by Charlene Li, Founder and CEO, Altimeter Group | February 2016
Data, data, data – The talent industry has been talking about this for the last 5 years and unfortunately it gets more confusing each year. The biggest problem is that we buy systems that collect data, but rare is the company that knows how to use this data well when they get it. For more information on how to manage your data, please ask me about Eightfold.ai. ~The Organic Recruiter
In this excerpt from our new e-book The Digital Transformation of Recruitment, author Charlene Li discusses how the ability to get good data—and act on it—is critical for today’s recruiter.
At the center of the digital transformation is the unified management of candidate data, which gives you the ability to develop and act on deep candidate insights. Many organizations have some type of applicant tracking system (ATS), which is a good starting point.
Layer in data from identity platforms like Gigya and Janrain that link to social media profiles on channels like Facebook and Twitter. And then add on behavior and engagement data from platforms like Adobe, HubSpot, Marketo, Oracle, or Salesforce.
Comcast invested in the development of a candidate relationship management platform that went beyond tracking applicants’ progress through a hiring process, to capturing all interactions, even using social listening tools to integrate unstructured social data. And early in their digital transformation process, staffing firm Kforce realized the importance of deep, unified candidate data. Glen Cathey, senior vice president of talent and innovation at Kforce, explains, “I know that there is predictive value to information and I want to be the company that can best leverage this data in the war for talent.”
Kforce takes a “Moneyball” approach, searching through resumes, interview notes, and even social media profiles and behavior data to identify the traits of a good fit or a high performer among those who are already employees. Kforce then looks for those traits in candidates’ profiles and behavior data.
“You can find information, chats, interview notes, that give you a more complete picture,” he says. “I’m looking for patterns to more quickly identify people who are more likely to be the right match.”
If you are at the start of your digital transformation process, start small. A simple step is to use social login as your registration tool because it can link profiles across an organization (ATS, customer service, transactions, etc). The goal isn’t to build a complete 360-degree view of the candidate. Instead, identify the key pieces of data that will allow you to create a better candidate experience immediately, given that the people, processes, and organization are evolving as well. Knowledge may be power but it’s useless unless you can act on it.
Charlene Li is founder and CEO of Altimeter Group, a research and consulting firm that helps companies understand—and act on—digital disruption. She is also the author of the bestselling books Open Leadership, Groundswell, and The Engaged Leader. Recently, she has been working with Monster to help recruiters understand how they can respond to changes in the industry. This article is excerpted from a new e-book she’s written called The Digital Transformation of Recruitment that offers recruiters advice on how to develop their talent brand, scale with employee advocacy, and build digital operational excellence. download your free copy here.
