The Revolution in HR Recruiting Technology

Niche job boards and corporate Web sites can be powerful allies when chosen well and combined with networking and other recruiting methods.

Marysville, WA - September 26, 2002 - With the tremendous pressure to attract and retain talent, human resources departments at hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are in the spotlight. If HR has become the corporate wheel, technology is within its spokes, giving that wheel its shape and allowing it to spin.

HR technology is powering a revolution, says Sidney H. Simon, the director of product strategy, BenefitAmerica, an inter-centric provider of benefits enrollment and administration services. Simon, the advisory board chairman for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Human Resource Technology Exchange (HRTX) committee, says that the methodologies that companies can use to obtain resources are vastly improved on the Internet because there is more connectivity to more people in more locations.

Wayne Tarken, managing principal of the HR Technology Group, based in Cherry Hill, NJ. Tarken, who is chairman of SHRM's national committee that focuses on technology and is on the board of SHRM's professional emphasis group that deals with technology issues, agrees and points out that: "[HR services] used to be paper and face-to-face. Now they're electronic, self-service … virtual."

"Most people are going to web-based submittal, collection and review type of products," Simon says. "I think most large companies are getting their own web sites. There are companies that can provide reasonable application suites either to operate in-house or to use an application service provider delivery model."

The technology generally includes use of an applicant tracking system (or "ATS"), which streamlines the recruiting process. Typically, according to Tarken, companies use the ATS for automating the entire process, from when the applicant goes to the corporate web site or job board to screening and communicating with the candidate and scheduling the interview.

"Some companies do pieces of that: they'll have a web site, do paper resumes and have a separate screening tool. They might have a basic applicant tracking system, where they store a resume database and can search for resumes. The best solution, however, is to integrate the entire supply chain," Tarken said.

Don't let the wave crash over you

HR professionals who are using corporate web sites and job boards as recruiting tools are finding the technology results in a wealth of information. "There's a lot of data. The information either helps you to be more efficient with your job or overwhelms you and makes you less efficient," Tarken says. "It's available all the time--24 by 7 by 365. You're always connected; always being inundated by something - whether email, cell phone call, fax. You send information and the expectation is immediate response.
This combination of speed and excess challenges a lot of people."

Regardless of the apparent onslaught, Tarken says, HR professionals need to view applicants as customers. "Customers like customized messages. Many of the better web sites will ask you a couple of questions and they'll show you openings specific to your needs. That takes another level of programming. Ideally the beauty of technology is that you can customize down to when you go a web site and [let's say] I'm a nurse, everything that I see is tailored to my requirements, so we establish a relationship. Recruiting nowadays is really a relationship," he says.

Simon suggests configuring the technology so that it works for you in weeding out the wrong people for the jobs. Employers should be specific about the kinds of information that they want. "And they can either get it out of a standard resume by key word searching and things like that or provide vehicles for easy interfaces for people to provide the information in the manner in which they want to receive it," Simon says.

It also helps if employers ensure that when they post a job that the people who are looking at it understand the qualifications and competency requirements.

Zeroing in on the best ways to advertise for jobs helps to increase efficiency and save time. Tarken says employers should view job boards like any other type of advertising and do their homework. "You have to have a good recruiting strategy and know who your applicants are and where you're going to find them," Tarken says. "Technology makes you more efficient but you're still in the relationship business. You have to establish relationships with candidates out there - like customers."

Another goal of an efficient technology tool is not to make it too cumbersome resulting in the loss of good candidates. This happens with many applicant tracking service providers, according to Frank Heasley, PhD, President and CEO, MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment and professional community that targets job seekers and HR Professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, health care and science, "Passive candidates-those who have jobs but want better jobs - often are asked to fill out more than one job application due to the cumbersome nature of application service providers. Sometimes, they can't even find the job they already applied for at the job board. So, we know companies are losing candidates. It's like they are selecting for people who are desperate, perhaps unemployed and willing to endure anything to apply," Dr. Heasley says.

"I absolutely believe that applicant processing methodology that causes people to make multiple applications is cumbersome and difficult. You eliminate top people instantaneously," Lou Adler, a veteran recruiter and author of several books and tapes on the topic, including the audio tape program POWER Hiring: How to Find, Assess, Hire and Keep Great Talent. "We go to a number of our clients and actually audit that whole process. If the job can't be found quickly; if the application process isn't convenient and easy, you'll lose everyone."

Adler says the key elements are a compelling ad and a simple screening process, capturing just the required amount of information. Then the system can respond quickly to the candidate or someone can call the candidate.

Another technology issue is how to combine systems after a merger or acquisition. It's almost inevitable that different organizations will have different recruiting technologies. Adler suggests involving key HR people from each of the institutions and coming up with four of five key ingredients needed universally in the system; then, building the system based on those ingredients.

Tarken adds that the decision to purchase technology should not be made in a vacuum. It is important that enough people are involved in purchasing, learning and using the technology in order to leverage its use as much as possible, he says.

Simon agrees, "This is kind of one of SHRM's positions. Many HR people just don't understand that they need to be technology competent. They don't have to be software engineers. But they need to be much more familiar [with new technology] than they have been."

The Internet can be an invaluable tool in gathering data and making decisions, but effective human relationships remain the key to recruiting success

The Internet provides several strategies for HR people to use. However, according to the experts, the best recruiting programs take a comprehensive approach. Technology has not replaced networking and maintaining personal contacts with people, Tarken says. Search consultants still provide valuable services for executive level positions or when candidates are scarce.

Dr. Heasley says, "New technologies can make it easier to make decisions and handle larger work loads more effectively. However, it's easy to fall into the trap of allowing computers to make decisions that we really ought to be making for ourselves. Thankfully, computers do not yet have the ability to make decisions as effectively as people who care about their careers and their companies. Until that happens, and I hope it's a long way off, human interaction will remain an essential part of any job search or hiring process."

About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the original web site to serve career and hiring needs for professionals and employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare. MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions and 10,000 resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions. These resources have been characterized as the largest, most comprehensive databases of their kind on the web in the industries served.