10 steps to successful staffing and recruitment …...2018/01/10 · t 10 steps to successful...
TRANSCRIPT
10 Steps to
Successful
Staffing and
Recruitment
Software
Selection
2 Title of the book
Contents
3 | Introduction
4 | Choose a selection strategy and a selection team
4 | Map your company priorities and business requirements
6 | Define your company structure and climate for change
7 | Identify internal resources and technology infrastructure
8 | Create a list of potential vendors
8 | Contact vendors and compare product demos
9 | Identify the top three contenders
10 | Obtain pricing from the top contenders
11 | Obtain References
11 | Finalize your decision and implement the system
12 | Summary
T
10 Steps to Successful Staffing and
Recruitment Software Selection
echnology advances at a dizzying pace. Ten years
ago ‘social media recruitment’ via online social networks
was only an idea in some entrepreneurial minds. Today it
is a mainstay for tech-savvy recruitment and staffing
professionals. With ongoing advances and an eye on the
future, the recruitment industry must continually adapt to
provide faster, better services than ever before.
Staffing and recruitment software plays a crucial role in the continued success of agencies. It is, as one
staffing agency owner said, “the lifeblood of our company,” enabling the effective management of the
many complex business relationships between clients and candidates.
So it is with understandable anxiety that agency management considers upgrading the technology they
already have in order to keep up with or improve their fortunes in today’s sophisticated and competitive
environment. Today, measuring quality, increasing productivity, and being operationally efficient are all-
important in the business of making placements and filling jobs.
Choosing the best staffing or recruitment software product to meet your agency’s specific needs and
goals can be a formidable task. The stakes are high.
You need a vendor partner that delivers solutions, not just features.
To some, choosing the “best” system consists of looking at all the vendor software packages and buying
the one with the most or newest bells and whistles. With so many products available on the market, it’s
important to look much deeper than what the software may offer – you need to look at the partnership
you’ll be entering into as well.
Most importantly, clarifying the selection process begins with the simple recognition that the best system
for your organization is the one that provides real solutions to the challenges you now face and will help
you reach the goals you are trying to achieve. An analysis of those goals will provide the framework for
setting the criteria for system selection and will lend credence to the process for you and your staff. A
structured business analysis will yield a list of requirements that you can use to compare the
functionality of various software packages.
The 10-step approach that follows for selecting staffing and recruitment software should reduce the
stress of the selection process and ensure that your final choice will help you meet your goals.
3 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
GOAL/PRIORITY Improve sales rep sales closure rates
Improve recruiter time-to-fill rates and placements Improve operating and service efficiency
1. Choose a Selection Strategy and a Selection TeamHow you will make your decision? Charting a strategy before you begin will
make the process easier and will enable involved personnel to visualize the
end result more clearly. Without a detailed plan, the process can become
never-ending. You need to decide:
•Who will be involved in the selection process?
•What part will each person play?
•What steps will you take?
•How will the final decision be made?
•Who will make the final decision?
•When do you plan to make the final decision?
•What is your budget?
Deciding whom to involve is probably simple. Your decision to look for a
new recruitment software solution probably began with both business and
technical factors. The people involved in those issues are the most likely
players in the selection process. Involving key stake-holder representatives
from your sales, recruiting, accounting, and technical staff will lend balance
to the final decision and create buy-in from all constituents.
2. Map Your Company Priorities and Business
Requirements
What are your priorities?
Software should help you meet your company’s goals. The three biggest
reasons to even consider looking at upgrading or replacing your current
recruitment software solution are:
• Your business is not achieving its performance goals due to the
inefficiencies caused by your current system.
• You believe that the system will not be able to meet your business
goals due to lack of features, functions, scalability, business strategy
changes, etc.
• Your current system is putting you at a competitive disadvantage.
Defining those goals will provide a better foundation for understanding how
software can provide solutions. Begin by identifying your top priorities based
on the primary roles of front-line staff and management, such as the partial
list of typical goals below.
SOFTWARE FEATURES • Unified user interface to reduce effort related to
processes.• Prioritization and management of sales activities.• Easy means to collaborate and manage pipelines.• Mobile capabilities to improve ease of response.• Intuitive user interface to improve productivity.• Easy management of candidates and contacts.• Fast, easy search and order/requisition fulfillment.• Cloud-based, web-browser Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS).• Reduce data entry effort, errors, and expenses with
integrated client invoicing and temp/contract payroll.• Dashboards and reporting provides actionable insights
for collaboration, pipeline management, and operations.
• Enables the implementation of configurable workflows.
Selection Tip
Always focus on ‘WHY’
something is important
when determining your
business priorities and
requirements. If you
can, attach a monetary
value to the priority or
business requirement.
4 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
Determine Your Business Requirements: What do you
want to fix or preserve?
First you need to identify the processes you may want to
change or preserve, such as:
• Applicant entry - where and how is it done?
• Method of capturing candidate skills - coding vs. CV searching and parsing
• Company/client ownership - what rules are in place?
• Job order information and evaluation - what questions are asked that must be documented? What rankings and other criteria are utilized?
• Back office processes - how will temp/contract payroll and
client invoicing be handled?
• Management reporting - what reporting is required, desired and optimal?
• Integrations - what other data sources and/or third party applications must be integrated to efficiently support operating business processes and/or strategies?
Once you have recognized the processes that should be fixed or preserved, then, based on
the results of the previous steps, compile your list of business requirements. This can be done
in spreadsheet form for easy use during the software evaluation process.
• List each requirement you have identified.
• Rate each item in terms of necessity:
o 3 = Must have, will not sacrifice.o 2 = Will sacrifice if necessary.o 1 = Nice to have.
• Add other features you would like, assigning the appropriate rating.• Lay out your requirements in a five column grid, with the columns labeled:
o Rating.o Requirement.o Functionality.o Advantages.o Disadvantages.
Add additional rows for pricing, support services, references and business partnership issues. You
now have a grid or template of your business needs and system requirements that you can use with
each system you wish to evaluate.
5 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
3. Define Your Company Structure and Climate for Change
The current structure of your organization and your plans for the future can each
influence your choice of a system. Consider your:
• Number of office locations, current and projected.
• Service areas: perm, temp, contract.
• Market niches and specific needs of the markets you serve.
• Need to share information across databases.
• Need to share information across locations, divisions or teams.
Some software systems are well equipped to handle multiple disciplines or office
locations; others are not. Some systems are clearly geared towards permanent,
tempory or contract recruitment.
Those that do handle a variety of disciplines do so with varying degrees of
success. If yours is a firm that has more than one service offering, the ability to
handle those offerings seamlessly will be a major factor in your consideration of
software systems.
Is your company ready for the impact of change?
Installing a new software system, whether replacing your current system or going
through a major upgrade, creates the opportunity to re-engineer your business
processes. Just attempting to mirror your current processes may deny you the
opportunity to gain significant efficiencies and productivity enhancements.
In addition, a new system may produce a temporarily negative impact on
productivity, as staff adjust to the changes. The size of that impact depends on
your staff’s attitude. When staff are inclined to embrace change, chances are that
a new system will show a positive effect quickly; when staff resist change, the
opposite can be true.
• Consider your staff’s tenure and how many changes they have been through –
management, organization, physical office moves, process changes, etc. How well have they dealt with the issues surrounding those changes?
• Examine your own attitude toward change. Do you believe that your “tried and true” methods are the best and that change would be a mistake? Or do you believe that processes should be malleable based on strategic goals?
• What is the level of your staff’s technical ability? Are they likely to embrace a new technological solution or will they be intimidated?
If you determine that your organization has a high quotient for change, the
structure of the system you choose will be less of a factor, giving you more room
to implement new processes. If, on the other hand, you wish to preserve your
current processes by automating them, you need to look for the system that most
closely mirrors those processes, or one that allows configuration or customization.
Even so, keep in mind that your business strategies and processes may change
over time. Starting up a new line of business would require changes in your
software processes as well. With that consideration, a system offering the
flexibility to change as your business changes is vital.
Importantly, you will reduce the impact of change on your staff’s productivity with
good training and communicating to your staff the benefits of the change to them
personally.
Selection Tip
A fresh look at your
sales, recruitment, and
operating processes
can help you uncover
and address areas for
improvement. A new
software system can
then be a positive
catalyst for change in
these processes.
6 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
4. Identify Internal Resources and Technology Infrastructure
The success of any software implementation depends on the ability to keep the
system running smoothly, both technically and operationally. In addition, training,
change management and operational issues need to be handled.
Identify your internal resources – people and infrastructure – for accomplishing these
tasks. The degree to which you can handle them internally may affect both the
complexity of the system you choose and your need for vendor services. For
example, do you have the internal staff already in place to effectively manage the
implementation and ongoing management of a new system?
Your current technology can greatly influence the selection of a software product.
Your desire to upgrade or attempt to maintain your existing infrastructure should be
based not only on the investment in hardware and platform that you have already
made but also on its ability to grow and accommodate your future plans. Here again
is an opportunity to look at your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over time. Consider
the following:
• Do you currently have a server in place?
• If so, how old is it? Is it depreciated?
• Is the platform meeting your present needs?
• Does the current system offer you enough room for growth?
• Does the current system meet your performance efficiency needs?
• Are your telecommunications needs being handled currently?
• Will future plans require added connectivity solutions?
• Does your budget allow you to upgrade or replace existing infrastructure?
• Could you reduce your TCO with an On Demand Software as a Service/SaaS
solution?
Obviously then, you have choices for the deployment of your new software, from
enterprise systems that you host at your location (On Premise) to On Demand
subscription systems (Software as a Service/SaaS).
If you purchase an On Premise enterprise system, software vendors may require that
you have a dedicated IS person on staff to ensure technical stability and
maintenance of the system on a day-to-day basis. In addition, a new On Premise
system will often require new server hardware, connectivity services, and new server
software.
Simplifying the implementation and offering attractive TCO, businesses of all sizes
are increasingly choosing On Demand SaaS systems to upgrade to from their current
systems. However, it’s important to keep in mind that SaaS comes in a variety of
deployment methods, which can have a significant impact on the cost, delivery,
flexibility, reliability, performance, and configurability of the software.
For example, multi-tenant SaaS applications may offer low cost and fast set-up, but
are not as flexible or configurable as single-tenant SaaS or virtualized systems that
enable software vendors to support multiple tenants in a single hardware
environment. When looking at potential cloud-based SaaS vendors, it’s imperative to
ask about the hosting environment and security. Furthermore, where the actual data
resides geographically is an important issue as you are dealing with private personal
data subject to the laws of the countries you are doing business in.
From your technical analysis, determine whether a specific technology is a
requirement for your company. If you are starting from scratch or fully replacing your
existing systems, you may want to consult experts who can provide technical
specifications to meet your current and projected requirements.
Selection Tip
Generally, businesses
replace computer
servers and user PC’s
or laptops every 3-5
years. Doing so will
give you a measurable
boost in performance,
especially when
combined with new,
more efficient staffing
and recruitment
software.
7 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
5. Create a List of Potential Vendors
Your first list should include six-to-ten vendors that appear to satisfy your
requirements, enough to provide a good cross-section of functionality without
overwhelming you.
There are several resources for identifying systems for staffing and recruitment.
You can start with a Web search for potential software vendors using such
keywords as “staffing software” or “recruitment software.” Visiting vendor sites to
review online demos and download brochures and/or white papers will provide
enough information for you to begin making a list of the systems that are most
likely to meet your needs.
Recruitment industry trade shows and events are a very good place to get a
sense of what’s available as well as do comparison shopping between the
offerings of several vendors. Word-of-mouth is also an excellent resource. Talk
with your colleagues in the industry; check with staff who may have worked at
other services, or consult industry experts.
6. Contact Vendors and Compare Product DemosAs you contact vendors, freely discuss your primary requirements, technology needs,
overall structure and plans for growth. It is especially important that you share as
much information as possible about the current challenges you may have with your
system as well as your business operations and strategy. The more the vendor
knows about your business and your future plans, the more likely it is that they can
effectively help you achieve your business goals.
These preliminary conversations will help you decide whether to proceed with each
vendor. When you’ve determined that you would like to know more, arrange for a
demo, which may be delivered in various formats:
• Online Demo. The most effective method of getting an understanding of a software
product is an online demo, where you can watch or participate in a demo of the
software over the Internet. This can be extremely useful, as you’ll be guided through the features in which you are most interested.
• “Sandbox” Demo. Some vendors offer you the opportunity of going online and using their software in a test environment. While this gives you some hands-on experience with the user interface, its value is limited without some training to familiarize you with using the software.
• Face-to-face Demo. At some time in the selection process it may be advisable to meet with the vendor in person, not only to see the product used live with your key stakeholders, but also to ensure that you are joining forces with a business partner
with whom you can relate and trust.
As you review the products, use the grid that you’ve prepared. Describe the features
and functionality that pertain to your requirements, and list the advantages and
disadvantages of each vendor’s products.
When possible, you or your staff should use the system yourself. There is a big
difference between watching someone else perform the commands and actually
doing them yourself. What may seem simple when you are watching may be quite
complicated when you’re the user. The caveat is that, without training and/or
guidance, your hands-on experience may be frustrating. Remember that there is
always a learning curve.
Selection Tip
Use a ‘Day in the Life’
demo for each role in
your organization. This
will show how well
unified the software’s
functionality and ease-
of-use is for your staff.
8 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
Also, you will want to 'dig deeper' with your questions. If you ask a question
about a process that is important to you, make sure you are shown exactly how
it works, or given the ability to test it out for yourself, rather than just being
verbally told it can be done. While not intentionally misleading, an explanation
could be misunderstood or interpreted differently by each member of your team.
Relationships matter for long-term success.
The quality of the vendor relationship should remain forefront in your mind
during the demo stage. Not only are you purchasing a product that will form the
basis of your business processes, but you are also forming a partnership that
will last for many years.
The nuances that you perceive in the initial stage are likely the kernel of the
ongoing relationship. You must feel comfortable that you are partnering with a
company that has the same ideals and ethics as your own. In this light, it is a
very good idea to visit the vendor’s premises, even if it means a long-distance
trip.
7. Identify the Top Three Contenders
Using the grids you have prepared as a guide, you and your committee then
identify the vendors that meet the greatest percentage of your requirements. It is
not unusual to ask for more demos of a system before reaching this stage.
Because every agency has its own objectives and methods, it is important to
remember that it is not likely that any one vendor will meet 100 percent of your
needs. A good rule of thumb is to look for a product that meets 80 percent of
your needs from a vendor who is your top choice as a long-term partner. But
what about the other 20 percent?
• Make sure the 80 percent is the right 80 percent. The priorities you ranked “3” should be met 100 percent. If your “3”-ranked priorities are not met, ask yourself whether you have gained information during the selection process that compensates for that priority or has even caused you to change your priorities.
• Obtain ideas from vendors or consultants about “work-arounds” – finding uses for which the software was not designed but that it can be made to do. Sometimes these turn out to be so useful that vendors will include them in future upgrades for all of their clients.
• Discuss customization or configuration, or the possibility of including functionality you would like in future releases. While customization and configuration can be costly, and some vendors are simply not willing to do it, some vendors consider it a good investment of their time and energy to add enhancements you request that may also be beneficial to other customers.
• Consider how you might change your internal processes to accommodate functions that are lacking in the system.
Ideally, at this point, you and your committee will agree on the top two to three vendors.
9 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
8. Obtain Pricing from the Top ContendersThere is a lot to think through in pricing new software – and it’s not just the cost
of software. You also have to consider:
• Software Delivery Method - How do you want to access and use the
software?
o As an enterprise (self-hosted/On Premise) solution?o As a subscription based On Demand Software as a Service/SaaS?o What are the costs for each?
• Data Migration Services - Does the vendor offer services to migrate data
from your old system to their system? If so, what will it cost? Data migration is
often one of the most challenging tasks related to software upgrades.
Consider:
o Do you have multiple databases to migrate from?o Are the databases all the same type, or do you have multiple
databases used by different departments or teams to be migrated intoone system?
o Do you have someone on your team that has the technical knowledgeto understand it's not a simple 'copy and paste' process?
o Do you have someone on your team with knowledge of your legacy
system who can assist in the mapping and translations tasks for themigration?
o Do you know how you will acquire a backup of data from your legacy
system? Is this something that you can provide, or will you have torequest this from your current vendor? This is required to provide anaccurate cost estimate, and of course for the actual migration itself.
• Implementation Services - Does the vendor provide assistance with
implementation issues involving the use of the system, definition of fields,
values for coded fields and the like? If so, are there additional costs?
• Installation - Does the vendor provide a full software install? What is the
cost?
• Training - What formats are available? Is there an additional cost, or is it
bundled into the total cost? Is ongoing training available? What does it cost?
• Support Services - What support plans are available, how much do they cost?
• Upgrade Policies and Costs - How often does the vendor release updates
to the system? Are the updates included in the support contract?
• Hardware Costs - What upgrades need to take place to your hardware, user
stations, and network? Be sure to include servers, workstations, printers,
cabling, telecommunication costs, and installation and support services.
• Additional User Costs - As you add new users, what will be the costs to
expand the software? (Whenever possible, ask the vendor to lock in a per-
user upgrade price for a certain period of time.)
• Internal Technical Support Costs - Will you need to upgrade the skills of
your internal IT support staff? Will you need to add IT support staff or contract
for outside IT support services?
• Additional Software Modules - Does the vendor offer other software
modules that extend the core applications’ functionality or capabilities? Do
these fit your needs? What do they cost?
• Additional Services - Does the vendor offer related technology services
such as disaster recovery services? Do they fit your needs? Will these
enhance your services and the vendor partnership? What do they cost?
Selection Tip
Determine the Total
Cost of Ownership
(TCO) for the software,
hardware, and services
for the system that you
are looking at over
three-to-five years at a
minimum.
10 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
9. Obtain References
Do not omit this critically important step. Whenever possible, obtain references
from users whose names were not provided by the vendor. Ad hoc information
can sometimes be useful as well. We suggest that you ask users of the software:
• How long have you had the software?
• What were your reasons for selecting this product?
• What other software did you evaluate?
• How many users do you have?
• What is the structure of your organization? (This establishes similarity to your organization.)
• What services do you offer?
• Has the product provided the functionality you expected?
• Has it provided functionality you didn’t expect?
• Did you have to do your own integration with third-party software? How did that go? How much support did you get from the vendor?
• Has the product made your organization more productive?
• Is there anything you don’t like about the software?
• How long did it take your staff to become fully functional with the software?
• How long does it take new users to learn the software?
• What kinds of problems have you had with the software?
• What has been your experience with vendor support? Is the vendor responsive? Are your problems fixed in a timely manner?
• Would you choose the same vendor if you were buying a system today?
10. Finalize Your Decision and Implement the System
Selecting a new software package for your agency is absolutely one of the most
significant business decisions that you will make. Objective and critical analysis
of the data you have collected is absolutely essential. You have to compare the
total package of the functional and beneficial capabilities of the system along
with the associated costs, references, and your relationship with the vendor.
Once you have made a choice, finalize pricing with the vendor, negotiate terms,
and discuss implementation schedules.
System implementation is no small task.
You used a well-thought-out and organized approach to system selection. You’ll
need to apply the same diligence and forethought to the implementation
process. A smooth transition depends on scheduling, planning to re-engineer
your business processes and clear communication with staff, vendors and
support services.
Be realistic about the time frame of the implementation project. Do you have
specific deadlines you need to make? What are these deadlines based upon? If
you would like to start off on a new system at the beginning of the calendar year,
are you prepared for the possibilities of your employees needing to work through
the holidays? Do you have someone going on holiday or maternity leave?
Selection Tip
The currency of a
reference is important.
Because software and
services change, you
should only seek
references who are
current users of the
software, not those who
may have used the
software in the past.
11 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
Make sure to ask the vendors for example project plans and ask for an estimate
on how long your implementation might take. Again, this will depend upon the
size of your business, the number of users, how many different databases you
might be migrating from, and any other internal projects or conflicts that may
arise.
In the end, this step-by-step approach to staffing and recruitment software
selection reduces the stress to you and your organization and enables you to
achieve your business goals.
Summary: 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment
Software Selection
1. Choose a Selection Strategy and a Selection Team
2. Map Your Company Priorities and Business Requirements
3. Define Your Company Structure and Climate for Change
4. Identify Internal Resources and Technology Infrastructure
5. Create a List of Potential Vendors
6. Contact Vendors and Compare Product Demos
7. Identify the Top Three Contenders
8. Obtain Pricing from the Top Contenders
9. Obtain References
10. Finalize Your Decision and Implement the System
Acknowledgements This paper has been extensively revised and updated by the Erecruit Adapt team to
incorporate the latest and most relevant methodologies on staffing and recruitment software
selection. Erecruit wishes to express its appreciation to Mary Lynn Seaby, currently the
Senior Director of Operations for Randstad Finance & Accounting, for her role in developing
the genesis of this paper for Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc., who in turn shared it with
Erecruit.
12 10 Steps to Successful Staffing and Recruitment Software Selection
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