How recruiters can create efficiencies and cut costs with the right recruitment technology

This is a guest contribution from REC business partner Voyager Software. 

The current economic climate has highlighted the essential need for recruitment agencies to run lean. Recruitment technology has a key role to play in driving profitability – here’s how.

Understanding digital transformation

Before exploring the benefits of digital platforms, it’s important to clarify what is meant by “digital transformation”. 

At its core, digital transformation is about much more than just migrating paper-based processes into software systems. Often thought of as simply “dragging existing business practices into the modern age”, the essence of digital transformation is as much about transforming how people work than simply updating the tools they use. True digital-first workflows use data and software to enhance user output, meaning a radical increase the quantity and quality of the work a user can produce, not just taking their work from ‘offline’ to ‘online’. 

A growing need

A study of more than 2,000 recruitment professionals found that nearly 40% ranked embracing digital transformation among their top priorities. In a fiercely competitive market, the use of cutting-edge technology is no longer a luxury for those with deep pockets. Instead, it’s a pre-requisite for being able to hold and gain ground – even for smaller businesses. 

A few short years ago, many recruitment companies were content to operate with “the basics” – communications platforms to reach clients and candidates, and bare bones technology to allow the wheels of daily operations to turn. Today, things are changing fast. Modern digital recruiting platforms allow companies to uncover and act on revenue opportunities faster, from both a sales and delivery perspective. The result is an enhanced output and upgraded customer service that makes it increasingly difficult for analogue businesses to compete.  

Connected systems

The foundation of digital transformation is connecting systems and workflows together in a way that improves and accelerates how work gets done. 

For recruiters, this might mean integrating LinkedIn data within a CRM platform, allowing users to cross-reference internal and social media data during a candidate search. This in turn leads to faster, more detailed searches and more targeted candidate outreach. 

For sales teams, being able to enhance pitches with easy-access stats on service levels pulled directly from CRM systems adds depth and quantifiable results to discussions with new clients, improving conversion rates and winning more business.  

For business leaders, connecting front and back office systems creates a platform for unified reporting – allowing managers and company owners to see at a glance where inefficiencies or bottlenecks exist across their organization, and highlighting the need for adjustment, training or additional investment.  

An upward spiral

From an ROI perspective, the right technology solution is an investment whose value increases steadily as the benefits are realised. 

Instead of a linear return generated by “solving a problem”, digital platforms provide continually improving results by creating an evolving business asset in the form of data, insights and automated workflows. 

The more that users engage with and see success from using technology platforms, the more they populate them with information and activity that improves the next wave of productivity. 

Better candidate data leads to faster searches and more placements. 

More placements lead to more success stories, better marketing collateral and more effective new business pitches. 

Better operational data leads to better management decisions and investment. 

When seamlessly integrated across connected digital infrastructure, companies of all types and sizes can see rapid and ongoing ROI through investment in tools which take performance across departments to new levels. This is how recruitment technology has a key role to play in driving profitability.

This article was originally published via Voyager Software. 

This is a guest blog contribution for the REC website. The views expressed by guest writers reflect the individual's personal opinions.