November 21st, 2008 by khart
The good news is there is technology to help recruiters in their every day lives. The bad news is that in many cases this very technology seems to be crippling recruiters’ ability to recruit. This seeming contradiction in terms often results from inadequate recruiter education on how to use the technology (in many cases we have heard of recruiters being given very little to no help in using either their HRIS system OR their ATS). Very often recruiters have no idea what either of these systems can do nor how to use them effectively.
I chatted with a training manager of a large ATS who described the training session for recruiters and noted that after a period of time, she felt there was true information overload. And that recruiters didn’t retain enough from just one session.
So education and re-education is one issue. What are some others?
One, often these technologies do not interface with each other, forcing recruiters to ‘make do’ and ‘work around the systems’. Information must be re-entered from system to system, adding unnecessary work.
Sharing information with hiring managers can be an issue; some systems don’t allow managers to visualize everything that can be seen by the recruiter related to a candidate. This type of situation can compromise communication. Also, looking at the entry in the ATS does not always easily show exactly where the candidate is in the process. Sometimes notes are not made by all concerned so that the hiring manager and recruiter can tell at a glance where the candidate is in the process.
Secondly, when a successful marketing campaign generates hundreds of resumes, the system (and the recruiters) can be totally overloaded with resume after resume. And depending on how the organization’s policies and procedures work, volume can increase exponentially. For example, if candidates are required to apply to a job number, not for a specific classification of position, they must submit multiple resumes for the same job family. This leads to duplication and confusion for everyone.
Similarly, if there are no ‘knock out’ questions, anyone can apply for any position. So that theoretically, someone with a high school education and no work experience could apply to be a department head.
And then there is the issue of how internal transfers are handled. Many organizations require internal folks to follow the same procedure as external candidates. Thus you have internal candidates using the same application procedure, adding more and more resumes to the mix.
What all of this leads to is a resume database that just keeps growing like Topsy and in most cases, never gets ‘mined’. There may be a stellar candidate already ‘sitting’ in your database, but the sheer volume of constant new resumes means no one ever gets to ‘mine’ that database to see which resumes represent viable candidates. And when posting a position, this valuable source is never consulted before the entire search process begins again.
These are a few of the areas to look at when you are trying to get a handle on your technology tools.
Next week we will look at communications to candidates.
Posted in Process | To leave a comment, click here »
November 14th, 2008 by khart
One of the most important areas to look at in the process continuum is your website and the impact it has on how a candidate applies online. You would be surprised at the difficulties awaiting the job seeker when he attempts to submit a resume or application online to many organizations.
From the placement of the ‘careers’ or ‘jobs’ button on your main page to the process of hitting the ‘send’ button when submitting a resume, there are countless ways to ‘lose’ a good candidate.
It is always good to remember that not all candidates are comfortable with technology and creating barriers to submitting a resume online may result in the non-tech savvy candidates simply giving up. We had a forty-something, highly experienced RN tell us on one consulting project that she attempted multiple times to submit a resume online to a prestigious academic medical center and became so frustrated, she turned the computer off, grabbed a paper resume, drove to the facility and dropped off the paper resume. She got the job, but in many organizations, dropping off a paper resume is simply not an option anymore. Therefore, it behooves us to create a process that is easily understood and makes submitting online a pleasure, not a chore.
A good idea is to shop your site as though you were an actual candidate attempting to apply online. Because it is difficult to view your site with fresh eyes when you are used to seeing it every day, another option is to engage an outside firm to conduct a Mystery Shop of your site and resume submission process (Hodes Health Care Division has done over 150 of these candidate experience Mystery Shops).
Some things to consider when you are looking at this piece of the process include but are not limited to:
• Does your facility’s site URL appear when your facility or system is “Googled”? If it does, how far down the list is it?
• Is the careers or jobs button clearly and instantly visible on your home page?
• How many clicks does it take to get to the careers or jobs page?
• Are you able to easily (and efficiently) search for a specific position by location, department, professional classification?
• Can candidates attach a resume to your application or can they cut and paste elements of their resume to your application?
• How long is your application? (We have seen the gamut- from a few questions to several pages in our projects).
• What kinds of sensitive information (social security number, professional and driver’s license) do you require?
• How long does the application process take? Our experience has ranged from 15 minutes to over an hour and we are quite experienced at submitting resumes.
• Are there any potential technical glitches (error messages, being timed out) that crop up during resume submission?
This kind of diagnostic can enable you to correct flaws in the online application process, create a better website experience for interested candidates and create a better online candidate flow. Ultimately, the online application process can be a help rather than a hindrance.
For further reading, click here to read my Nursing Economics article, “Evaluating Recruitment Process through ‘Mystery Shops.’”
Next week we will look at your ATS, technology and mining your own database.
Posted in Process | To leave a comment, click here »
November 7th, 2008 by khart
Another frequent area of concern is the requisition process, which often is convoluted and difficult to manage. From who initiates, how many signatures and how many pieces of paperwork are required (and this can change frequently in organizations depending on financial performance), the requisition trail is often a long and winding road.
Many organizations have electronic signatures and requisitions are generated from their HRIS systems. Copies of the ‘signed’ requisitions are delivered electronically to recruitment so that the posting and recruitment process can begin.
More often, paper requisitions are sent via interoffice mail or hand delivered by hiring managers to HR/recruitment. In some organizations the amount of justification/writing, etc. that has to be done for each position is beyond tedious. And this is for every position, whether it be a new or replacement position. In some hospital systems, the CEO has to approve each and every requisition before the position can be filled.
It has always struck me as incomprehensible that a manager who is charged with running a unit or units, handling the unit budgets and all they entail, and taking responsibility for staff and patient care has to go through these hoops in getting a requisition initiated.
Just keeping physical track of these paper requisitions is a challenge and they frequently fall into the famous ‘black hole’. I am sure there is a special purgatory somewhere with tons of lost HR paperwork.
What can an organization do to make this process flow more smoothly? First investigate to see whether you have a requisition component in your HRIS system. Some automatically post the position after the requisition is approved. Often these modules are available for no additional cost, but just aren’t being used. If there is an additional cost, it would be well worth it to invest in this tool.
If your HRIS system doesn’t have this module or application, investigate other automated options.
If you don’t have an automated way to deal with requisitions and postings, then streamline what you are dealing with so that the chances of paper being lost or communication being an issue are lessened.
When you streamline the requisition process, include the posting process so that you have a seamless method of approving and posting requisitions. Fixing just this part of the process will dramatically shorten your days to fill, as this is one part of the process that really prolongs the entire process.
Next week we will look at your website and how it impacts recruitment process.
Posted in Process | To leave a comment, click here »
