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Top staffing software trends for 2013

There are a number of positively disruptive technologies on the horizon for staffing firms. From mobile to cloud computing, agencies are updating staffing and recruitment software to incorporate the use of more secure and adaptive solutions. 

If your staffing and recruiting firm is not leveraging the use of these new technologies in a cost-effective and efficient manner, your customer service, time-to-fill rate and overall efficiency may suffer. As a result, customers are likely then to forgo your service and take the hiring process into their own hands — or worse, go to your competitor. 

Cloud computing and distributed databases
Regardless of whether you are meeting with clients, managing branches or interviewing potential clients, the cloud is at work. Cloud computing allows a staffing firm to spend time conducting the business that matters, instead of working to update its information technology system. 

Cloud-hosted software operations allows for distributed databases. Instead of storing data and information in one physical location, a distributed database involves the use of multiple, loosely connected sites. So, if your storage center in one location goes down, the others are there to pick up the slack so that you avoid any interruptions to the day-to-day business of your staffing agency. Equally important, cloud computing enables staffing and recruiting firms to quickly add branch offices and enhance their growth without adding more internal servers and other IT infrastructure. 

Cloud security upgrades
As a staffing firm, you are dealing with the personal details of professional individuals who trust you to keep it secure. With the evolution and growth of the cloud, information technology developers are working to incorporate the latest in data security protocols.

Research from GigaOM has forecast that the cloud market will more than double from $70.1 billion in 2012 to $158.8 billion by 2014, according to Mondaq. With such expansive growth, staffing firms will find their cloud solution providers continuously conducting updates in 2013. A staffing firm using a private cloud provider with the right set of security protocols and detailed contractual agreements concerning the arrangement should feel confident. In addition, according to Computer World, ongoing progress in the area of data security standards will further mass security technology adoption.

Cloud efficiency
Due to the nature of the work involved in the staffing industry, cloud computing will be found particularly useful. A whitepaper by Tim Giehll, Chief Marketing Officer at Bond International Software, titled, “Cloud Computing: The Future of Your Staffing Office is Out of the Office,” outlines the numerous staffing software trends recruiters will benefit from with the adoption of the cloud. Managers will be better able to track performance metrics and maximize the productivity of both branches and individuals. Recruiters can decrease response times, improve the accuracy of candidate matching and leverage online tools to reduce typical recruiting costs. 

 

5 Reasons To Invest In Staffing Software Regardless of The Election Outcome

Economic Uncertainty

Those of us working in or servicing the staffing industry find ourselves on the economic front lines, and are among the first to see changes on the horizon.  And with the election this week, the outlook has perhaps never been more cloudy – as we see four more years of continued recovery or doom & gloom, depending on which way we lean and what we predict in terms of results.

With this much uncertainty, sure to spill well past November 6th, is it the ideal time for your staffing agency to even consider adding new staffing software into its budgeting plans for 2013 – or even late 2012?  As you tire of election day ads and coverage that serve spin and uncertainty, here are five straightforward reasons why the answer is ‘yes’

1. Temp Hiring To Remain Strong Regardless of Election Outcome
As I commented last week, 2013 temporary hiring will reach historic highs in certain segments, according to Staffing Industry Analysts.  A fortunate outcome of this development, in my opinion, is that strong temporary hiring is oftentimes one of the first signs of real recovery.

But we are not living in ‘oftentimes.’  The challenges of our times are new and unprecedented, and as a result, so will the surge of temporary hiring we are about to see.  And quite honestly, it will be difficult to contain the surge of 2013 temporary hiring with software built around 2009 needs.

2. Busy Holiday Hiring
Forbes
reports that nearly 700,000 new retail jobs – many of them temporary – will be added for the 2012 holiday season.  While I certainly understand that staffing software selection is something that must be carefully considered, I also know firsthand that it can be quickly implemented and tested – helping you prepare for real-time needs mere weeks away.

3. You Need to Prepare
Scott Wintrip, president of Wintrip Consulting Group, president of StaffingU, named to the Staffing 100 by Staffing Industry Analysts in both 2011 and 2012, calls our economic landscape the Avoidant Economy, defined by:

“delayed decisions, fear of overhead and the permanent change in the psyche of buyers as a result of the Great Recession.”

Wintrip also sees this environment as:

“the single greatest opportunity the staffing and recruiting industry has seen in the past three decades…an unprecedented opportunity to bring value to companies and profits to your bottom line.”

And an economy this unprecedented will not change based on the results of one election.  What
can change, however, is how prepared  you are to handle this opportunity.  Again, are you preparing for 2013 with tools and software from 2009 – or are you ready to move forward with tools built during and for this current landscape?

4. Technology Investments Help You Improve
In describing how to succeed in the Avoidant Economy, Wintrip goes on to indicate that agencies “will need to be more nimble, more responsive, and more innovative.”

If you are using a software package from 2009 – can you truly make the claim that your agency is as nimble, responsive and innovative as it needs to be in 2013?

5. You Have The Information You Need
As I note above, staffing software selection is not an overnight decision.  To help you make the most informed decision for your company, I invite you to review two unbiased staffing software selection resources offered by my company:

I also invite you to register for a free demo of Bond staffing software at anytime.

Tomorrow – I encourage you to get out and vote for the candidate that you feel will best move our nation forward.  But remember, whoever wins, uncertainty continues to lie ahead.  Fortunately, it will only hurt those that are truly unprepared.  Let’s ensure this is your agency’s competition.

Bring Front & Back Offices Together On Staffing Software Selection

Front and back officeYour front office finds, manages and places the candidates that drive the success of both your clients and your staffing agency as a whole.  Your back office helps to manage the fiscal impact of these actions, whether its coordinating payroll or managing billing processes.

It could be argued that the front office focuses more on people while the back office focuses more on numbers.  But regardless of primary focus, what both sides of the house need to run smoothly is processes that are easily managed and adhered to.  This is where staffing software comes into play.

Unfortunately, it can oftentimes happen that a staffing software selection is made that helps to streamline front office processes while completely ignoring the back office, or vice versa.  In the short term, this creates communication and integration issues. Worse, in the long term it necessitates additional spending on new modules – or even an entirely new staffing software platform.

Implementation of staffing software is simply the last step in a successful front and back office integration initiative.  Before thoughts of using staffing software to integrate front and back office processes even enters into the picture, front and back office ideas need to be integrated.

Building Front & Back Office Unity

When a new staffing software platform that both the front and back office will be trusting to ease their worlds, both the front and back office need to be consulted on just what parts of their worlds need to be eased.  In other words, the front office and back office worlds need to unite.

Final decision makers need to be acutely aware of not just what the back office wants – but what the back office truly needs.  For instance, the back office will appreciate the ability to configure hundreds of different types of reports.  But what the back office absolutely needs is the ability to consolidate payroll and billing into one system.  The front office wants to be able to integrate with mobile – but absolutely needs a better way to find candidates.

Keep in mind that the specifics may change across each agency – and nearly any platform can be configurable to a very specific set of features and needs.  Because of this, it is important for decision makers to adhere to a discovery process involving both sides of the house early.

When conducting this discovery process, steps I recommend include:

  • Identifying who the key stakeholders are in each side of the house
  • Scheduling a live session with stakeholders to determine what processes the current software is supporting, what processes the software is not supporting at all – and what processes will need to be supported in the future
  • Leveraging stakeholder feedback to create a checklist needs analysis, clearly identifying what features need to be implemented

Not only will this needs analysis provide you with a staffing software selection checklist – it can quickly become a use case as you can leverage when finalizing – or asking for more – budget.

Apart from the steps above, what have you found to be helpful when bringing your front and back office together on a project as critical as staffing software selection?  I encourage you to share via a comment below.

If you are ready to move past discovery and needs analysis, I encourage you to request a free demo of staffing software by Bond.