HR Technology
So what technologies are out there for the actual recruitment process?
First, the dreaded online tool – it is always going to be impersonal, but saves so much time and assuming it has an effective search engine, you should be able to see quickly if you have any decent external candidates to put on your shortlist, or not.
In parallel, if your current HR system does not allow you to do an effective search of your existing employee database, your current crop of talent may become frustrated if they see their company’s interesting jobs being posted on the internet before internal candidates are being approached or informed.
CV Parsing - Some systems have a parsing tool included, which means that it scans a CV, reads it, then processes the information into ‘virtual’ boxes in a database which can be searched later. Sounds like the magic button we need today, but a word of caution…If the sales executive says ‘It’s 85% accurate’ and you process 100 CVs per day, 15 of those will not be properly read or processed. To input those 15 into the database manually will probably take an hour or 2.
Targeted Questions - In some systems, you can ask questions in the online application process which then filter out unsuitable candidates by their response e.g. ‘How many years’ Widget Design experience do you have? 1 to 5 years? 6 to 12 years? Over 12 years?’ All those picking the wrong choice receive a reject email and are informed they have been de-selected. The risk is that exceptional borderline cases will be missed by the system and possibly feel aggrieved that they have been rejected by a machine that doesn’t understand that 3 years widget design with Rolls Royce is worth 10 years’ experience with ‘The Glorious Widget Co’.
Online Assessment - Very popular in the UK and Europe, rarer than a snowman in the Gulf, with certain notable exceptions. I have been a fan of online assessments since they became available, however I am not sure if the barrier to assessment regionally is the cost or whether it’s lack of awareness of how these can make a significant difference to company performance?
Pat Luby is Managing Partner of Pat Luby Consulting, a HR Software consultancy which designs, develops, trains and delivers online HR-related solutions. He is ex-regional Managing Director of Manpower Middle East and has worked as a HR professional in industries including IT, Telecoms and Engineering.
http://www.patlubyconsulting.com