What you should look for when digitizing your recruitment processes

So, we all quite literally woke up and the world had changed overnight, we went to bed in the familiar manual world with the same workflow we have had for years and woke up to this crazy virus and an urgent need to pivot the way we do business in the space of a few days. You may have glanced around and found that your clients and candidates were no longer roaming the streets and running between meetings but had all been forced to work from home while governments relentlessly tried to figure out this deadly new virus. People panicked (with many stocking up on toilet paper, preparing for a zombie apocalypse, but that’s a separate conversation entirely) and many people remain extremely cautionary, even 18 months into our “new normal”.

Sound familiar? Yeah, those were some dark times. But even in the midst of so much uncertainty, recruitment was on the cusp of a digital revolution already. The pandemic just accelerated that adoption of technology and the need for digitalization. Covid19 has challenged industries to rethink traditional ways of doing things and to transform the way they do business, because let’s be honest, the really smart people are saying that this virus isn’t going anywhere.

Recruitment has always been a pretty manual industry, with candidate’s coming in to fill in paperwork and meet consultants to be interviewed, and consultants then manually scanning those documents to be uploaded or saved somewhere before they started the tedious task of updating candidate information on a central system, and in the rare occasion that candidates couldn’t come in for the application process, the documents would be manually sent out to be printed, filled in and sent back. This all takes time, and in some cases, lots of it; preparation of documents, sorting of documents, filing of documents. All that time spent double-handling data and documents could be put into new candidates or giving your current candidates a better experience.

What recruiters realised in Covid…

Few candidates have printers in the back seat of their car or sitting on their dining room table at home, not to mention the huge time delay in this process if the candidate couldn’t come into the office. They have had to adapt their business practices to deliver an exceptional candidate and client experience across this ever-changing landscape the world now finds itself in.

As a result of rapid change, research has shown an 80% increase in recruiters digitizing some of their processes, but even so, some recruiters still worry that using AI and automation as part of their candidate and client process will make their company seem impersonal, however automating some of your processes can give valuable time back to your consultants allowing them to be readily available for those high touch conversations.

Okay, so you’re convinced now, but what should you look for in a digital alternative?

That all depends on your business and specific operations, but there are four things that we know for certain:

The digitized approach must be device friendly.

Mobile, desktop, tablet. You want an approach that supports multiple devices and options for your candidates to complete documents. The Undercover Recruiter found 89% job seekers thinking mobile devices play a critical role in the job-hunting process which shows the importance of device flexibility within the recruiting process

The digitized approach must be easy to use.

We all know that candidates speak and word of mouth travels faster than a bad rumor, so it’s imperative that your candidate experience represents you as a business and is as painless and streamlined as possible.

The consultant will have peace of mind.

Knowing that once the candidate completes the documentation, they will be automatically notified and all the valuable information within it will be stored where it is meant to be. A clear audit trail from the initial sending of the documents to your recruiters receiving the documents gives both the consultant and candidate peace of mind knowing things have been done correctly.

You must speed it up

The entire application process should be speedier and way more efficient, otherwise what is the point really? Giving the time back to consultants, elevating the burden of admin during the recruitment process is what more agencies aim for.

Getting these four things right for your business opens you up for referrals amongst both clients and candidates whilst solidifying your brand as a serious recruitment agency with the right focus.

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

With the right digitized approach, not only can you digitize your documents, but you can also create an all-in-one digitized solution with end-to-end automation, because honestly, why not alleviate all the pain points for your business in one go?

With any digitized process, automation is key to making sure the system is scalable and worth the investment, digitalization and automation go hand in hand with most technologies nowadays, brother and sister if you will. From automatic follow ups and reminders for candidates, to automatic contract and terms of business generation – find the system that will work for you.

The competition for top talent has never been tougher and a digitized recruiting process allows candidates to seamlessly get placed and support them through the process of finding their next dream job, placing you a step ahead of your competition.

Remove the grunt work from your recruitment processes and transforming it into an opportunity to add value to your candidates, clients, and consultants.

Not sure where to start? We can help! Contact Secured Signing today and see how we can create fast & easy to use forms for your team & customers with advanced features through our integrations designed to make your life easier and more secure.

Written by Jade Moolman, Business Development Manager.