Recruitment Automation: The Re-Humanisation of Recruitment by Barclay

Blog Content

Bullhorn Engage has come and gone and there were very strong themes.

Recruiter Productivity.
Sustainability.
Profitability.

For this to happen Bullhorn1st needs to be a goal – aka using Bullhornfirst in your recruitment workflow. Reducing reliance on data and external systems will decrease costs, speed up placements, and create a more robust recruitment business.

And the way to Bullhorn1st?

Recruitment Automation and Recruitment Training, of course!

Recruitment Automation is So Yesterday!

I started using the phrase CRM1st back in the early 2000s. It was borne out of working with 150 busy recruiters who were rapidly being exposed to huge data sets - LinkedIn, job boards, candidates who wielded the Apply button like a Scud missile. But they didn't have the discipline or process to strategically manage the massive increase in data volume or change in candidate behaviour.

I used CRM1st (it was Adapt then) to help recruiters new to the recruitment sector to battle their FOMO (fear of missing out). I used CRM1st with experienced recruiters and resourcers to help them not get dragged under by rapidly increasing candidate pools.

Have things changed in recent years?
Have recruiters gotten better at managing their data, recruitment technology, candidate and client experience?
Has the colleague experience improved now we have so much data and rec tech that should theoretically make recruitment easier....?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure things have changed (enough).

Recruiters have been running to catch up. But the faster they run, the bigger the data set becomes, the more competition they have (even from their own clients), and the more tech they feel they need just to stand still.

Recruiter Frustration – Ready, Fire, Aim

I'm frustrated with the sector that can't seem to grasp what it's good at...

Niche specialisms +
Nurtured communities of candidates and clients reliant on great recruiters +
Colleagues delivering best practice and making a difference, changing lives.

But that "goodness" can't happen without focus.

And how can a recruiter focus with huge data sets, too much tech and not enough process?

Whether you have Bullhorn or another recruitment CRM, it needs to be first on your list to source, engage, nurture, and place from - if it’s not 1st, everyone loses. (Apart from the software company you buy comfort from!)

Automation – The Re-Humanisation of Recruitment!

Automation for my clients has become the missing link. It’s been around for years, but now automation is really being used to take away the pain, and the admin.

Recruitment Automation is being used to drive the best of behaviours.

It's enabling CRM1st (aka Bullhorn1st).
It’s creating time for training – for all, not just new recruiters!
And it’s creating time for trained recruiters empowered to get on the phone and do some good.

Once you automate what you can, you can train what’s left – and what should be left is the gold in the recruitment process – humans!

More effective sourcing
Speedier screening designed to prevent counter offers
Interviews with clients who move to placement uninterrupted
Placements and onboarding designed to generate referrals

Recruiters need training on their systems and process so that they can deliver what their clients pay for. Automation creates space and time for this training to happen.

Automate What You Can - Train What's Left

If you can automate what you can, and train what's left, then your data, your database, and your 3Cs (candidates, clients, colleagues) will be in a really good place, perhaps even 1st place, for the rest of this year and beyond.

What are you going to automate?
What training is needed to deliver sustainable recruitment business?

My team can help with both of these key goals.

Paul Robson, The Crew Hunter. We have managed to restructure our business, with more recruiters and more time to recruit. And the ROI from our Bullhorn Automation training?
Time Saved. Admin Removed. Staff Efficiency.
We've saved 45 hours with 1,345 automated actions in just 8 weeks.
Plus, we built 3 automations at the beginning of the project which allowed us to remove an old core process which freed up space for another recruiter.

Talking of Recruiters Getting More Automated!...

Using recruitment automation to improve data, process, candidates and client experience - that's a great goal! But you also need to free up your recruiters to be exceptional And they need training for this.

Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines. We aim to save every recruiter and resourcer at least 1 hour per day (6 working weeks a year) - more billing time, more fees!