on managing human capital, the latest HR software systems are freeing up more time for strategic thinking
