Advertisement

Have a very Happy Christmas - why not make a New Years resolution to look at:

Talisman - the only complete end to end solution for all things Recruitment

- Empower your consultants, turbo-charge your managers and satisfy your clients
- Web enabled - so use from anywhere, fully integrated - so never enter information more than once
- More ways to enter timesheets than you can shake a stick at
- Fully flexible payroll and invoicing
- Rental or Purchase options

To find out more call or email:
Tony Doherty - 01582 478 888, info@recruitment-software.net or visit our web site www.recruitment-software.net 

Article: Ready for the year ahead? by Raymond Pennie

With 2010 drawing to a close Raymond Pennie, chair of APSCo’s Technology Forum, looks at how technology will impact recruitment in the coming year

As year end approaches, many recruitment managers and owners will be looking at budgets for 2011. Despite the fact that the past 12 months have shown definite signs of improvement in the staffing sector, in an uncertain period the temptation for business leaders will be to freeze or cut budgets especially when it comes to non-core activities like IT infrastructure. To stay competitive and make the most of 2011 that temptation should be avoided. Technology is becoming increasingly central to the operations of well-run, dynamic, efficient and successful recruitment businesses. By budgeting for IT – and the training to use it properly – staffing firms will be able to make best use of leading-edge technologies as they become available and be ideally placed to take advantage of any improvement in market conditions. 

Regulatory change

2011 will see the implementation of legislation with significant consequences for the staffing sector and which will have an impact on systems and processes. Changes to the Equality Act come into force in April while the even more far-reaching Agency Workers Regulations will become law in October. Do your budgets make allowances for the changes in your processes and systems you will have to make to accommodate the 12-week rule and the other changes which the legislation brings? When putting together next year’s projects make allowances for the changes you will need to implement to be compliant with new legislation and regulations.

New applications

The recruitment industry has always been good at making the most of new technology. From job boards to SMS marketing, we have been at the forefront of harnessing the power of the web. But technology does not stand still and you can expect to see more change in the year ahead. New tools appear all the time and some can quickly become business critical. This time last year who had heard of Drag & Tag or MyResourcer? The advent of RPS from LinkedIn and whatever Facebook’s developers are working on could be essential kit this time next year. With new applications and new ways of accessing data coming thick and fast the smart move is to include a line on the budget for IT R&D – because you never know when the next killer app is going to hit. 

Have and have-nots

There is a divide in the sector between technology have and have nots. If you have invested in technology and systems you will have already have reaped the benefits in 2010 through greater access to candidates and will be looking forward to ongoing growth in 2011. You understand the importance of giving consultants the tools and the training to do the job as well as they possibly can. Companies who have failed to invest in technology to drive efficiency are already on the wrong side of the digital divide. It is important to budget now for the right technology so that you do not risk falling too far behind the competition. 

The crystal ball

No one can say for sure what the future holds but I’m prepared to make some educated guesses as to what will be the key technologies and behaviours for 2011.

• Searching will become more important
• Tracking a mailshot to client contacts when you get a candidate with scarce skills is a must
• Maximising the benefits from social networks is now key and tools to aggregate these will come to the fore
• Back office efficiency will help to earn you clients and stop you from losing existing business 
• Compliance will become increasingly important, especially for larger clients
• Clever testing and video CV’s will become more integrated with existing technologies
• Your website will increasingly act as the front door to your business and all communications should be centred and tracked on your site

Business Systems are certainly going to increase in importance for recruitment businesses as candidates and clients spend more and more of their time online. Good systems are an essential investment for serious players in the staffing sector, training staff how to get the most out of the investment is also important. By budgeting properly now you can face 2011 with confidence, knowing you will be successful whatever the market throws at you. I wish everyone success in the year ahead.

Raymond Pennie is Commercial Director of recruitment IT outsourcing specialists Kamanchi 

Advertisement

ApplicantExtra is a recruitment database with a difference, combining the benefits of being online but with full interaction with your desktop.

• Your data and documents can be accessed and securely shared from any internet PC.
• Integration with MS Word and Outlook email and calendar items. 
• Drag’N’Drop and right click menu functionality will allow you to easily upload documents from anywhere in your PC.
• Advanced CV keyword and custom attribute based matching of candidates, vacancies and clients.
• Post vacancies straight to Job sites / job boards.
• Automatic CV reading.
• Postcode radius searching and much, much more….

All this securely hosted, reliably delivered, continually improved and fanatically supported under a low cost rolling monthly arrangement.

For more information call 01273 311450 or check out our website www.applicantextra.com