Our company has been in business for years. We try to keep up with technological advances and evolution in our industry. At the same time, the bread-and-better of Insight Executive Search has always come down to basics: people skills, strategic thinking and a thorough knowledge of our industry. So we are, in many respects, traditionalists in the recruiting business.
But sometimes the winds of change can move even the deepest roots. The challenges of creating a collaborative workforce in an organization whose employees are situated throughout the country and the feeling that we needed to provide even more value for our clients, led us to adopt a new tool that promises to be a game-changer: Cloud-based recruiting software.
The Features
Let me set the record straight – this is not a promotional article, so I don’t want to give too much detail about the specific product we use. I’ll mention it here for the sake of clarity and honesty and to add more color to the story and then I will go on with the story. We are using a recruiting software made by Zoho, a company that has a wide range of web-based products that are well designed and ultra-convenient.
Some of the key features of this software include:
- Any of our employees can log into their accounts from anywhere at anytime;
- There’s a way to automatically upload and categorize information about candidates;
- The software is integrated with our company website and includes an Applicant Tracking System (ATS);
- Robust CRM features for both candidates and clients;
- All changes and updates are seen in real time.
Getting to the Heart of the Matter
On paper, this seems like a lot of neat stuff, but how does it actually help us recruit better and faster?
1. We Work Collaboratively
Lengthy email strings are bulky, outdated and inefficient. Now we rely on information in our CRM – updated in real time. Researchers upload candidates, project directors review them, and recruiters recruit in a seamless process that allows for everybody to see feedback in one organized place.
Our employees work in several different locations and are on the go quite a bit. Obligations to clients as well as family (the ultimate client) sometimes require a staff member to telecommute. Our cloud-based system makes this possible while not sacrificing efficiency and teamwork.
As individuals we falter but as a team we rise to the challenge.
2. Find and Present Candidates Faster
We are in the people and information business. It was imperative for us to find a system that allows us to store and categorize all the information we have about the people we work with in one place. And we work with a lot of different kinds candidates and clients within the social science research, consulting and nonprofit areas.
These days, sourcing and placing candidates effectively is very much related to the speed with which you are able to sift through enormous databases.
LinkedIn is essentially a massive database after all.
Now we are developing our own. Our cloud-based software parses résumés in seconds and inputs candidates to our database. Category tags are easily associated to records. Plus, you can easily search all database records by keywords, location, record-owner, and the list goes on.
So now if a client in Arizona needs an education researcher with proficiency in data collection, SAS and STATA – we can now search and find more potential candidates faster.
Let me take a step back. I don’t mean to reduce our highly talented and multi-dimensional candidates to database records. One can never substitute the human elements of meeting people and finding out more about their experiences and aspirations. The point is, as we advance, more and more information is available to us and we simply need to keep track of it all, if only for the sake of staying organized!
3. Serve Clients Better
All this combines into a better, more flexible and adaptive service for our clients. We can collaborate as a unit to meet their hiring needs. We can stay in touch, follow job postings and find and screen candidates in a more organized, proactive and fashion.
Our clients benefit from our cloud-based software – though they might not realize it.
Sourcing, recruiting and delivering top-talent happens more and more in a digital, as opposed to physical, environment.
The technology we use is now up to the exciting challenges and opportunities this poses. Once again, none of this replaces the skills and hard work necessary to be great at executive search. No product – as robust as it may be – can replace 20+ years of experience in any endeavor. It’s still all about the bread-and-butter. Now we just have a cooler table to serve it up.
