Back in the dark old days a file search meant getting on ones knees in front of a draw full of dead trees and hoping that the files in the folder marked ‘Toolmakers’ actually contained the typed, faxed or hand written resumes of ‘Toolmakers’. A candidate would come in and register by filling out the front and back of the application card which you would fold in two and put coloured dots on to indicate their skills. A temp job lookup involved you looking in the the plastic box on the window sill and looking for green “stores” or brown “fitter” and orange “boilermaker”.
In today’s recruitment world we know the value of working with fewer numbers of better quality candidates. While it is quite feasible to have a box of cards on your desk and make a lot of money… why would you? These days there are an abundance of software tools that can automate the process and add efficiencies that cannot be matched by paper based systems. The question to ask is which one is right for your business?
Selecting software for your business can be a daunting task, there are so many things to think of and each of the questions and answers change depending on the size and nature of your business. If you are an Executive Search firm then you business might be driven by permanent placements,in the recruitment to recruitment space the focus is on the reverse marketing of candidates and if you are a multi-branch health business you need to have a system that can handle high volume, single day bookings for multiple divisions.
When starting the conversation in your business about what system you want you should establish what are the current systems you have and what parts you want to replace. For example if you already have a payroll and invoicing system do you really want to replace them? If you do, then you will need to decide if you want a complete suite from one vendor or if you want to integrate different solutions from multiple vendors.
One of the benefits of a completely integrated solution is that you will have one central account manager or relationship manager and you can expect that all the parts of the system will work seamlessly together. One of the drawbacks is that you may have to deal with limitations in one module because you are “locked in” to all of them. Large systems that involve every staff member from recruiters through to accountants are going to require a significant deployment investment that includes significant training. Make sure that if you are going down this route that you look past the sticker price and clearly identify the costs of training, hardware and support.
Software should compliment your business process and address needs at every level. So the first thing you need to do when selecting a system is to get “coal face” stakeholders together and work out what parts of the system are essential for you. This is the specification or the “spec”. In drafting the spec don’t be surprised to have the CFO and the receptionist in the same meeting. Or to look at it another way: do you want a system that doesn’t have financial oversight or a system that is cumbersome at the data entry level?
The key contributors to your spec should include stakeholders from: Recruitment, Sales, Administration, Finance, Marketing and IT. If your business has an number of divisions you will want to make sure you are evaluating the recruitment process from each one’s perspective. You then need to write a feature list and rate each item as required, important or desired perhaps in a spreadsheet with a tab dedicated to “Recruiting’, ‘Sales’, etc.
Take your spec and email it to the software companies that you are interested in. If they can’t be bothered responding to it then they probably are not that customer focused or your needs do not suit their offerings. You should put your efforts into making a spec and sending it out prior to engaging with software sales people.
If you are starting a business then you are probably going to want a web based system. This will mean that rather than spending time setting up and installing software on your PC or server you can most likely get up and running right away and leave the “IT” to someone else.
There are hundreds of web based systems out there and more coming online each day. These range from older systems that have been “web enabled” to purpose built applications. The benefits of web based systems include working from anywhere, no hardware costs and often ongoing updates. Some systems allow you to have a fully integrated web site and others the vendor just places you logo on their page. One of the potential drawbacks is that you can only access your system when you have an Internet connection, however these days to be in this situation you would probably need to be on a remote island, most likely on holiday and probably do not want to be working anyway!
If you are looking at a web based system then the sort of questions to ask include:
- How does the solution integrate with social media like Facebook and Twitter?
- What are the contract lengths?
- What happens to my data if I want to stop using your system?
Rarely does any software meet 100% of you desired criteria so another important factor in selecting software is looking at how much it is able to be customised to your needs. Ask your vendors about what sort of things they can add. Often you can get some customisation “thrown in” at the commissioning of the system.
Regardless of the size and nature of your organisation the selection of software should be a detailed and well thought out process. You need to evaluate the risk and benefit of each factor that compels you to make a selection. By using a clear specification and involving as many stakeholders as possible you will not only have a clearer picture of what your needs are but also more staff “buy in” at deployment.
? What does it say to the consumer of our services when they are most likely ignorant of the meaning implied by this word?
