What Can CRM Do for Talent Acquisition? Part 1 of 2
If you are in sales, it is likely that you have been using some sort of CRM for almost two decades. In the Talent Acquisition market, this concept is fairly new. Candidate Relationship Management is not a “shiny thing,” but it can make recruitment more efficient and effective - if used wisely.
Before embarking on a CRM initiative, it is wise to identify job segments for which you want to use CRM. Ideal use of CRM is to pipeline for hard to fill, niche jobs, or jobs which, based on your workforce planning, will be created in the future. Some organizations prefer to use CRM for all job segments to manage passive candidates.
It is also wise to define rules of engagement meaning who, how, and when CRM will be used in your organization. CRM is an art as well as science. Recruiters used to managing proactive candidates in an ATS will need to be trained in sourcing, communicating and managing passive candidates before they can become proficient with using CRM.
Talent Acquisition organizations that use CRM to manage passive candidates can benefit from large pools of known talent, reduce cycle time to hire, increased quality of hire, and more importantly, reduced cost of hiring.
CRM tools can be used to manage passive candidates, and more importantly, can be used to communicate with those passive candidates. Most CRM tools allow you to create e-newsletter templates to share information with various distribution lists. It is a myth that most passive candidates mind proactive job opportunity communication. In fact, most prefer email and web based outreach. A CRM can also be used to improve branding efforts to passive candidates and converting leads to hires.
According to a study by CEB, “Of the 36% of organizations using CRM systems, nearly two-thirds find this technology effective for sourcing. In addition, more than 50% of these organizations also find that CRM systems are effective for branding efforts as well as converting candidates”
For example, folks in recruitment marketing organizations may use a CRM to send e-mails related to press releases, invitations for career events, while a recruiter may want to inform candidates of hot jobs.
By keeping passive candidates engaged, organizations are more likely to leave a lasting, positive impression as the candidates continue through the hiring process to when offers are extended.
There are different ways to measure success of CRM usage. My preferred way is derived from sales organizations which is:
CRM Effectiveness Ratio = Leads (Passive talent): Qualified Leads (Known talent with which we have built relationships and that can be tapped quickly to fill interview slates): Hired
To be continued …..
Shahbaz Alibaig is an accomplished Leadership and Human Resource Development professional with proven track record in learning, organizational development, recruitment, change management, strategic planning, and IT. He has passion for integrating people, technology and process to yield results – fast. Shahbaz is Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, PMP and Lead ISO and FDA Auditor.
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