“RPO’s can function as the thought leaders of the industry.”
With a total estimate of 600 ‘pure-play’ RPO programs operating across the world, more options are becoming readily available. “RPO’s can function as the thought leaders of the industry”, said Geert-Jan Waasdorp, CEO of data and tech company Intelligence Group. “They can quickly speed up the overall notion of how good recruitment can work as a competitive advantage and essential to the business.”
A global RPO industry with a global survey
With approximately 700 respondents to its RPO customer satisfaction survey, HRO Today’s ‘Baker’s Dozen awards’ has become a global undertaking, Elliot Clark, CEO of HRO Today Magazine, noted during the awards show. “This helps fellow and HR and staff executives in the RPO process”, he said. “This is by far the largest and most prestigious survey in RPO.”
“This is by far the largest and most prestigious survey in RPO.”
The awards itself are based completely on customer feedback, HRO Today noted in its explanation of the process. “To determine an overall ranking from this data, we analyse results across three subcategories: breadth of service, size of deals, and quality of service”, they say. “Using a predetermined algorithm that weighs questions and categories based on importance, we calculate scores in all three subcategories as well as an overall score.”
Within the eventual top 13, margins were incredibly small across the board for RPO organisations. Individually in each category, Randstad Sourceright scored highest in the size of deals, Cielo was named the highest overall scorer for both the breadth of service and the quality of service rankings — which led to their status as the overall winner in HRO Today’s Baker’s Dozen.
“Any ranked company is an excellent choice based on your specific needs.”
Notably, the drop off from third place to sixth was decided by only 0.73 points in HRO Today’s model, indicating a consistently strong market. “Any ranked company is an excellent choice based on your specific needs”, Clark said. “All of these are great companies and all are deserving of your consideration as a potential partner in 2021.”
Meanwhile, a separate study conducted in the United States, illustrates another nation grappling with mental health issues. In total, 75% of workers said they have experienced burnout at work, with 18% of employed workers describing their mental health as ‘poor’ during the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, that number was just 5%.
67% of struggling workers don’t tell their employer
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, a UK poll found that 67% of workers who struggled with mental health issues did not tell their employer. Moreover, only 36% of those who struggled with their mental health took time off work. And more than half of those that did take some time off, felt pressured to come back to work early.
“You can’t IPO with a burned out workforce; people would collapse on the final lap and you wouldn’t see it coming.”
“Employees’ capacity to engage, learn and be productive is dependent on their well-being”, says mental health advocate and expert Vessy Tasheva. “Going on fumes for an extended period of time is like approaching a marathon as if it’s a sprint. Burnout is hard and expensive to recover from. Yes — for the business too. You can’t IPO with a burned out workforce; people would collapse on the final lap and you wouldn’t see it coming.”
The true cost of absenteeism
There are several numbers floating around that indicate just how much absenteeism may cost an organisation on a daily basis. In this case, the average yearly costs of unscheduled absenteeism — estimated to be anywhere from €2215 to €3000 per year — doesn’t say much. It goes much deeper than that.
Through a calculation by Return to Work Matters, the full sum of daily absenteeism can be decided in eight categories: the ongoing salary, the cost of replacement, the training time for the replacement, the cost of loss in production, the quality loss, the overtime for replacement, the costs of external agencies that provide support on absenteeism and the cost of HR dealing with absenteeism.
Taking a time-period of three months, organisations would spend approximately €16.000 in additional costs due to absenteeism.
Dutch health insurance company Zilveren Kruiscalculated, based on just five of these numbers and an average yearly wage of €36.500, that the daily cost of absenteeism could run up to €410 per employee. Subtracting the costs that you would have made anyway (the wages and the additional mandatory costs), and taking a time-period of three months, it would come down to roughly €16.000 in additional costs due to absenteeism.
It takes more than a week off
Meanwhile, the countermovement is slowly evolving. In recent weeks, industry leaders such as Nike and Bumble gave their employees a week off as a part of a ‘mental health break’. “Take the time to unwind, destress and spend time with your loved ones — do not work”, Matt Marrazzo, Nike’s senior manager of global marketing science, posted on LinkedIn in an open message to staff.
“The expectation can’t be that after one week, your employees are fine and their stress is gone. That is fantasy.”
And while giving your employees some unexpected time off is never a bad idea, a ‘one-and-done’ approach generally does not suffice, argues Alex Simmons, co-founder and CEO of coaching platform Boon. “A one-and-done approach to care for your employees is a long-term recipe for failure”, he commented. “The expectation can’t be that after one week, your employees are fine and their stress is gone. That is fantasy.”
‘Leaders can break the mental health stigma’
Vessy Tasheva
While it is essential for everyone to avoid absenteeism scenario’s, both managers and employees still often have no idea how to start the discussion. Breaking the stigma, therefore, is necessary. And the onus lies with the leadership, Tasheva reckons. “The CEO and VPs are always the role models: that’s what we see in both toxic and healthy environments. In the case of healthy culture,, when the CEO and VPs openly talk about struggles, they show that they are human, relatable, and authentic.”
“When the CEO and VPs openly talk about struggles, they show that they are human, relatable, and authentic.”
“That engages with employees and increases the levels of trust and psychological safety”, Tasheva continues. “It also makes it acceptable for an employee to talk about their own struggles and for their peers and managers to be able to support them. That in turn will allow a sense of support for the employee.”
Employee Assistance Programs don’t cut it
With Vessy.com, Tasheva offers a wide range of services for groups and individuals, including coaching, psychotherapy, mental health first aid training as well as sessions where she challenges the stigma around mental health. She was named as one of 2019’s most influential D&I global leaders by Hive. “My mission is to remove internal and external barriers”, she says. “So people live happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives.”
“EAPs often rely on your employees not using those services and that’s part of their business model.”
And the truth is — there is a multitude of options available to organisations, but it requires a different approach. Whether it’s UK-based Mynurva, which offers fast access to qualified therapists or Wellspace, an appthat actively trains and promotes well-being within the office. One thing, however, is certain: Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), as offered by most employers, generally don’t cut it, according to Tasheva. “EAPs often rely on your employees not using those services and that’s part of their business model. How do you think they can offer such low prices for subscriptions per employee, per month?”.
‘Don’t pay for something that makes you look good’
It boils down to a simple notion, according to Tasheva: don’t do it to look good. “A session with a therapist ranges from 40 to 200 euro’s: if you can’t afford a working solution, don’t pay for something that just makes you look good but doesn’t help the employees. Some EAPs or healthcare plans don’t even allow for contact outside of the plan. That forces the employee to then look for a new therapist and start from scratch with their process of building trust, sharing their story, making progress.”
“Even if it’s 40 euro’s a month expensive, that’s still better in the sense that it goes toward something meaningful that works for the employee instead of towards the EAP, that fails to support the employee, almost by design.”
According to Tasheva, even if money is tight, offering the employee flexibility on how they can spend that money is better than just throwing it into the EAP pot. “Even if the employer can only expense 40 euro’s per month, that’s not ideal, but it is still better in the sense that it goes toward something meaningful that works for the employee instead of towards the EAP, that fails to support the employee, almost by design.”
Alternatively, if healthcare insurances are already on the table, there are different options according to Tasheva. “If you’re already paying for their healthcare insurance, pick a plan that would allow them to not only access sessions for free or discounted — but also for them to continue seeing the same person when they pay with their own money beyond the number of sessions included in the package.”
The event comes at at time when scarcity levels are at an all-time high in Europe — with the right total talent harder than ever to track down. “After a tumultuous year for most tech companies, those working in HR and recruitment look set to be busier than ever before”, says HRexpert Carol Geens. “With the candidate more digital than ever before, it is now up to us — HR service providers, corporates and organisations — to adequately incorporate the right HR technologies.”
“The industry should focus on ensuring a more digital-based experience.”
With 15 years of prior experience in the HR industry, Geens has spent the last few years working as sales director for Belgium-based HRlinkIT, a strategic IT consultancy for recruitment solutions. “Now, the industry should focus on ensuring a more digital-based experience”, she argues. “We need to make sure we deliver a digital experience, wherein the candidate can plan interviews or sign contracts as part of a much faster hiring process.”
12 suppliers, with 20 minutes each
On September 30th, visitors will get to choose from a variety of break-out sessions and pitch talks, so they walk away with the knowledge that is right for them. Whether it’s Cammio’s video recruitment platform or The Selection Lab’s assessment software: the line-up consists of some of Europe’s best solutions. The full list of suppliers consists of: Actonomy, Carerix, Cammio, Intelligence Group, Varbi, Bullhorn, Social Seeder, Joboti, Jobdigger, Textmetrics, The Selection Lab and Techwolf.
Every supplier will have roughly 20 minutes to pitch their newest tech solution. Afterwards, visitors will be able ask their questions to suppliers at virtual network tables. The event on Thursday September 30th will be held in Dutch and is free for all visitors. “In one morning, you’ll be fully up to date about all new things within the world of recruitment and HR tech”, Geens, who will serve as the event host, concludes.
Europe is currently reporting record-breaking amounts of open vacancies. For a number of Western European countries, their 2021 Q2 results in the total amount of open, unfilled vacancies were the highest to ever be recorded.Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom all broke their own respective vacancy records in Q2 of 2021.
Organisations across Europe face a much larger problem in the long-run. That problem is called ageing.
While the increased number of vacancies across the continent poses an immediate problem, organisations across Europe face a much larger problem in the long-run. That problem is called ageing. According to an extensive study conducted by the United Nations, Europe will have 95 million fewer working-age people (between 20 and 64) in 2050 than in 2015.
Source: United Nations
Projecting Germany
Under the medium variant as defined by the UN, Europe would be set for a population of roughly 710 million by 2050 — 36.4 million less than in 2021. “Europeans are living longer and having fewer kids”, said Charles Kenny, co-author of a 2021 study by the Center for Global Development. “That’s likely to put a profound strain on welfare systems and the social safety net, as well as slow economic growth and prosperity for everyone.”
Germany will be hit the hardest by the impending European ageing crisis, according to the CGDEV and United Nations studies.
With the worker shortage pretty much a given, one European country stands out in terms of its projected worker gap. Despite leading the charge in automation, Germany is projected to have a Europe-leading worker gap of 7 million by 2050. In other words: Germany will be hit the hardest by the impending European ageing crisis, according to the CGDEV and United Nations studies. That notion is echoed by a McKinsey study into the future of work in Europe, which predicts Germany could see its labour pool decline by about 4 million people by 2030.
Germany to have the most job openings in Europe
Moreover, according to Cedefop data, Germany would to lead the continent in the total amount of job openings. From 2021 to 2030, Cedefop projects Germany to have nearly 20 million job openings, far more than any other European country. Those numbers include job openings to occur in the future due to expansion of employment and the need to replace the existing workforce, with retirement being the most common denominator.
The total expected vacancy growth in Europe (2021-2030. Source: Cedefop.
Cedefop projects Germany to have nearly 20 million job openings, far more than any other European country.
Germany’s federal employment agency Bundesagentur für Arbeit reported a yearly high of nearly 779 thousand open vacancies in August 2021. The nation’s record was set in the early 1970s, when it recorded approximately 891 thousand unfilled vacancies. But if we were to go by Cedefop’s projections, that number could soon be far exceeded.
In a series of articles, we’re delving into labour shortage forecasts for Europe up to 2050. Subscribe to the ToTalent newsletter for updates and more precise analysis on Europe’s worker gaps.
What was once considered a niche player, has rapidly grown into an undeniable force in recruitment. When RPO first came lurking around the corner, it was used as a model to reduce cost and find some type of process efficiency. “Historically, throughout my active recruitment career, RPO was mainly used for hiring hourly people”, Kevin Wheeler, founder of the Future Talent Institute told an exclusive audience present at an Intelligence Group RPO-based webinar.
“It is now a 360 degree solution to the recruitment process.”
But that has changed dramatically, Wheeler argued. “Now, RPO’s are truly able to do a high-level recruitment and do it better than most internal talent functions. In fact, they are now able to do much more than just recruit. They have the ability to take over your branding, your career site and do much more significant analytics than you can do about who you’re hiring and where they’re coming from. It is now a 360 degree solution to the recruitment process.”
From RPO 1.0 to RPO 3.0
Wheeler cites Everest Group research, which clearly illustrates the evolution from RPO 1.0 to the modern-era 3.0 model. “If we look at what RPO’s were used for, RPO 1.0 was used to hire low-level positions, because it was cheaper”, Wheeler said. “It was all about reducing the time-to-hire, the backbone of the system was: ‘Is the hiring manager happy?’, and that was just about it. It was an OK model, but that’s how it began.”
“It [RPO 2.0] excelled at finding people globally that were really hard to find for internal corporate recruiters.”
“RPO 2.0 took it up to a higher level”, Wheeler continued. “It gave organisations access to tougher-to-find people. And that’s where it excelled: finding people globally that were really hard to find for internal corporate recruiters. Because more and more of them had global networks, it was a way to overcome the weaknesses of global talent functions — and really speed it up. With a focus on hiring permanent people, they vendors began to build technology to support this.”
“Beyond the world’s top 100 or 200 companies, you probably don’t have the resources to do what they [RPO 3.0’s] can do.”
“Finally, RPO 3.0 is a completely different product”, Wheeler says. “A product where RPO’s began to really build talent technology ecosystems to support what they’re doing. All using very comprehensible technology, AI, CRM and other tools that organisations can’t afford or have the skill to use. It is an exciting model, equipped to do better. recruiting. Beyond the world’s top 100 or 200 companies, you probably don’t have the resources to do what they can do.”
‘Europe has become a significant hub for RPO’s’
As RPO’s evolved, Wheeler estimated that the majority (70%) of RPO’s currently still operate within the RPO 2.0. While the RPO scene in the United States has seen ‘explosive growth’ according to Wheeler, Europe is a little bit behind in terms of an en-masse RPO adoption. Europe’s market is largely dominated by British and American-made companies, but that could be set to change, a notion confirmed by Belinda Johnson and research conducted by her company Worklab.
“Europe has become a significant hub for RPO’s with 8 or 10 real heavyweights.”
“In our global research in the summer of 2021 covering around 1,150 visible MSP and RPO programmes”, Johnson said. “We identified 600 pure-play RPO programs currently operating around the world. Of that total number, 185 of them had engagements within the European Union. Historically there has always been quite a big gap between the US and Europe, but Europe has become a significant hub for RPO’s with 8 or 10 real heavyweights.”
A Champions League mentality
“RPO’s are currently bringing a Champions League-like mentality to the European market”, said Geert-Jan Waasdorp, founder and CEO of data and tech company Intelligence Group. “Some organisations are still working with a very old-fashioned framework. RPO’s can function as the thought leaders of the industry. They can quickly speed up the overall notion of how good recruitment can work as a competitive advantage and essential to the business.”
“Let your internal function work on the one-off positions that you need to have, and let RPO take care of the rest.”
With enormous scarcity levels across the board, and an increasing need to recruit across the borders, Wheeler expects RPO to thrive in the recruitment of global workforces. “I expect RPO to have a bigger role moving forward. It can be a true strategic partner for talent functions”, Wheeler said. “Let your internal function work on the one-off positions that you need to have, and let RPO take care of the rest. In an ideal model, RPO does 95% of the recruiting.”
In 2016, Ashutosh Garg and Varun Kacholia set out to build a holistic platform wherein they could eliminate biases out of recruiting hiring, professional development and advancement. “Employment is the backbone of society and it is a hard problem to connect the employer with the right employee”, Garg told YourStory. “AI has seen the patterns of millions of careers, learning how people move from school to work to new work at such scale that it can accurately determine who is and isn’t a great match for an open job.”
Garg and Kacholia could have taken their extensive knowledge and experience about building AI programs to any place in the world — but instead, they opted for talent acquisition.
With roughly 80 patents and more than 6,000 citations, the two are widely respected for their work within the field of search and AI. Garg and Kacholia could have taken their extensive knowledge and experience about building AI programs to any place in the world — but they opted for talent acquisition. And that’s how Eightfoldwas born.
The first platform for the entire employee lifecycle
Eightfold‘s talent intelligence platform creates an image of a supposed ‘ideal business’ based on all available information. That image would then be directly overlaid on a company’s reality, after which you should be able to pinpoint what, or better said: who a business would need to come close(r) to its ideal. At the same it uses those calculations to rank available positions for candidates — and shows why a position is a match for the qualifications.
“The AI helps recognise employees who might feel stale in their current positions, provide them with job openings that match their skills and ambitions.”
But rather than matching individuals with opportunities based on their past success, it focuses on their potential to succeed. And it doesn’t just stick to the recruitment phase, Eightfold aims to be the first platform of its kind to actively play a role throughout the entire employee lifecycle. “The AI helps recognise employees who might feel stale in their current positions, provide them with job openings that match their skills and ambitions”, Garg said.
Optimising all talent decisions.
Eightfold became a member of the HR and Recruitment tech unicorn club towards the end of 2020. Now, the company has announced its latest addition to the talent and HR sphere: the Job Intelligence Engine. Their new AI-powered engine is described as ‘dynamically self-learning’, incorporating internal and external market data to optimise all talent decisions. The outcomes of the engine are described as fourfold.
Their new, AI powered engine is described as ‘dynamically self-learning’, incorporating internal and external market data to optimise all talent decisions.
1: It accelerates time-to-hire, aiming to reduce the amount of time spent on writing job descriptions, defining role requirements and transforming hiring management alignment. 2: It deploys consistent talent quantity across the company by establishing a consistent standard for hiring, internal mobility, talent development and promotions for every role. 3: It provides talent continuity for every role, with proactive visibility. 4: It aligns roles with skills that are relevant for future needs, via its automated and dynamic change management.
Show me the data
Malaysian airline AirAsia, one of Eightfold’s client cases, adopted the talent intelligence platform in an attempt to reduce cost, increase efficiency and accelerate its hiring process. “The thing that stood out is that they received a tremendous volume of applications: between 1 and 1.25 million on average per year”, says Andrew Loecher, director of Global Accounts at Eightfold. “And even though recruiters spent 75% of their time on screening, 80% of profiles were still not screened. It was a giant, manual boots-on-the-ground effort.”
https://youtu.be/kuXbT6Yh4iY
After AirAsia opted for Eightfold’s talent intelligence platform to sit on top of its existing Workday ATS and HRIS and personalised its career site, its recruiting system clearly became more efficient, Eightfold’s data shows. “We cut their screening time by 90% with our automated screening, our AI uncovered five times the amount of qualified and interested candidates in our talent network, and we increased candidate engagement by seven times“, Loecher says. “They became more efficient, and simply accelerated the process of finding the best qualified candidates.”
According to a survey conducted by TELUS International, a majority of respondents (51%) felt less connected to their company culture while working remotely as a result of the pandemic. Meanwhile, people have been more productive while sitting at their home-desks. In a post-COVID study conducted by Stanford University, a plurality of workers, 43.5% said to be as efficient at home compared to being at the office. Meanwhile, 39.9% report being more efficient at home — while just 15% report being less efficient.
Meanwhile, another study conducted by Stanford of 16,000 workers over the course of nine months put the productivity increase at 13%. That number was built up out of two primary causes: 9% was working more minutes per shift (fewer breaks and sick days) and 4% from more calls per minute, attributed to a quieter and more convenient working environment.
‘The ultimate destination for remote and hybrid teams’
With remote or hybrid work here to stay, one primary challenge persists: building company cultures from afar. That’s where Australian start-up Remote Social comes in. The company, co-founded by Jessica Baird Walsh, Mike Fitzbaxter and Gerardo Contreras Vacca, is on a mission to build ‘the ultimate destination for remote and hybrid teams to come together online to build connection and culture through play and shared experienced’.
In its seed round, Remote Social has raised a $1 million cash injection to build out what it calls its culture-as-a-service offering.
While still in beta launch, the company’s services are already being used globally by 250 organisations spread across 34 countries. And in its seed round, Remote Social has raised a $1 million cash injection to build out what it calls its culture-as-a-service offering: activities that help enable and reinforce positive team culture for remote and hybrid teams.
Removing barriers
The lack of impromptu conversations is missed most by 43% of workers during their time away from their colleagues. With Remote Social Connect, which will be launched ‘shortly’ according to the company’s official website, Remote Social aims to serve as a virtual watercooler. Through an integration with Slack, the service can be scheduled in a way that allows teammates that work across various timezones to participate in conversations and interact more easily.
“We want to remove barriers and enable rich cultures to thrive within organisations.”
Other services include online ultimate trivia and a wide array of experiences that range from photography lessons to personal, online stand-up comedy shows. “We want to remove barriers and enable rich cultures to thrive within organisations”, CEO Jessica Baird Walsh told startupdaily.net. “From speaking with teams at leading organisations, we know that their teams need partners to fill a range of different team needs: Remote Social is all about fun, play and collaboration.”
According to a 2012 studyconducted by the BBC, McDonald’s (including its franchises)is the world’s fourth largest employer. With 1.9 million global workers, McDonald’s ranks only behind the US Department of Defence, China’s army and Walmart. However, with an increase of tech within the big M restaurants, that number will have dropped slightly in recent years.
You’re McHired
In an attempt to better oversee its enormous workforce, McDonald’s teamed up with Paradox in 2019 to create McHire, a talent hiring platform built specifically for the needs of McDonald’s restaurants. It allowed for candidates to have real-time support and communication, with the help of Paradox’s conversational AI assistant Olivia. Meanwhile, hiring managers’ workloads were alleviated because many administrative tasks were now automated.
McDonald’s teamed up with Paradox to create McHire, a talent hiring platform built specifically for the needs of McDonald’s restaurants.
“What’s unique about McHire is that, for the first time, candidates have a single point of contact that supports them via conversation throughout the hiring experience”, said Aaron Matos, Founder and CEO of Paradox in a press release. “Olivia is available to answer questions at any stage in the hiring process. It guides candidates and hiring managers through the journey from first engagement all the way through onboarding.”
150% annual employee turnover
McDonald’s doesn’t publicly publish its retention numbers, stating ‘staff turnover is lower than average for retail and catering companies’. But with 150% annual employee turnover rates considered the norm for fast food joints, that means that in the land of fast food, for every 20 positions a company has in a year, it will employ 30 people.
In the land of fast food, for every 20 positions a company has in a year, it will employ 30 people.
‘Which job applicants will perform like your best employees?’
Now imagine a world wherein you could duplicate your highest-performing employees. It is something McDonald’s (and a wide array of other companies) dream about — and something AI hiring software Sprockets seeks to make a reality. Sprockets is the (co-)creation of former Harvard University grad and CEO AJ Richichi. Launched in 2016, the company prides itself on combining technology and psychology to solve a simple equation: ‘Which job applicants will perform like your best employees?’.
“You’ll know everything you need to know about candidates before you even interview them.”
“While McHire speeds up the application process, Sprockets makes it more precise”, the company says in its case study of McDonald’s. “Our AI instantly predicts which applicants will succeed and stay long-term. You’ll know everything you need to know about candidates before you even interview them. And which ones are worth scheduling in the first place.”
Sprockets’ AI is said to have reduced annual employee turnover by 22%.
After integrating Sprockets within McHire, the fast food giant has seen significant, positive changes to its key hiring percentages. Sprockets’ AI is said to have improved 90-day employee retention by 43%, reduced annual employee turnover by 22% and allowed for 37% less time spent on the hiring process.
Red, yellow and green
Sprockets’ methodology always starts with a company’s own top personnel. After reviewing a survey sent to top-performing staff, Sprockets amasses a ‘Success Profile’ for a specific position. In turn, new job applicants will respond to the same survey — and receive a ranking out of 10. Then, that ranking will result in a traffic light system. Green for ideal fits. Yellow for potentially decent hires. Red for non-starters.
After reviewing a survey sent to top-performing staff, Sprockets amasses a ‘Success Profile’ for a specific position.
Through the usage of AI and machine learning, also incorporating IBM Watson’s infamous personality insights, Sprockets then offers a further assessment of applicants based on natural language processing. “It’s a method for using language to uncover information about people, in this case personality and behaviour”, the company says. “We study your best employees’ written responses for what’s known as the Big Five personality traits (plus thirty more), their workplace-relevant values and needs. Our solution then searches for the same qualities, in similar proportions, among job seekers.”
In the amount of time it takes to unload your dishwasher, you can amass new insights about the digital maturity of your organisation. Dutch labour market data pioneersIntelligence Group and Belgian award-winning recruitment tech agency HRlinkIT have teamed up to develop the digital maturity scan, a five-minute questionnaire composed of 21 questions that’ll give your organisations new insights about your own company.
The grade is in
After going through the specific steps, you’re presented with a downloadable rapport that gives your organisation a grade based on five essential pillars of recruitment: recruitment marketing, pre-screening and screening, availability, talent management and contract management. Moreover, the scan provides a graph with which you can compare your own scores to that of your competitors.
“The scan gives your organisation a grade based on five essential pillars of recruitment: recruitment marketing, pre-screening and screening, availability, talent management and contract management.”
‘Not everything has to be digital’
The scan then delves into each separate issue, providing you with advice tailored to your score and organisational needs. “It’s important to remember that not every part of the recruitment process has to be digitalised”, the two organisations say in the introduction of the scan. “Opting for a manual approach in some areas can ensure you are different from the rest. But however you look at it, large parts of the process should be digitalised to ensure speed and a digital experience that the clients and customers of today expect you to have.”
“However you look at it, large parts of the process should be digitalised to ensure speed and a digital experience.”
A great starting point
For those actively pursuing a more digital approach to its recruitment operations, it’s a great starting point. “We’re primarily focusing on agencies and the manner in which they are digitally mature in finding, matching and mediating candidates”, says Geert-Jan Waasdorp, CEO of Intelligence Group. “That in itself is absolutely essential in the current climate: to ensure you’re in great digital shape to attract the best possible candidates.”
We all know The Buggles’ lyrics. And when they were sung in 1978, they couldn’t have been truer: video killed the radio star. A mere 43 years later, we may require a recruitment-related adaptation to the former number one hit on 16 different national charts: video ads killed the written ads. With video now accounting for more than 70% of online traffic, and 1200% more likely to be share online than text — the world seems to have spoken.
It’s a sentiment that became abundantly clear to Melbourne, Australia-based David Macciocca. For 10 years, Macciocca ran a recruitment boutique, during which he experimented with recruitment videos and video job ads. “I was looking for ways to stand out”, Macciocca says. “I saw a sudden increase in the usage of videos in consumer marketing and social media and started experimenting. The first results were incredible. But the speed and the cost of creating quality content was a real barrier.”
VideoMyJob
To solve the issue Macciocca ran into in his own work, he founded VideoMyJob in 2014. Built as an enterprise-solution, the service allows companies to quickly create, share and track branded videos. Two years later, the company won prizes as the Best HR Tech Startup at both the HR Tech Fest and the ATC. And in 2018, the service was named runner-up within the Best HR Startup category at Unleash.
‘A strong focus on the technology north star’
But as always the case with start-ups: there’s things that work, and things that don’t. “What worked was the idea that video is more powerful than text”, Macciocca says. “That resonated with many early adopters globally, especially in the United States. But we struggled trying to serve two different ICP’s (ideal customer profiles), not having access to accurate data and not employing technology people from thriving tech companies.”
“We always asked the same question: ‘Does this feature we are building make it easy to create a video’.”
While every start-ups has its own set of struggles, the majority of feedback was extremely positive, Macciocca notes. “People were really talking about us. And we signed up some awesome companies. What really worked was that we had a strong focus on our technology north star early on. We always asked the same question: ‘Does this feature we are building make it easy to create a video’.”
‘Habits are hard to change’
The success of videos may be undeniable, but Macciocca sees one element that may hold back text job ads. “Habits are hard to change”, he says. “And humans love the written word, so I don’t think we will eradicate text job ads. But I do think talent teams will look to communicate via video over text during essential moments throughout the acquisition workflow. Whether that’s recruitment marketing, onboarding, training, employee stories, social posting or internal communications.”
“Some of the feedback we are getting from our clients is that they see significant improvements in the candidate experience […] and the overall ability to make better connections.”
Now VideoMyJob is responsible for an output of thousands of videos in over 50 countries every month — with 26% of its videos created for job ads. “Some of the feedback we are getting from our clients is that they see significant improvements in the candidate experience, the ability to amplify their D&I initiatives, branding and the overall ability to make better connections. Those are the business advantages.”
‘Companies struggle to share their culture and values at scale’
When talking about the goals of VideoMyJob for the future, Macciocca has a clear idea as to where his company can play a role. “I think globally, companies struggle to share their culture and values at scale”, he says. “I believe VideoMyJob will solve this problem in the long-run, significantly improving the candidate experience for organisations around the world.”
“In 10 years, VideoMyJob will be the number 1 platform for talent teams. We will own the category: ‘Video in recruitment marketing and employer branding’ worldwide.”
If anything, it won’t be for a lack of motivation on Macciocca’s part. With a strong nucleus of clients based in United States — and a strong take-up of video in the United Kingdom and Europe, the company is continuing to grow its global presence. “In 10 years, VideoMyJob will be the number 1 platform for talent teams”, Macciocca says. “We will own the category: ‘Video in recruitment marketing and employer branding’ worldwide.”
Say you are an employee of one of the world’s leading tech firms. Rather than working 50-odd hour weeks from an apartment in Presidio Heights, San Francisco — you opt to sell your home. After all, being stuck in a tiny apartment isn’t quite your cup of tea amidst an ongoing global pandemic.
After selling your 400 square feet of glorious comfort — you take that money, and purchase a three-bedroom home in Turlock, California, a mere two-hour drive away from your former home. After settling in and finally purchasing that standing-desk your back had longed for, your employer tells you your pay will be cut by 12% amid new remote salary cuts.
‘Top of the local market’
Google has always been known to pay top of the local marketsalaries. “When Google hires locally in San Francisco, they pay more than when they hire locally in Mumbai”, RemotiveCEO and remote hiring expert Rodolphe Dutel tells ToTalent. “They are now doubling down on their top of the local market ideology. The overall subtext is that it’s better for your Google career to go back to the office, and employees will decide what makes the most sense to them.”
“When Google hires locally in San Francisco, they pay more than when they hire locally in Mumbai.”
Through Reuters interviews with Google employees, it became clear that pay cuts run up as high as 25% — with differences anywhere from 5 to 10% across various American cities. “What’s clear is that Google doesn’t have to do this”, Jake Rosenfield, a sociology professor at Washington University, told Reuters. “Google has paid these workers at 100% of their prior wage, by definition. So it’s not like they can’t afford to pay their workers who choose to work remotely the same that they are used to receiving.”
Losing income for doing the same job
With regards to recruiting, not much is likely to change recruiting-wise for Google, Dutel thinks. “Particularly for graduates and senior personnel”, he says. “Graduates are likely to prefer working on-site to experience camaraderie and mentoring to the fullest. Whereas senior personnel, as in any Fortune 500 company, exceptions will be granted on a case by case basis. Urs Hölzle, SVP Eng at Google, now works remotely from New Zealand. Will he get a local rate?”
“Urs Hölzle, SVP Eng at Google, now works remotely from New Zealand. Will he get a local rate?”
The danger for FT500 lies predominantly in one target group: mid-level professionals. For that employee who recently moved counties, and is now structurally losing income for doing the same job. The long-term impact of the widespread remote cuts is, for obvious reasons, an unknown. But in the short-term, it may lead to disgruntled, mid-level employees. “They will either accept changes or they will join remote-first companies”, Dutel adds.
‘Our revenue is unaffected by location’
In order to serve predominantly that target group, CMS provider Storyblokhas opted for another approach altogether. “Our pricing is broadly the same across the 130+ countries our product is live in”, says Akbar Karenga, Head of Talent at Storyblok. “So revenue, in essence, is unaffected by location. Our expectations on staff performance and output do not change depending on where they choose to live.”
“It is not our business how our staff spend money after we have paid them.”
With 20+ nationalities living in 15+ countries, Storyblok’s workforce is quite literally all over the place. But rather than calculating property and living costs, and essentially penalising workers for leaving the big cities, they have opted for a simple, fair strategy. “We want to pay people similarly if they are doing similar work”, Karenga says. “We are not experts in property and cost of living prices at the country, town and neighbourhood level, so we don’t pretend. It is not our business how our staff spend money after we have paid them.”
“We had only one staff leaver in 3 years and a year-over-year increase of 165% in team size.”
And of course — despite serious growth over the past couple of years, Storyblok cannot be compared in size to Google, Facebook or Twitter. But when it comes to its retention rate and YOY, its results are undeniable. “We had only one staff leaver in 3 years and a year-over-year increase of 165% in team size”, Karenga says. “It’s about creating fairness.”
With recruiters nearing scarcity levels that were once only applicable to software developers, it’s becoming an increasingly difficult task to scale up recruitment efforts. Simply put: there’s just not enough well-trained and experienced recruiters out there. However, acquiring more recruiters and increasing recruitment outputs (through RPO, for example) is still widely regarded as the way to go.
But there’s an alternative: working smarter. Through the usage of recruitment process automation (RPA), using more data and implementing various so-called recruitment process hacks. It’s a movement that was initiated before COVID-19, but has since stagnated — except for assessment and video solutions. Now, we’ve reached a point where acquiring even more recruiters that aren’t there to begin with doesn’t help. We need to recruit smarter. Some are still relatively new, or built for solely the Dutch market (for now), but these are the five process hacks I’ve identified.
Hireslim really does what it says on the tin: hire smarter/slimmer. Their entire process focuses on making the entire process of getting to an interview as slim as possible. With smart conversion-driven social media campaigns, they appeal to the instant craving needs of the designated target group.
Hireslim is no cost-per-impression, cost-per-click or cost-per-applicant, it is: cost-per-interview.
A relationship starts straight away when someone — impulsively or not — responds to an enticing ad. From there, a screening takes place, which can result in a concrete meeting with a recruiter. Partly automated, partly 1-on-1. Hireslim is no cost-per-impression, cost-per-click or cost-per-applicant, it is: cost-per-interview.
Not every TA team has its own sources, or enough capacity and knowledge to be able to source successfully. I don’t need to tell you that sourcing has an increasingly important task in recruitment as the supply of active job seeker runs dry — but I will anyway. For so many sectors the simple notion applies that those who haven’t been sourced, wonders why they aren’t actively pursued.
Recruit Robin automates the searching and screening of candidates, integrates them with your ATS and offers full experience support.
Through Recruit Robin you can build up new talent pools and scale up your own capacity. A big advantage is that candidates don’t just come from LinkedIn, and you only pay for the service once it’s worth it. Recruit Robin automates the searching and screening of candidates, integrates them with your ATS and offers full experience support.
It didn’t take long before chatbots, or conversational AI, were labeled as a global hit. And for all the right reasons: they offer a 24/7 support system that allows questions to be answered, candidates to be enticed, application opportunities — as well as pre-boarding and on-boarding solutions. But chatting is still moving forward. While using WhatsApp was widely regarded as an invasion of privacy a few years ago, it is now an unmissable link to communicate with candidates.
Why let candidates wait or send e-mails manually if it can all be done standardised and the target group doesn’t care or mind either way?
Whether it’s quickly sending the directions, the link to the interview, additional information or a good luck GIF, Joboti optimises the entire process and therefore the candidate experience. It’s all about speed, simplicity and tying into the instant craving desire of the target group. Why let candidates wait or send e-mails manually if it can all be done standardised and the target group doesn’t care or mind either way?
Intakes can be an awfully repetitive and time-consuming activity, resulting in a recruitment process filled with inefficiency, lost time and frustration. Through the data-driven solution Recruitment Accelerator offers, a hiring manager can directly walk through an entire intake in as little as 12 minutes, optimised for both the organisation and the applicable target group.
https://youtu.be/wZKKdm66Jbw
You can then directly turn the intake meeting into a job ad within 72 hours — and place it on all relevant recruitment channels.
The recruiter doesn’t just receive the application, but also set-up for the intake, recruitment, media and feasibility advice — as well as a briefing for sourcers and copywriters. It automatically becomes a new starting point for the follow-up conversation, which in-turn won’t be an intake, but more so a consultation. You can then directly turn the intake meeting into a job ad within 72 hours — and place it on all relevant recruitment channels.
Another unmissable process hack on this list is video recruitment. Cammio are an all-in-one-platform that pretty much does it all on the video front (and beyond). They offer video interviews that enable recruiters to engage with any candidate at any given place and time. Then, as a follow-up, they can extract personalities, skills and competencies through their AI-powered predictive analysis tool Xpress Analytics. It’s all built so the recruiter, hiring manager and candidate all benefit.
It’s all built so the recruiter, hiring manager and candidate all benefit.
“While McHire speeds up the application process, Sprockets makes it more precise”, the company says in its 
