Given the new dynamics of the recruitment industry – driven in by the rise in candidate power seen during the Year of the Candidate - technology relationships are under even greater scrutiny. Organisations recognise the need to build on the value of the core CRM via strategic integrations with technologies as diverse as Business Intelligence and payroll, LinkedIn and CTI. The challenge is to find the best partners for the business.
As Toby Conibear, European Business Development Director, Bond International Software explains, in the Year of the Partner the decisions recruitment companies make about strategic relationships are set to make a significant difference to business performance.
Extending the Business
In today’s technology enabled, increasingly global economy, the way in which businesses and individuals interact continues to change and adapt. For recruiters, that shift in relationships was stark in 2015: during the Year of the Candidate organisations had to respond fast to a new era of candidate power and escalating client demands. From the technologies that have transformed the way candidates can present themselves to the rapid increase in demand for skills and new candidates, recruiters have had to scramble to reposition and restructure in order to respond to the new market dynamics.
According to the Global LinkedIn Business Report for 2016, the quality of client and candidate relationships will be key to success this year. But this focus on relationships is not limited to recruitment: in an increasingly connected business environment switched on organisations in every market are reviewing those relationships, not only with clients and candidates but also partners, providers and investors. Indeed, 85% of CEOs in the 19th annual PwC CEO survey expect significant or some change to partner relationships in the next 12 months.
As organisations take a closer look at these critical business relationships there are some key questions to consider, including: what value is the relationship delivering to the business and how well does this partner support new business initiatives or help to mitigate business risk? This is particularly important when considering the continually evolving role of technology within recruitment.
Business Synergy
The shift in business model encouraged many organisations to refocus on technology in 2015 in a bid to streamline processes and increase agility. In addition to the core CRM solution, companies are exploring the power of mobile to enable faster response to candidates and clients; investing in better business intelligence to transform decision making and looking to leverage integrations with essential tools including LinkedIn and Broadbean to achieve a slick, end to end business process.
It has become clear, however, that not all business partnerships are created equal. From the depth and quality of the technical implementation to the relationship between ‘partner’ vendors, recruitment consultancies can experience very different outcomes that will have bottom line implications. To deliver value in 2016, a partnership needs to be based on far more than a golf-course handshake; it should be underpinned by a measurable commitment between two synergistic organisations.
Effective Integration
So what differentiates the good partnerships from the rest? Recruiters need to look for business specific value. For example, many recruitment companies would consider an integration between the CRM and Broadbean as an essential requirement. But what is the benefit? A basic link between the two systems might deliver an overview of how many candidates have progressed through the application process; yet a more sophisticated integration enables a recruiter to effectively track an applicant all the way through from initial job advert – and where it was posted – to final placement.
By pulling the right data from Broadbean into the CRM, a company can gain essential insight into how many candidates were interviewed and how many placed from each specific job board This depth of applicant tracking provides the essential conversion information required to inform on-going marketing strategy in a continually evolving marketplace.
Similar considerations apply to LinkedIn - a company viewed as a critical partner by many recruiters. However, while integration can only be achieved with approved LinkedIn partners, once again there are differences in degree of integration to consider. Are InMails and Recruiter Notes made in LinkedIn stored within the CRM? If so, not only will the recruiter automatically create a searchable record, but the information is also available to everyone in the company, not just those with Recruiter licenses – ensuring valuable candidate information is stored within the business.
Priority Relationships
There are so many technologies to consider, both innovative add-ons and core business integrations that it is important to prioritise in line with business needs. Integration with payroll and/or finance software may have a limited impact on the day to day recruiter experience, but reducing admin, improving the accuracy and timeliness of the billing process and ensuring salary payments are correct and on time can deliver a fast return on investment (ROI). The addition of business intelligence also provides managers with a chance to track Key Performance Indicators (KPI) – although the level of configuration available between the CRM and BI tool, such as cube19, will make a massive difference in terms of the depth of information that can be attained.
In contrast, integrating the CRM with a Computer Telephony Interface (CTI) application such as CloudCall by SYNETY is all about recruiter performance and productivity. It not only offers the chance to identify callers and automate the call out process to improve recruiter productivity but also records the audio of all calls made and received within the CRM. The company can track the calls made – from duration and frequency to category – to assess recruiter performance and, if necessary, play back calls to confirm information for compliance purposes or to support training activity.
However, with opportunities to add intelligence, efficiency and agility at every stage of the recruitment process it is really important to avoid over-reaching the integration model. From adding too many technologies to the recruiters’ toolkit to the challenge of managing multiple - and new - relationships, focus is key. And this is where those two key questions regarding the value of the business partnership come into play: does it deliver business value and does it support expansion or mitigate business risk?
Conclusion
So how can a recruitment company identify those partnerships that will deliver true business value throughout 2016 and beyond? Longevity can be important; but in a fast changing market it is also important to ensure technology partners, for example, are committed to embracing innovations that can support business change. It is the degree of commitment and understanding demonstrated by technology partners that will be key to realising priority business objectives.
The challenges created by escalating client and candidate demands are not going to diminish and strategic partnerships are set to play a key differentiation role in 2016. Making the right partnership decisions is going to be key to achieving that essential agility and enabling business growth.
