Series 3 of 3 Big Problems in Recruitment (And How to Solve Them!)

In the final installment of our three-part series on the 3 Big Problems in Recruitment (And How to Solve Them!), we're focusing on the role of technology in talent acquisition.

We're not saying that "HR tech" itself is a problem - after all, our entire Talent Relationship Management (TRM) Platform is technology. What we are saying is we recognize that how technology is used in HR can be challenging.

Endless vendors, solutions, and integrations compete to solve for everything from helping recruiters produce baseline reports and KPIs to improving the candidate experience and reducing time to hire. However, from confusion about tech purchases to systems that don't integrate and talk to one another, talent acquisition (TA) teams are often left wondering and frustrated about how to get ROI out of their tech. In some cases, it’s possible that the ROI is difficult to realize due to poor adoption of the technology tool.

The underlying issue is, many of these single-point HR and TA solutions in the market use an organization-centric approach where compliance and transactions are priority.

So, how can you solve for this complex issue?

There's really only one recommendation. (Yes, we know we provided five solutions in the first two blogs about creating more effective job descriptions and solving for a lack of strategic time, but hear us out on this one.) Adopt a people-first approach.

This suggestion plays out for two sets of "people": Understanding the tech-related needs of TA teams (and helping them to actually adopt and use the tool consistently) and understanding the needs of candidates.

People-First: Talent Team Needs

When considering the technology you need to improve your TA strategy, the key questions you should ask yourself are:

• What is it that I need?

• What are the gaps in our current solution and/or what do we need to close the gaps?

• How will a new technology assist?

• What are the must-have reports and KPIs I need to produce?

• Are we able to attract talent today?

• Are we attracting and hiring for our critical skill needs?
  

Having clear answers to these questions helps you specify your requirements and evaluate HR tech vendors against the daily needs of the people responsible for results.

“The reality is, with unemployment rates at their lowest in decades, TA teams are under pressure to get ahead of the talent curve to attract, nurture, and hire internal and external talent,” commented Susan Slater, Vice President of Customer Experience at Phenom People. “It’s time for talent acquisition to wow their hiring managers with analytics and talent that fits the opportunity, instead of settling,” she said.

With the right tools, recruiters can make smarter, data-driven decisions. For example, using an AI-powered candidate relationship management (CRM) tool can help automate the discovery of talent and rediscovery of past candidates, saving the recruiter time and energy to focus on interviewing and enabling them to deliver results faster. Additionally, smart CRM functions like candidate scoring and automated communications help TA teams find and engage top talent in a previously poorly organized or user-unfriendly system.

Lastly, finding a technology platform that supports a collaborative and efficient experience for your TA team goes a long way for adoption and consistent use of the system by the people who need it most.

People-First: Candidate Needs

The idea that "candidates are customers" is nothing new, but what continues to evolve and shift is the day-to-day use of technology. Today, not only should candidates be marketed to in a way that more closely resembles their consumer experiences, but they should also feel like a person who is understood, as well as connected to the process and the company.

Think about the world’s most successful brands - Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix, for example, use customer-centric model to attract and retain customers. Similarly, TA ideology is shifting to establish employer brands that are candidate-centric.

And, because candidates are used to tech that was designed for them in their everyday lives, it's important that HR and TA teams strive to deliver more personalized experiences than ever. At Phenom, believe that in order to stay relevant in the war for talent, the new competitive advantage for HR teams is in differentiating the candidate experience.

One of the first places candidates start to grade their "experiences" is on an organization's career site. However, according to our 2018 State of TRM report, where we audited all of the Fortune 500 companies, 84 percent of career sites lack candidate personalization and only 30 percent of career sites have a consistently visible and accessible “Apply” button.

We've found that with a customized company career site that leverages AI for candidate personalization, you can boost your career site traffic anywhere from 52 percent - 94 percent on average, and improve talent quality and conversions by 350 percent. A personalized candidate journey through elements such as intelligent search, social integrations, job recommendations, and dynamic content can help you increase candidate engagement and watch them stay on your career site 237 percent longer.

Ultimately, when you get the right CRM capabilities with the right career site functionality, your TA teams can work smarter, not harder, to fill critical roles and make a positive, quantifiable impact on business outcomes. So, the key to solving the "inefficient HR tech" problem is finding a solution that puts the people - not just the processes and transactions - first.

The good news is, you don't have to figure this stuff out on your own. Phenom People has helped hundreds of global organizations attract, identify, engage, and acquire top talent with our Phenom TRM Platform for nearly a decade. Our single, intelligent platform delivers a phenomenal experience for candidates and recruiters, and it seamlessly integrates with applicant tracking systems for efficient implementation so you can start seeing talent results, fast.

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Curious to learn more about where your career site would rank in the State of TRM? Contact us to receive a customized audit of your candidate experience. Or if you would prefer to dive right into the Phenom TRM Platform, request a demo today.