The bright future of technology in staffing and recruiting

Technology in staffing and recruiting has never been more important.

To effectively compete for talent in a labor market that’s tighter than ever, employers and recruitment firms need to remain in tune with shifting market and talent dynamics and respond with speed and agility. They need to turn to the data they gather into insights—and act on them—if they hope to excel in this hyper-competitive marketplace. 

Fortunately, technology and AI-powered tools are fast becoming strategic enablers for staffing firms and job seekers alike. 

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how technological advancements are changing the face of staffing and recruitment as we know it and presenting solutions to longstanding challenges.

The rise and rise of AI in recruitment

Today, advanced analytics engines can process hundreds of data points from candidates’ online applications to precisely match people to positions based on their personality traits and backgrounds.  

As a result, job seekers get more timely and relevant suggestions for positions they should consider applying for than they would by searching on job boards that aren’t powered by AI algorithms. Ultimately, this helps them make better career decisions.

Looking ahead, blockchain technology holds the potential to take the friction out of people’s career transitions. When a candidate’s job history, credentials, and experience are stored in an immutable, encrypted database, pursuing new opportunities is easier, faster, and more transparent.

Already, technological advances allow staffing and recruitment firms to automate previously manual tasks such as pre-screening applicants for basic qualifications, checking their professional credentials and licenses, or scheduling follow-up interviews. They enable recruiters to streamline the hiring process and scoop up the best talent before competitors move in. 

But perhaps more importantly, these technologies allow them to get better at putting the right jobs in front of the right candidates at the right time. Staffing firms can deliver more personalized, people-focused experiences and help their corporate clients make better talent decisions.

The next frontier in the digital recruitment evolution involves using AI and contextual data to perform relationship intelligence mapping. 

Recruitment firms that are getting this right are helping their clients to build strong teams and departments and driving end-to-end staffing transformation through advisory and intelligent use of data, ultimately moving up the value chain.

Solving data dilemmas

One of the most common–and resource-draining–challenges recruitment organizations face is accessing and updating client and candidate database records.

The good news is that automation solutions are available to help eliminate the need for hours of admin and housekeeping. However, many firms aren’t capitalizing fully on these capabilities. In fact, our recent research reveals that:

• Just 13% of staffing leaders report full adoption of their recruitment technology.
• 24% of leaders report having challenges in sourcing candidates. 
• 21% report having challenges gathering requirements from clients.

Clearly, placing a greater focus on user education and adoption is the first port of call for firms that have invested in automated recruitment systems.

But it shouldn’t end there. When recruitment technology meets CRM, great things happen!

CRM and recruitment – the new power couple

Sub-optimal use of CRM systems is rife within many professional services firms, and the recruitment sector is no exception. Our research has shown that fewer than half of business development professionals actually capture client or lead data within the organization’s CRM. In addition:

• 91% of companies report having incomplete CRM data. 
• 62% of CRM users don’t log all activities (calls, emails, meetings). 
• 88% of CRM users admit to entering incomplete contact information. 
• 70% of CRM data decays in a calendar year.

That’s not good for any business because, all too quickly, data becomes stale, important contacts are lost or never captured in the first place, and insights into the strength of existing relationships are no longer accurate. 

The main contributing factor to this lack of CRM adoption is the magnitude of the effort required to manually enter data into the system. But what if there was a better way?

With modern, automated activity and contact-sync technology, relationship data is discovered, mapped, and automatically input into the firm’s CRM. The best tools take a multi-dimensional approach to gather meaningful relationship and client insights, scanning an organization’s email exchange as well as third-party data sources like subscription services, social media channels, and publicly available web data. 

With an integrated AI platform, it’s possible for your CRM and recruitment data (about both your clients and candidates) to co-exist in a central platform.

Let’s explore some of the compelling outcomes this approach can deliver.

5 reasons why AI-powered technology makes sense for your recruitment business

1. Assess your relationship “equity”

Staffing and recruitment firms that have rich and diverse networks are more appealing to clients and partners and have a better chance of landing new business. 

The best platforms use AI to quickly map your employees’ personal and professional networks and relationships in real-time. 

For example, Introhive discovers an average of 350 contacts per employee that can be mapped to their CRM. This means you can quickly visualize your total addressable relationship “equity” and home in on the strongest connections to grow your revenue potential. 

2. Perform automatic “health checks”

More sophisticated platforms will also serve up trend visualizations that track the strength of your relationships with your clients and candidates over the longer term. 

This allows you to take a proactive approach to business development and client engagement, as you can quickly spot relationships that are stagnant or starting to devalue.

3. Discover what’s hiding in plain sight

Having a 360-degree view of relationships is particularly important for larger staffing services firms whose different divisions might co-exist without any meaningful degree of coordination or collaboration. 

Introhive solves this problem by breaking down internal silos behind the scenes and extracting firm-wide relationship data from multiple sources such as email exchanges, calendars, and VoIP interactions between recruiters, clients, and candidates. 

This allows recruiters to see precisely “who knows who” and how well across the various internal divisions. 

The technology generates a “score” for each relationship that exists using a combination of 20 different variables. It also analyzes relationships based on different dimensions and dynamics, such as one-to-many and one-to-one, as well as the nature, cadence, and frequency of interactions between and among various parties. 

The result? You can quickly spot new or “passive” leads or referral opportunities that have been hiding in plain sight.

4. Extend your reach and influence beyond organizational borders

Effective recruitment is about matching the right people with the right companies, which often means spreading the net far and wide. 

Thanks to our partnership with RelPro, Introhive can gather insights about relationships that exist beyond the boundaries of the organization in the form of professional peer networks and affiliations. The value of having visibility of these relationships, especially those that exist between senior-level connections, is “gold dust” to head-hunters who are recruiting to fill C-level and Board positions. 

5. Keep an eye on productivity

Our platform also gives staffing firm management a means to keep a finger on the pulse of recruiters’ and business development teams’ productivity and performance using real-time client insight reports and activity tracking.

AI is more human than you think

While the world of recruitment is (and always should be) human-centric, we can expect technology to continue to transform the industry in positive ways.

AI-infused automation technology allows recruitment and staffing firms to fully capitalize on the interpersonal relationships that exist within the walls of their firm and beyond. 

It’s an extra arrow in every recruiter’s quiver, allowing them to supercharge their efficiency and placement rates – without losing that all-important human touch.

Discover more about new and emerging recruitment technology trends in our on-demand webinar: The Future of Tech in Staffing & Recruiting.

If you’d like to learn more about Introhive, please get in touch.