Posts

Future sight: ‘Big data’-enabled staffing and recruiting software to create actionable insights

/0 Comments/in /by

The future holds big promises for big data

There has been a lot of conjecture about what ‘big data’ – massive databases of information managed by super-computers and powerful software — might be able to do to improve virtually every aspect of our lives. IBM, for example, has recently released its ‘five in five’ predictions for Innovations that will change our lives in the next five years, and these five innovations have amazing potential. But closer at hand, and more relevant to we in the staffing and recruiting industry, is how ‘big data’ can be used in the future to improve business processes, efficiency, revenues, and profits.

From today’s ‘regular data’ to tomorrow’s ‘big data’

Today, through the innovation of recruiting software technology and inclusion of new processes, we are able to evaluate information in near real-time. With that ability managers can consider the merits of a data set compared to past data and decide whether a course of action is appropriate or needs to be altered. Taking those small steps further into a giant leap in the future, staffing and recruiting professionals can see how big data has the potential to have a transformative impact on the success of candidate resourcing strategies and customer care, as well as sales and operational processes.

The future of comprehensive staffing data solutions

Data is a paramount source of information. While many staffing firms use a wide variety of separate staffing and recruiting software systems across the enterprise, such as an ATS system, Customer Relationship Management system and a Payroll system and another Accounting System, it has been difficult or prohibitively expensive to even consider integrating them. Big data-enabled software will herald the end of silos of information that hinder the overall development of real-time solutions. Data should available so that information analyzers and various systems can find patterns from within the endless configuration of numbers.

Full-enterprise cloud-based staffing and recruiting software solutions are becoming the norm in staffing and recruiting operations for just this reason. The availability of one integrated information process server that can take data from different business functions and processes and enable the creation of a clear picture of a scenario in the past or potential for the future will be crucial to competitive success.

Recently Pinstripe, a recruitment process outsourcing provider, suggested that “the true sign that analytics have arrived in the staffing software space is the presence of visual reporting tools, customizable data relationships and cross-platform data integration in nearly every product. Staffing and recruiting software vendors clearly understand how important analytics are to staffing and recruiting, and they are building analytics functions into their products.” Big data offers far more than just analytics for human use as many describe them. Big data is really about incredibly powerful software that looks deep within the data to reveal relationships, dependencies, and to perform predictions of outcomes and behaviors.

The deployment of big data-enabled staffing and recruiting software systems allow for succinct and accurate decisions make decision-making for staffing professionals much more reliable. Without the comprehensive solutions of the future that are designed to consolidate the various sourcing of information, a recruiting agency or staffing firm will be without a key component in the development of a strategy for their own future.

You can learn more about Bond’s unified staffing and recruiting software solutions by emailing us.

 

Does your staffing and recruiting sales team have a champion?

/0 Comments/in /by

Every sales team has a champion.

No, this person hasn’t ridden into the office on a white steed to save the princess from an evil witch, but he or she is a hero. An office sales champion is someone in the organization who is able to reel in the big fish clients, who understands the marketplace and thrives in the organization. In terms of the staffing and recruiting industry, every firm must have a champion staffing sales person. This sales leader will bring in the big fish clients and are a trusted resource. Behind this champion staffing sales person is a staffing and recruiting software database that enables them to succeed at the highest level.

Characteristics of a staffing sales champion

According to an article in Staffing Industry Analysts, sales champions are characterized by three primary skills. In the article, author Donna Carroll, vice president of sales, North America, for the Professional Services Staffing business at CDI Corp., stated that sales champions listen to their clients and really take the time and effort to understand the individual needs of the person speaking on the other side. Instead of walking into a meeting with an agenda, a sales champion understands that his or her primary focus should be to learn the objective and desired outcome of the partnership from the client. All of these details are then carefully recorded in a staffing software and recruiting software database to provide a team with the necessary information to find the right person to fit the job.

Once this is accomplished, a true staffing sales champion is able to reiterate the needs of the client and discuss the pros and cons of a strategy or potential solution without negating what the other person is saying. A champion establishes trust between the staffing firm and the client. The ongoing dialogue between a staffing sales person, account management and the client will create a successful partnership.

Importance of developing champions

Champions are not simply born into the world of staffing. The skills and strategies are taught over time, which is why it is important not to become complacent with one staffing sales champion, but to continue to train others to take this role on as well. Harvard Business Review reported on the importance of creating a strong network and multiple sales champions because unexpected things can happen at any moment and it’s not uncommon for people to quit, get fired, take a prolonged hiatus, etc. For example, Aimee, a senior executive at a global financial services firm, recently watched as the contacts she built over 15 years at a company became useless as people left due to corporate restructuring and the dip in the economy during the recession.

“Many of the leadership team whom I had worked with for a number of years changed,” she explained to the source. “You feel you’ve lost the equity you built up over the years – people knowing what you do and how you perform.”

In a staffing sales environment, the loss of a champion professional could have drastic results, which is why it is important to cultivate multiple champions. Talented sales professionals working for a staffing agency can achieve greatness or polish their skills, if the resources are available. In fact, research from Staffing Industry Analysts shows that recruiting agencies that invest in the latest tools like staffing and recruiting software as well as the training and support required to turn a good staffing sales person into a champion experience higher and more consistent profitability.

Want to make champions of your sales team? Give us a call at 800-318-4983 or email us for details on how Bond’s software can energize your sales staff.

 

Using Cloud Based Desktop Applications to Meet Changing Life Styles in the Staffing and Recruiting Industry

/0 Comments/in /by

Safe, secure, on-demand desktop software hosting designed for the staffing and recruiting industry delivers a centralized desktop with all of your applications and data from essentially any device and from anywhere you have a reliable Internet connection.

Guest Blog by Mark Moeller

telecommuting made easy with ICC Global Hosting and Bond International Software recruiting softwareAs with most industries the staffing and recruiting industry has seen many changes to their employees’ life styles with more and more workers working from remote offices, telecommuting, or just needing access to their applications from their tablet, PC, or Mac at home. The days of working in the office from 9:00 to 5:00 and the day ending then are becoming more the exception than the rule.

More and more applications are now moving to the Cloud – “applications running in a secured datacenter and accessed via the Internet”. This makes sense for the changing life cycles of many workers and adds a layer of security for your data by keeping the data in the Cloud and not sending data to a potentially unknown or personal device. While Cloud based applications are great, the Cloud based desktop provides the convenience of all of your applications, shared data, and e-mail all accessible from one secure place and from any device anywhere you want it.

Though our partnership with Bond, ICC Global Hosting provides Bond customers with Cloud based desktops which can provide access to Bond applications along with Hosted e-mail, Microsoft Office applications, and shared storage. This solution designed for the staffing and recruiting industry delivers a centralized desktop with all of your applications and data from essentially any device and from anywhere you have a reliable Internet connection. ICC’s Cloud based desktops have a secure connection to Bond applications and all of the end user data and e-mail is secured in our data center preventing data loss from failed back-ups, PC theft, or personnel changes.

ICC’s Cloud desktop simplifies the day to day management of PCs and applications in the office and supports the changing life styles of staffing and recruiting professionals. If you’d like to learn more about how about how Cloud desktops can add flexibility and security for your firm, please contact your Bond Sales Representative or ICC at sales@iccgh.com.

Mark Moeller is Vice President Business Development for ICC Global Hosting.