Prepare For the Digital Transformation of Talent Acquisition

Share this post:

The explosion of technology has opened the eyes of the HR industry to seemingly limitless possibilities. While the art of the possible is fascinating, it’s time for a pragmatic discussion of available technology.

Start with what you have

Make sure you’re using the technology you have now to its full potential. In particular, the data from the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) program should be as clean and complete as possible. These two critical information sources serve as the foundation for any effort relying on predictive analytics or cognitive. If the information is inaccurate or incomplete, the conclusions generated by any cognitive or predictive system also will be.

Many talent acquisition organizations aren’t currently using their ATS effectively. Either the system is customized so deeply that they’re unable to take advantage of new features, or the users haven’t been properly trained on ATS functionality and are inputting and reporting data inconsistently.

In the meantime, look at your CRM functionality to manage the candidate relationship. Many already come with integrated digital marketing functionality, including automated workflows to nurture candidates while recruiters are continually sourcing. Developing an understanding of these automated marketing functions now will serve talent acquisition teams well when they make the jump to cognitive.

Start automation strategically

No talent acquisition organization can make the leap to automating everything all at once. So here’s how to begin:

• Audit your current processes
• Determine your ideal experience
• Identify where the gaps exist
• Focus on one or two concrete recruitment tasks that can be automated and start there.

Aside from the cost and time savings that will come from automating low-ROI tasks, your talent acquisition team will participate in a valuable learning process about what types of functionality and practices are available. Those will potentially inform other process improvements and prepare your team for the more advanced cognitive talent acquisition functionality to come.

Know what’s out there and where you stand now

Understand the available technology and what it can do within the context of your ideal candidate experience and desired business goals.

And if you’re not tracking basic metrics like time to fill, cost per hire, hiring manager satisfaction, candidate satisfaction and quality of hire, implement these critical measurement processes now. Without them, there’s no way to justify the cost of new technology or to determine if any new process changes are making a difference.

To learn more about integrating technology to improve your talent acquisition efforts while preparing for the future promised by cognitive technology, download our 2017 Perspective on the Talent Acquisition Industry paper today.