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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Hold onto Temporary Contractors with Disruptive Technology

Jonathan Sharp, Director, Britannic Technologies

One of the biggest challenges recruitment companies face is how to churn their existing database of temporary contractors. They need to ensure that they are happy to either extend an existing contract or to get another job with them. The objective for the recruitment companies is to retain the temporary contractors as this less costly than searching for new candidates.

The uncertainty of Brexit is looming and agencies are fearful there will be a freeze on recruitment so holding onto existing candidates is more vital than ever. Competition is rife and margins are tight, lots of job sites are diluting the margins the recruiters make and a way of resolving this is to take control of their existing databases, to profile and target them more accurately.

Disruptive Technology

Robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) can be particularly useful in assisting agencies to manage the lengthy communications process between existing or potential candidates, and the recruitment agent. A Solutions Provider can assist you by mapping out key communications processes, the number of touchpoints and any efficiency pitfalls, helping you devise a process that will grow your business. It will enable you to build in automation at different stages of the candidate’s journey, with technology applications that automate the running of that process as well as any interactions within a process.

Refocusing your Sales Staff

Using RPA and AI, you can focus your sales staff on selling and not information gathering or performing mundane tasks that can be automated.

For example, instead of getting a member of your recruitment team to contact a candidate to check if they are all set for the interview tomorrow, you can automate this courtesy call. You can also look at your database to see which other candidates have interviews coming up and send this same alert to the entire group. A Solutions Provider will help you to build out a workflow process and input it into a robotic layer that will automatically trigger a text message to the right candidates at the right time.

In Touch with your Feelings

It is crucial not to lose candidates at the end of a contract and technology can be used to ensure that you don’t. An application can be developed so they receive a notification asking them how the role is going, and to see if they want an extension on their contract. If they don’t then a consultant can call them to offer them a different job so you don’t lose the candidate to a competitor.

You can also take it a step further with RPA and AI that can react to negative comments using sentiment based controls. Such as “I’m not sure about the job; I’m not happy.” Statements such as these can then trigger alarms for a consultant to receive the message from the online chat and then call the candidate to find out what’s wrong, delivering a more personalised and in-depth service.

Natural Conversation

It is unfortunate that AI should have received bad press in the past on the fact that webchat is unreliable or not effective when, compared to chatbots, it is the more powerful option for improved customer engagement. A chatbot is designed as a machine talking to a machine, and uses a decision tree to answer questions, which is then passed onto a skilled sales person who must pick off the answers from the pick list, therefore they are restrictive in their responses. They appear stilted, unreal and sometimes don’t make sense. Normal conversations are not based on restrictive decision trees, and are very fluid and often go off a tangent.

Britannic Technologies’ self-learning digital assistant, Ami, can learn all the content on your website and doesn’t require a sales person to babysit to her. Ami captures key bits of information, establishes personal contact and keeps that engagement going to stop candidates from leaving your website. She gets them interested, pre-qualifies the candidate and then sends through a warm lead to the sales team for them to develop.

Always There

Most people looking for a job will browse recruitment sites in the evening and at night. Webchat needs a human to answer questions so they cannot be used in out of hours. Ami is available 24/7 and she can qualify the lead by asking and answering questions as they are going through the communications process. For example: “Are you looking for a job?”, “- I m a driver and looking for a driving job in Surrey,” “Great, here is what I have for you […] Are you interested in any of them?”

Ami then qualifies the lead, and if they are a suitable candidate she passes them over to an agent, or if it’s out of hours an agent will call them back in the morning. Ami personalises the experience for the user to save them trawling through mounds of information, and delivers the information they require.

Start with a Strategy

Many companies attempt to be innovators and deploy AI without a strategy, therefore the project is often set to fail from start. As with introducing any new technology into your business, it is essential that you plan a strategy from the offset to understand what you want to achieve with AI, and how to go about it.

A Solution Provider who is experienced in real-time applications and systems integration will be able to work closely with you to discover your needs and requirements. Helping you put together a technology road map and strategy to solve business problems transforming processes and improving customer service.

Integration is Key

Systems integration is vital when deploying AI for it to be truly effective.

You will require a Solutions Provider who is experienced in integration and they will assess what technology you currently have in place; what technology you require; and whether to deploy it on premise or via the cloud. You can then identify where and how a digital assistant can be integrated into your existing systems in the back office and in the front office.

A Single View

A Forrester survey revealed that 64% of the survey respondents said their greatest obstacle is creating a single view of customer data and information when improving CRM capabilities. And more than half acknowledged they struggle with creating customer insight to drive decision-making.

When a recruitment agent deals with a candidate’s enquiry they are often faced with several screens, this is cumbersome and difficult to manage. A Solution Provider will integrate a digital assistant into the contact centre so candidates and agents are presented with a single user interface where all interactions can be completed on a single screen. This helps to make the candidate’s journey seamless, and makes the agent’s job easier at the same time, enabling them to deliver a better experience.

AI & RPA – the Opportunity

AI and RPA is the opportunity that the recruitment industry has been waiting for. If you get it right from the start and work with a Solution Provider experienced in real-time applications, contact centre technology, and system integration then you will reap the benefits of retaining temporary contractors and placing more candidates in jobs, along with increased revenue, improved communications and better customer service - it’s worth it.

www.btlnet.co.uk/solutions/contact-centre/contextual-apps-and-ai