Online Recruiting or E Recruiting

Recruiting and tracking prospective and past applicants, assessing them based on certain criteria and then generating reports that can be reused across the organizatison is a mammoth task in human resource management.

Can we look at a solution – an easier method of handling all of the above? What are the standard ways in which any candidate is interviewed and assessed? And how can new generation web tools add value here?

Online software applications are fast becoming popular in the e recruitment scene today. By       using online recruitment software and web-enabling the recruitment process, the time and effort spent on human resource management can be decreased. Recruiting software tracks and organizes employee-related duties.

Now, are we talking to the Human Resources industry alone? Agreed that the most common and obvious use for such an application is in the recruitment field, but even performance appraisals and mentoring activities within organizations can be executed easily with this tool. In other words, the scope of this application falls under a broader spectrum, a range of applications called employee relationship management tools.

Online recruiting software that measures an individual based on certain selection criteria and prepares customized reports that show how prospective employees are likely to behave and perform are very much in need today. Specialized reports about management, sales or executive or customer support candidates can be configured and delivered to all the concerned people within the organization. A manager or recruiter can select from a wish list of type of reports and decide what kind of a (customized) report he wants to view. For example, the communication skills report of X who had taken the online test 8 months ago or the reports for all sales applicants in the past 3 months or the role-play result of Y that was conducted on a certain date.

When an employer or recruiter makes a bad choice

Research shows that interview techniques alone, even when well structured and well performed, only have about 50% chance of selecting the right person for the job. The cost of a poor appointment causes under-performance in the job and is a waste of time and money spent on training and managing this poor choice.

A good choice contributes to productivity and profitability and aids the organization's strategic capability by providing a pool of skilled and committed people from which future managers are chosen.

How does online recruiting software prevent a ‘bad choice'?

Online or internet recruitment software diagnoses areas of direct relevance to the duties involved in the job and the reports provide valuable data about the applicant. Candidates can be assessed with the qualities sought and the standards desired. And, even if the candidate doesn't fit the requirements entirely, sometimes, compromises can be made and the candidate can be trained to be equipped with those necessary qualities.

What does a recruiting software application do?

When selecting sales personnel, an employer looks for an achiever, a seeker, and a go-getter. In effect, a verbal competitor! A creative salesperson that looks for bigger and better opportunities, an ideas person is a big plus in this role. When an applicant takes a test, his thinking skills, expected remuneration, ambition and independence levels are measured. Day-to-day complexities of professional selling require someone who can cope with the stress and analyze problems and think them through.

Testing will reveal these characteristics along with any problem traits that need to be watched out for. Insensitivity to the feelings and needs of others, which may be a plus where aggressive selling is concerned, may sometimes fail miserably when the person at the other end values relationships and kinder interaction.

A person's work style qualities like conscientiousness, or persistency, organization and self-dependency are also revealed using recruiting sofware. Conflict management skills, people orientation, problem solving skills and personal values can be assessed in a competent and well-organized manner.

In addition to narrative reports like the above, graphic reports that give a visual picture of the same characteristics in a comparative manner aid in faster decision making. On the whole, these reports reveal the person within and solve the mystery to some extent. Agreed that many factors like the psychological conditions prevalent when the person was taking the test, their attention spans etc, can change the results to some extent, but most results don't vary too much. The tests have been measured for reliability and validated to a major extent.

Now, you might disagree and say that administering these tests through paper is too strenuous and time-consuming, while getting these tests online and implementing them on the web can work out to be too expensive. You might want to rely on the “gut instinct” and test your candidates in that manner, but when you weigh the pros and cons of e-recruiting, you will realize that any recruiting done over the internet immediately widens your candidate base. You are expanding the reach of your company to a wider audience and this implies that you can literally pick and choose your dream candidate. The ideal match!

Online assessments form a kind of screening process after which you can interview your dream candidate and expose him to the reality of the job through a personal interview. Therefore, a combination of testing methods and personal interaction are important for complete success.

The right fit : An ERM Solution

Performance appraisal

These testing profiles also facilitate structured performance appraisal systems within an organization. The results enable managers to identify people who are motivated by different ideals and also identify the best ways to reward and motivate individual staff.

Team building methodologies and organizational culture studies

With the emphasis on team development and cohesive bond building in the workplace, these tests can help identify what types of tasks and roles are best suited to different members within a team. The executive culture within an organization can be defined clearly and any fresh recruit can be made to fit in easily with it. Sub cultures for division like manufacturing, marketing, sales, distribution and different locations can then be defined and easily understood. Mentoring within the organization can be initiated and training and development needs can be identified, candidates can be trained and counseled. These profiles when used as guidance for mentoring can reveal possible strengths and weaknesses that can be addressed in career planning for the future.

A combination of recruiting methods

360 degree profiling is perception based and participants must be willing to hear a less than positive profile about them and also be willing to address the ambiguous causes. The normal reaction is to not to accept the data and say that since it is people-based, personal bias could have played a major role in the results.

Whereas assessment profiles of an individual's natural tendencies, talents and strengths result in self-reports that focus on factors like work styles, traits and personality factors. These tools can be a perfect complement to a 360 degree type assessment.

Now, any organization needs to decide whether they want to use these assessment tools in combination with their existing methods of recruiting. A current assessment project and its success can depend on factors like costs, staff time and effort against potential increases in productivity.

Summary of benefits:

1. Models worldwide best practices.
2. Easy to use and understand.
3. Minimal training required.
4. Benchmarks applied, validation and reliability studies conducted.
5. Accurate and low cost

You can contact us with your erecruitment needs and we will provide you with the most appropriate erecruitment solution for you. Learn more about our recruitment solution.