The Benefits of a 24×7 Mobile Recruitment Model

MobileTHUMBThe recruitment industry is rapidly becoming mobile enabled. But what does that mean? From changing the candidate experience to improving client relationships and transforming the productivity of consultants, agencies have a number of ways of utilising mobile recruitment technologies.

Real time access to all CRM data anytime anywhere via mobile provides significant opportunities to transform client interactions. From using a client company hyperlink to get a map and directions, to enabling access to a full candidate database when in a client meeting; the way consultants engage with clients can take significant steps forward.

Mobile technologies will provide consultancies with the chance to improve market share:

In multi-agency competitive situations, the first past the post wins – consultants using mobile technologies to track candidate activity and introduce new individuals to clients first will steal a march over the competition.

  • Where the client may require a candidate within hours – and certainly within days –the creation of an automated, end to end process that enables real time provision of candidates for temporary jobs or short term contracts provides a clear commercial advantage.
  • European expansion – growing numbers of UK agencies are looking to move into the less mature European market. Using mobile to provide seamless access to candidate information in any location and introduce proactive recruitment activity will open up significant commercial opportunities.

Mobile technologies are essential to support the changing working environment. And with the flexible working environment increasingly dominating – can a recruitment agency really afford to wait until 9am on Monday morning?

Download ‘The benefits of a 24×7 mobile recruitment model’ eBook here.

How to Motivate Your Sales Team: Developing a Long-Term Strategy for Keeping Your Sales Team Engaged and On Board

One of the most important responsibilities you will have as a staffing leader is finding the right salespeople for your team. We addressed how you can solve that issue in our previous post. Finding the right person is only the first step in the process of transforming an organization and represents one small facet of a complex hiring system.

Once you have selected the right person, what then? How do you continually motivate your sales team? Unfortunately many firms approach this in a decidedly one-sided manner and end up in a constant cycle of peaks and valleys in employee performance. So what’s the right way to get out of this “boom and bust” cycle we often find ourselves in as staffing firm leaders?

Well, one thing I can tell you for sure is that sales contests are not the answer. In fact, this “one-size fits all” approach to motivating a sales team often does more harm than good. I’m sure many of you have incentive-based contests at your firms and yet many of you still struggle with keeping your team engaged and on board. The reality is, from both a research and practice perspective, sales contests have little to no positive impact on your overall performance in the long run. What is particularly interesting is that while you may get a slight short-term “bump” the long-term negative consequences far outweigh the slightly positive outcomes. The core problem with a contest-driven culture is that it relies on external stimuli to drive performance. When that stimuli is removed, the performance increases (if any) disappear.

If contests aren’t the answer, then what is? If you want to build a team of self-motivated, high performers, the process will be a decidedly long but simple one. First, you have to recognize that most of your people are not there simply because of the money. In fact, I would suspect most of your people are looking to make an impact and make a difference within your organization. Unfortunately, many of us in staffing don’t take the time to uncover the real reasons why people are with us and end up losing really talented people. The organization that can retain their best people in an industry where 30 to 75 percent turnover is the expectation will have a huge competitive advantage.

Second, leaders within staffing have to recognize that in order to fix the issue they must look at themselves as agents of change and consider the needs of each team member. That may seem like an abstract concept but what we’re really talking about how to lead our people. We in staffing need to get away from always managing by metrics and move towards leading through inspiration. This requires each staffing leader to understand what motivates each and every member of their sales team and manage to those things instead of arbitrary weekly metrics.

Third, leaders need to do a much better job of empowering their troops. The biggest challenge in making this shift in approach is that we all know how to get results. In fact, we could probably create a “paint by numbers” workflow and dictate that everyone else follow that process. Unfortunately, this approach may not be the most effective thing we can do. We need to learn to take our hands off the wheel and let others drive. At a certain point we have to recognize that our role has shifted from mapping out the steps to pointing the way. Workflows, as helpful as they can be, should offer guidance, as each customer relationship may be unique. The idea is to talk about the value of the mission and the goal and let your people get there on their own. In order to keep your sales team motivated and on board, your role needs to change from task manager to cultural leader.

The last and arguably the most important step is that we have to recognize that one-size-fits-all approaches don’t work. We have to take the time to meet with each of our people and talk to them about their vision for themselves. Furthermore, we have to create an environment where we can tell our troops our vision for them. The most critical aspect of building a long-term culture of self-motivation is to meet your people where they are and try to understand what is important to them. Only at that point can we move forward and build sustained performance and engagement within our organizations.

Finally, with a well-motivated sales team it becomes a necessity that they have the tools needed to produce results efficiently. That’s where Bond can help. Give us a call and let’s get started.

In a recent survey we asked nearly 80 staffing professionals to share insights into how they choose, train, and support sales teams. Read the results in the Bond US Sales Selection, Training and Development Report 2014.

Adapt Helps JAB Transform Global Recruitment

Jab_Case_StudyThe Oil & Gas recruitment landscape is increasingly competitive, making effective client communication and talent engagement key to business success. With complex skill-gaps to bridge and a shortage of talent pools, dedicated industry recruitment company JAB operates in a competitive and challenging environment.

JAB runs a highly consultative methodology and is committed to working in partnership as a seamless extension of its clients’ own internal capabilities and processes.

For JAB, the deployment of the Adapt recruitment solution with Microsoft Outlook, social media and JAB’s financial application, has enabled a fundamental transformation in day to day operations across its international offices.

Adapt’s technology has successfully re-engineered JAB’s workflow – which is now six times more efficient. More effective searches and better cross company communication provide JAB’s consultants with more time to spend working directly with both clients and candidates to understand their unique requirements.

To find out more about how JAB has:

  • Integrated all recruitment services from permanent to in-house consultancy.
  • Created a more efficient and sophisticated process.
  • Enabled consultants to handle day to day activities more efficiently.
  • Shared information from one office to another more effectively.
  • Provided a better working environment for all staff, globally.

Take a look at our latest case study and discover how Adapt’s technology has enabled JAB’s operation to be more streamlined and effective.

You may download the full JAB case study eBook here.

2014 Staffing Industry Analysis – SIA Reports Growth For Contingent Workforce

Staffing Industry Analysts recently gave a staffing industry report, including an overview of its 2014 survey of North American contingent labor buyers—companies that utilize contingent workers. Their report was full of compelling staffing industry trends that can offer professional recruiting firms insight as they consider strategies for growth. If you missed the report, don’t worry—I’ll give you highlights and continue the conversation about where the staffing industry is heading.

US Economy News is Mixed But Strong

Jon Osborne, VP of Strategic Research, started the presentation with an overview of key US economic indicators. He said the few areas of bad news could be reflective of a mere first quarter “blip.” That negative news was countered by positive indicators, including low unemployment.

Unfavorable statistics:

  • US GDP was down by 1 %in the first quarter.
  • Consumer sentiment remains low.
  • 1/3 of adults ages 18 to 34 live with their parents.

Favorable statistics:

  • Jobless claims are at a 7-year low.
  • Manager’s indexes in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes are up.
  • Certain economic areas have strong growth, such as natural resources, which includes mining, and professional services, which includes outsourcing and computer services.
  • Temporary employment has been growing more slowly since February, but is still up 8.5 % over last year.

Contingent Labor is Growing Overall

staffing-industry-analyst-temporary-help-employment

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

Osborne says that despite some mixed economic news, the economy is doing OK, and that “every area of staffing is doing very well.” The survey of contingent labor buyers covered current staffing industry trends including:

                  • The contingent share of the workforce continues its long-term growth, with a median of 15 % in 2013 and 2014.
                  • There is a “hiring boom” in direct hire and executive search, with an 8 %  increase year over year for both.
                  • There is an expected increase of 9 % over the next 10 years for online staffing services.
                  • 81 % of respondents to SIA’s buyer survey said their total workforce is going to grow over the next two years.

“I would say a general theme of the webinar was that the staffing industry is in good shape right now,” says Jon Osborne, vice president of strategic research at Staffing Industry Analysts. “BLS and PulseSurvey data indicate that the industry – across most sub-sectors, temporary, place & and search and PEO – is seeing solid growth and, on the demand side, contingent buyers continue to be in expansion mode.”

Staffing companies should reach out to prospective clients now to build relationships and be of value. As those prospective clients become buyers, they’ll already have you in mind as the best source of help to find the talent that they seek.

Contingent Workforce Seen as Valuable

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

Many companies are strategic in their utilization of contingent workers so they are better able to adapt to the economy and as their business needs ebb and flow. Past concerns about worker loyalty, learning curve, and productivity have lessened over time.

                  • The largest influence upon contingent labor is variable and unpredictable workloads.
                  • Larger companies are more accepting of utilizing contingent labor than are smaller companies.
                  • Buyers (companies that utilize contingent workers) predict they will be  hiring  more contingent workers who are highly skilled and more  statement of work (SOW), project-based workers.
                  • On average, buyers  said they will be more likely in the coming years to hire contingent workers than traditional, full-time employees.

Staffing companies may decide to focus in on larger companies, which are more likely to use contingent labor. Or perhaps you decide to actively seek out more candidates who specialize in SOW projects – that way you have top talent to offer when your clients need talent.

Staffing Firms Can Prove Value in Underserved Areas

Although the staffing industry remains strong, there are areas that tend to be underserved. Savvy staffing agencies might consider working with clients in these ways to grow their companies.

  • The fastest growing area for staffing services is in education and library, with a 12 %growth forecast.   “With respect to the education market, selling to government is always challenging but some companies are nonetheless doing it successfully,” says Osborne.
  • Human resources outsourcing is growing, doubling over the past 5 years.
  • Companies that use staffing firms are concerned about facing a skill shortage. Staffing firms can prove their value by being a valuable source of candidates who have the skills that clients in their niches typically seek.
  • On average, the larger the company, the more positive their attitude about contingent labor.

As they say, knowledge is power. Leverage the latest staffing industry trends as you develop growth strategies for your recruiting firm. With jobless rates down and the economy steadying, recruiting firms have a great opportunity to continue to prove their value to clients and position themselves to grow over time.

Learn how recruiting software can give your employees better workflow as you grow your recruiting firm.

Selecting Sales Candidates: How to Hire Wolves

I have found that one of the more common problems staffing firm leaders encounter is finding and hiring top-level salespeople. More specifically, it seems that hiring the farmer profile seems to be much easier than hiring hunters. It seems that this challenge applies to not only startups and small firms but large firms as well. So what’s the solution?

Believe it or not, this is a challenge that’s common in many industries. I’ve been involved in the hiring process in the retail, technology, and automotive sectors and hiring managers struggle with overcoming the same challenges. What I have found, through observation and experimentation, is that there is a fairly simple four step process that can be used to identify and hire sales people who fit the hunter/wolf profile you are looking for.

The first step in the process is to look within your organization and identify your own hunters and build a baseline profile. Hunters and farmers work differently so it’s important to document the way both types of salespeople work—you may choose to utilize your recruiting software for insight. This step in the process requires some level of business process analysis and the ability to look at every step in the sales cycle and how the individual behaves in each step.

The next step in the process of hiring sales people is to incorporate psychometric testing into your selection process. While this may seem like an unnecessary expense to some, it’s important to keep in mind the costs associated with making the wrong hire. Research has shown that firms can spend two to three times the first year salary of the “wrong” hire to fix the mistake. Adding psychometric testing reduces the risk of making that wrong hire and adds a research-backed instrument to your hiring process. I have found that both the Predictive Index (PI) and the Life Styles Inventory (LSI) are effective diagnostic tools with documented reliability and validity. Conversely, stay away from Meyers-Briggs or similar tools since their predictive capabilities have recently been called into question.

The third step in the process of hiring sales people is to understand the psychological profile of the hunter mentality. I have found that the candidates who best fit the profile have the following attributes: patience, resilience, confidence, humor, curiosity, service-orientation, learning-orientation, and competitiveness. There are wide-ranging research opinions on what attributes carry the most weight but the key takeaway is that your “perfect” hunter profile will have all of these attributes. As a result, your interview process needs to include behavior-based questioning that distills out the presence or absence of these attributes.

The fourth and final step in the process is interviewing and selecting the hunter profile. Like just about everyone else, I’ve been on both sides of the interview table. What I’ve found particularly interesting is how sales interviews are conducted. Generally speaking, interviews have been structured in such a way that hiring managers aren’t testing for capability or profile. Oftentimes the process itself really doesn’t gauge if the candidate has the necessary competencies. Organizations looking to hire hunters need to gauge performance under pressure and should be interviewing candidates with that in mind. A simple approach would be to tell the candidate (in a polite way) that they’re not good enough and see how they respond. Most sub-par candidates will crumble. The ones left over provide you a “semi-qualified” pool of candidates to evaluate further.

The process of hiring sales people is a complex one for most organizations. Hiring for the hunter profile can prove to be one of the bigger challenges a sales organization can face. As a result, it’s critical that firms take a systematic approach to the process that includes both quantitative and qualitative criteria. This four-step process should provide a good foundation to build from. Then, once you’ve found your ‘wolves’, Bond will be there for you with the tools they need for hunting success.

For more insights from leading staffing industry experts on how to build, coach, and train your sales team, get a copy of our Bond US Sales Selection, Training and Development Report 2014.

Create a Positive Candidate Experience Using Online Recruitment

Bon200Have you ever wondered how your online recruitment process comes across to potential candidates?

Toby Conibear, European Business Development Director, Bond International Software, argues that effectively utilising online recruitment tools and website to secure great new talent for your clients can be incredibly effective, but it needs to be coupled with a great service for the candidate too.

To successfully source the ideal candidate, recruiters and clients must approach each project with the right expectations and information. They have to consider the full vacancy details before deciding which methods and channels will be most effective to reach the most suitable candidates. In today’s connected world this includes platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook alongside more traditional routes such as corporate websites and job boards.

With a sophisticated staffing and recruitment software system such as Bond Adapt, this needn’t be a time-intensive exercise. Instead, a vacancy only has to be created once and can be advertised and posted online on multiple sites simultaneously. This makes the process easier for candidates looking for a vacancy using their preferred channels. When this is coupled with a straightforward application process, for example when candidates can apply using their LinkedIn profile or at a click of the button, it can provide a truly positive experience from the candidate’s perspective.

A good recruiter will build up an excellent rapport with their clients and candidates alike – personal relations remain key in the industry. Having said that, even the bubbliest recruitment professionals need to have the most up-to-date information at their fingertips, regardless of where they are in the recruitment process or indeed physical location, or risk losing prized candidates to a competitor. By taking advantage of integrated mobile recruitment applications, they can easily access and update client and candidate files. So when faced with a query, they can provide real-time feedback on the status of the application or vacancy.

The rules for online recruitment might have changed with the increasing need for instant results, but the requirement to provide a good experience to attract high-quality candidates has remained the same. Recruiters are wise to underpin a personal approach to recruitment with sophisticated technologies and tools that allow real-time feedback. It will positively transform the candidate experience and result in a good overall image of the business. After all, happy candidates are likely to recommend you to their professional network – can you afford to miss out on their valuable contacts?

How to make the CRM change

CRMnewspaperBlog for HR Zone by Toby Conibear, Business Development Director, Bond International Software:

Overhauling the business’ CRM system is no easy feat, yet many recruitment consultancies underestimate the scale of the task. Indeed, many are under the impression that they can simply unplug one CRM system and seamlessly move to the next. A dangerous move when the potential risks to the recruitment business can be devastating.
For instance, if decisions are rushed on which particular CRM system to implement, or configurations are made without an appreciation of exactly how the business requirements will be met, the system will not meet the recruitment consultants’ needs, will not be used and productivity may  be reduced.

Quite a dilemma therefore, for recruiters who are constantly trying to keep ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing marketplace. Here are some top tips of things to consider when making the change:

Define your business case at the outset

Before recruitment businesses can decide what new CRM solution they want to implement, they need to identify exactly what it is that they want to achieve. If business objectives are not spelt out from the beginning for instance, it is likely that the end product will be entirely different to what was envisaged – and needed – at the outset. This will prove to be hugely costly for the investors, and frustrating for the consultants on the front line.

Technical expertise will get the job done

Whether project managing in-house or through the supplier themselves, seeking technical advice from someone who can translate the key business requirements into a functional specification will make it easier for the system provider to configure the right areas of the software in the correct fashion first time.

Generally speaking, recruiters are not IT experts, but they need to ensure that the tools they are equipping themselves with are sure to deliver their requirements. Take advantage of your supplier’s technical consultancy and expertise to give yourself the greatest chance of meeting your needs and therefore improving your processes and ongoing performance. In identifying the business requirements, organisations need to understand just how technical it can get, and so leave the job to the experts, by putting your trust in experienced heads that can translate those needs into meaningful technology deliverables.

Invest the time to define your objectives

Recruitment agencies must be prepared to dedicate sufficient time and resource to changing the CRM system, and before the project is even started, they must consider whether they can indeed afford to spend such time away from the main business.

People often underestimate the amount of time that they will have to dedicate to ensure that the project is a success from the outset. Putting the hours in is essential, so start early, define your objectives and confirm your initial selection and configuration processes.

Look out for next month’s blog where we will provide more tips to look out for when updating your CRM.

Imagine If Your Company’s Recruiting Software Supported Your Best Hiring Practices

If you’re a staffing and recruiting professional, you’re no stranger to software and computer issues. Unfortunately, problems related to software functionality all too frequently impede your daily recruiting activities. When you’ve pinpointed the perfect candidate for a perfect job opening, you want to move quickly and get a jump on the competition—not conduct a poll of the office because you can’t for the life of your figure out how to get your software to cooperate. While you’re banging your head on your desk in frustration, what kind of recruiting software do you wish for? What’s your dream solution that would help you streamline workflow and implement best hiring practices?

Imagine if your software supported best hiring practices with customized resumes.

What if your software could take a candidate’s resume and automatically create a new one for you, branded in your recruiting firm’s template per their standards? With just a few clicks you could edit it to better meet your client’s job order and send it to them quickly and efficiently. You would avoid the hassle of combing through different versions of contacts’ resumes that you’ve kept on your computer. There would be no more time-consuming edits to undertake or cutting and pasting back and forth, saving you time and effort.

Imagine if your company’s best hiring practices were augmented via interfaces with valuable applications.

What if your software was able to interface with third-party applications that support your recruiting firm’s best hiring practices? For example, your software could require that before a candidate could be placed, certain required tasks be completed and documented, such as background checks, skills assessments or drug testing. You could eliminate the stress of rushing to get a candidate’s testing completed before his or her start date. Instead, you could feel confident, knowing that every requirement has been successfully completed per your clients’ needs and company policies.

Imagine if you had more time for implementing best hiring practices.

No one likes to waste time at work. Instead of spending 10 hours per week on administrative tasks such as creating reports and updating Excel spread sheets, what if precious time could be used on selling or recruiting? You could have a role-based centralized dashboard that allows you to access reports, tracks contacts with clients automatically and alerts you to upcoming meetings and phone calls. In addition, it could compile the reports you need to track metrics and compare them to set goals.

Imagine if you had streamlined processes that supported best hiring practices.

If we conducted a poll, it’s safe to say that most recruiters would love to weed out the tedious points of their daily processes where things tend to bottleneck. Consider the possibilities if your front office sales and recruiting software could be seamlessly integrated with contingent employee payroll and customer billing. This integration would streamline your back-office processes, reduce data entry efforts and errors and enable your firm to deliver consistently reliable service.

Imagine if you had speed on your side when undertaking best hiring practices.

What would you do if it no longer took days to acquire the necessary tax forms and documentation from candidates? Rather than mailing out forms and waiting for them to be filled out and sent back, or waiting for candidates to find the time to come into your office, you could have  access to e-forms management that would collect client-specific documentation. Instead of taking hours or days, it would allow you to interface with software that could have it completed in minutes.

If you’re daydreaming at your desk waiting for your software to improve, know that your “imagine ifs” can become a reality with the right recruiting software. Learn more with Bond’s whitepaper, “10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruiting Software Selection.”

5 Tips For Making a Recruiting Video that Works

YouTube’s popularity is reflected in its more than 1 billion unique users each month, with 100 hours of video uploaded every single minute. Thanks to that vast audience pool, videos can boost companies’ visibility and, when used correctly, be a compelling way to tell your staffing business’ story. How can staffing firms create recruiting video content that stands out in the throng and generates value for your business?

We looked at three killer recruiting videos, analyzed what makes them effective and summed up our reviews into five tips for making a recruiting video that works.

1. Pinpoint your staffing company’s audience and answer their questions.

Start off by surveying your recruiters and sales team about the questions they hear most frequently. Then put yourself into your ideal candidates’ and clients’ shoes and answer those questions, including the types of job placements you offer and the benefits of working with your agency.

According to Anna Wright, a social media consultant for LinkedIn, the content itself needs to remain clear and informative, staying away from a sales focus. We see this “non-salesy” approach in the first recruiting video we analyzed, which was created by Humana, a health benefits company. This recruiting video is very clear about what the corporation does, employees’ opportunities for advancement, the types of jobs the company typically needs to fill and the desired background of candidates they’d like to hire.

2. Highlight your recruitment firm’s differentiators.

Your next step is pinpointing what makes your recruiting company different from the others out there. From the niche industries you specialize in to proven results, show your audience why your company should be their number one choice for recruiting. Leverage video to connect with your audience, highlight your success stories and prove the value you can offer in finding the right talent for the right job. Recruiting software can provide you with data to incorporate into your video, whether you want to highlight team performance or other achievements.

Frontline Source Group made a video that ramped up their visibility with more than 25,000 views. Their strategy including highlighting the many awards they’ve won and the specific industries they target.

3. Incorporate sound, personality and your staffing agency’s culture.

Now that you know your audience and differentiators, it’s time to think about adding pizzazz to your content. This killer recruiting video, which comes from Shopify, has a defined focus on what makes their company different, with added zest from funny interviews and music.

The video incorporates unique music to set the tone of the company’s quirky culture, enthusiastic sound bites from employees and shows the personality of the company. Your recruiting company should include clips of compelling interviews with top clients, successful candidates and internal employees to add personality and charm to your video.

4. Add interesting visuals that support your recruiting firm’s success.

You may choose to include some hard data in your recruiting video, which is fine as long as you don’t let it slow down the video’s pacing and energy. At points in the video where you’re offering statistics or basic information, use visually interesting video, moving graphics, and presentations to cover the “talking head” who’s delivering your staffing data.

Your audience doesn’t want to see one person drone on—after seeing the person who’s talking, cover what they’re saying with valuable, pertinent graphs, grids, bullet points and video. For example, if you’re offering statistics regarding the percentage of successful placements, you could cover most of the sound with a short graphic containing moving elements and then return to moving video.

5. Develop a compelling story about your staffing agency.

You may have heard the saying, “Facts tell, stories sell.” This is particularly true when you’re creating your recruiting video. Staffing firms need to focus on what interesting story they can tell and who will be the main characters.

The Shopify video has a narrator who leads viewers through the information provided and sound bites from staff, acting as the main character of the piece. If possible, focus on a successful client or candidate, or have one of your employees serve as the point person for the video. Then create a compelling story that connects to your targeted audience with energy and style.

Recruiting video content can be a powerful vehicle for getting your message out to numerous candidates and clients. When done well, video allows your staffing agency to connect with your audience on multiple levels—a personal touch as well as with statistics and data that prove your value.

Learn how you can leverage other social media outlets like YouTube to help your recruiting agency grow with our webinar, Social Media Tips for Recruiting & Staffing.