Reducing time to hire, attracting top talent, and building solid relationships are all pivotal to the success of any modern HR or recruitment business. And, although overall levels of hiring have slightly slowed compared to previous years, the demand for effective recruiters and HR managers remains high.
With over 380,000 businesses and almost one million HR employees, it’s also interesting to note that:
- From 2022 to 2030, the HR industry is expected to grow 12.8% annually, which is faster than the US market average.
- Research by global analytics and advice firm Gallup reveals only 12% of employees think their company has a good onboarding process.
- 86% of women and 67% of men in the US wouldn’t join a company with a bad reputation. (source as above)
Image sourced from grandviewresearch.com
With this in mind, if reducing costs and stress, and enhancing your company’s reputation among candidates is important to you, then it’s time to invest in a proactive candidate relationship management system.
What Does Candidate Relationship Management Do?
Not dissimilar to why Employment Law Handbook was created, CRM provides you with the correct information whilst simultaneously attracting, engaging and nurturing essential candidate relationships.
The best HR professionals are great communicators and problem solvers, highly organized, and enjoy tracking data. The same can be said for the latest candidate relationship management system tools. Call center software and 3CX phone system alternatives work well for many, however the best results incorporate these with the latest CRM recruitment systems.
There are many things candidate relationship management can offer savvy recruitment agencies and HR professionals. Typical features to look out for include:
- Easily accessible candidate and client databases, e.g. detailed customer profiles, purchase history, and the ability to search for resumes by keyword.
- Candidate sourcing tools, e.g. targeted bulk email campaigns to send job ads to relevant candidates.
- Valuable insights into where the leading candidates are currently searching for vacancies.
- Data-driven decision making via real-time recruitment metrics and analytics.
- Crucial employer brand and candidate development options.
- The ability to send surveys and compile feedback.
- One centralized system to communicate and engage with candidates, clients and employees all in one place.
The best case management software is maximizing the efficiency of law firms across the world. And the same goes for optimized candidate relationship management software within the thriving HR sector.
Why Is CRM Important in Recruiting?
Think about what attracted you to read this blog. The chances are, the recruitment process isn’t as smooth as you first thought! Maybe you’re short on talent or losing candidates to competitors. Quite simply, innovative cloud technology such as customer relationship management streamlines the recruitment process and makes it that much more efficient.
Also referred to as a Talent Management System, CRM for recruitment plays a key role in improving the way Talent Acquisition Managers, Recruiting Managers and the like source and recruit their candidates.
Free to use image from Pexels
When looking to hire new candidates, you can Maximize your results by using a CRM. CRM is incredibly important in the world or recruitment because it can also:
- Create an engaging and personalized experience for each and every candidate.
- Improve communication by tracking and saving messages.
- Notably improve collaboration amongst hiring teams.
- Build strong relationships with clients and future employees.
- Improve client and employee retention levels.
- Eliminate the manual effort involved, whilst minimizing the chance for error.
- Actively reduce your costs.
- Boost employee productivity.
- Build and develop brand awareness.
- Help to meet compliance regulations.
With this in mind, there are two types of CRM. The question is, can you differentiate between the two? Here’s why it’s important.
What Is the Difference Between Candidate Relationship Management and Customer Relationship Management?
Customer relationship management technology is used by a variety of businesses and organizations around the globe to streamline interactions and relationships with leads, potential customers, and existing customers.
Whereas candidate relationship management is an ‘off-shoot’ of customer relationship management software. Used by savvy HR professionals as a recruitment marketing tool, this method gives HR professionals more time to do what they do best; source and hire new candidates, and cultivate existing employees through training, development and performance management. It really is that simple!
It would seem the best option is to combine the two processes together. By syncing your recruitment and customer processes, you can create a reliable candidate relationship management strategy that is sure to attract new candidate relationships, increase brand loyalty, and boost profitability where it’s needed most.
How Can I Improve My Candidate Relationship Management Strategy?
Employment markets have never been so complex and competitive. Which is why increasing numbers of HR professionals are upping their game by establishing a future-proof CRM strategy.
So, if you’re looking to improve your candidate relationship management strategy, you’ll need to consider the following points.
Free to use image from Pexels
1. Don’t over complicate things
Ensure the CRM application you use meets your specific needs. Keep it simple and choose an effective online employee directory over something that over complicates things.
2. Stay connected
Keep in touch by making sure you’re targeting the right candidates. Do this by carefully segmenting your data into different categories. This could be based on age, gender, income, location, spending patterns, loyalty, or satisfaction.
Concentrating on getting your message across in a timely manner is also incredibly important here. You don’t want to message candidates too much and risk being put straight in their spam folder. But you don’t want to lose touch with them either.
Generally, the best times to send emails are at 10am and 3:30pm, but your CRM will be able to provide you with the best times to engage with your audience via segmented opening rates and other vital analytics.
3. Shape partnerships with clients as well as candidates
You should focus your efforts on building solid partnerships with your clients too. By taking an interest in their business objectives and ambitions, you can cultivate healthy relationships and become more than just a recruiter.
For example, if multiple groups need to communicate across distances simultaneously, a conference call app may be appropriate to use. Learn more here.
4. Don’t rush
Developing trust from candidates, clients and employees is never an instant process. Take the time to build long-term relationships with each one. Work hard to deliver on your promises and you’ll be well on your way towards a fantastic candidate relationship.
5. Interpret candidate, client and employee expectations
Whether it’s a candidate, a client, or an employee, each one will have specific individual needs and expectations that need to be met.
Whether it be via direct means or online via social media, blogs, websites, etc, consistent communication and surveys are a great way to find out what’s important to each candidate, client, and employee. Clarity surrounding timescales is an important point to factor in too.
In addition, businesses may consider implementing employee monitoring software to ensure productivity and compliance with company policies. This software can help track employee activities and provide valuable insights into their performance and engagement.
Free to use image from Pexels
6. Only make promises you can keep
As we covered above, working hard to deliver on your promises is worth its weight in gold. Bad news travels fast, especially if you don’t stick to your word. Avoid irreversible damage to the integrity of your business and only promise what you can comfortably deliver on.
To effectively move conversations along, we also recommend getting more out of Gmail and Slack with Make.
7. Quick response times
You’re only as good as your worst candidate experience. So, ensuring complaints are dealt with immediately will improve overall quality, whilst increasing candidate, client and employee loyalty.
8. Be dependable
Being a consistent HR consultant or recruiter will develop essential trust throughout your digital offering. Displaying reviews and experiences from satisfied clients and successful candidates will help to present a consistent appearance to the outside world.
Talking of continual recurring processes, if you want to answer the question “what is operational risk management?”, there’s never been a better time to do so.
9. Provide the personal touch
Maintain face to face communication with your candidates where possible, as well as utilizing digital avenues of communication. This will help applicants get to know you, which can lead to more potential applicants via their inner circles.
To reduce costs and save valuable time and energy, for overseas applicants it may also be worth considering obtaining an international conference call number.
10. Reward client and employee loyalty
Utilize your CRM to identify clients and employees who have been loyal to you and reward them for their continued support. Keep them engaged by sending unique discounts, invite them to exclusive events, offer them special work-from-home privileges, and invest in their training and education for optimum results.
Conclusion
It’s clear to see that CRM allows you to effectively track and analyze every stage of the hiring journey. From sourcing right through to onboarding and employee training, recruitment CRM intelligently supports candidate relationships like no other.
Give hiring professionals more time to hire and revitalize your HR recruitment department with a tailored candidate relationship management system and strategy by uniting the points above–you’ll never look back!
