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By Charles Handler, Ph.D.
"I want to take a moment to sincerely THANK every one of the many supporters of the Rocket-Hire Explorer. Over the past 36 months you have made great contributions, responded with insightful feedback and helped us grow our business. This kind of thought-sharing forum is exactly why we launched Rocket-Hire in the first place – to keep the industry moving forward – and why I’m so pleased to celebrate our birthday with all of you." Charles Handler: President/Founder
Reflections From 3 Years on the Web-Based Assessment Soapbox
Well, it’s been 3 years since Rocket-Hire first opened its doors and it may sound funny, but I think our industry has really come a long way in this short amount of time. In order to provide some perspective on this comment, I want to take this opportunity to share my opinions on some of the advancements that have fueled my optimism about the future of the technology based hiring process. Of course, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t make sure to balance this information out by pointing out some of the obstacles that still must be overcome in order for our progress to continue. So, without further adieu, here is my take on the positive and negative points associated with our progress over the past 3 years.
1. Sourcing
Candidate as customer is finally on the radar screen (positive)
I have been very encouraged by the progress I have seen organizations make towards upgrading their corporate employment portals. Now that most organizations have developed some form of online employment portal, staffing leaders are beginning to realize the value of refining their presence on the web to ensure a meaningful experience for job seekers. Organizations who understand the value of treating candidates as customers are getting the chance to differentiate themselves from their competition. Although progress has been slow, innovative companies are finally starting to understand that the job search process should be a two-way street in which interested individuals are provided with something of value for their time and interest.
Continued stagnation in the search functionality (negative)
Job boards still haven’t gotten the picture when it comes to providing tools to help facilitate the search process. Most searching is still driven by the use of keywords, a process that is highly inaccurate. I have been encouraged to see the increased availability of more complex searching and matching tools. While there are finally a few viable options for organizations that wish to use more sophisticated processes to help job seekers find relevant opportunities, we still have a long way to go. In the future we will continue to see the integration of tools that use natural language processing to help add more efficiency to the sourcing process via more accurate matching. This is sorely needed because I feel the resume overload experienced by many recruiters is directly related to the use of poor searching/matching functionality.
2. Screening
Proliferation of qualification screening tools (positive)
I am amazed at the number of qualifications screening tools that are currently available. Compared to 3 years ago, there are a host of options for those interested in using these tools. Many job boards are now offering screening functionality as part of their posting process. Almost every ATS system now has the ability to add screening questions and there are a number of stand alone companies who offer screening tools that can be deployed as a compliment to job postings or ATS’s. This is encouraging because these tools really can provide a valuable service by helping provide organizations with an effective way to automate the process of filtering out unqualified applicants. Effective qualifications screening is an essential part of any online staffing strategy because it helps ensure that recruiters and hiring managers are using their time to focus on learning more about qualified applicants rather then culling through the resumes of unqualified applicants.
Misuse of these tools (negative)
Anyone who reads my articles regularly knows that, despite their increased use, I feel screening tools represent one of the biggest problem areas in the staffing process. It is critical that organizations understand that these tools do not have value out of the box. Rather, in order for them to demonstrate value they must be properly configured and recruiters and hiring managers must make a commitment to using them correctly. Misuse can be a double-whammy because it not only creates a “garbage-in, garbage-out” situation which severely limits their usefulness, but it can also can place the organization using them in legal jeopardy. This is especially true given the government’s new definition of an applicant. These new guidelines clearly reiterate the fact that organizations using screening tools must be able to document the relationship between any and all screening questions used in the hiring process and job performance. No amount of technology will make this issue go away, the burden for ensuring job relatedness rests squarely with the user. Unfortunately, what I have seen so far in this area is not encouraging. Until organizations create a culture where the value of correctly configured job relevant screening tools is understood, the value of these tools will continue to be untapped.
3. Applicant tracking systems
Saturation point in ATS adoption (positive)
One of the most significant changes over the past 3 years is the fact that ATS technology has now been adopted by organizations of all sizes. We are now squarely into the saturation point in terms of nearly all larger organizations having adopted ATS technology. The most recent trend involves the proliferation of ATS systems that are designed specifically for the needs of small to mid-sized companies. This is a great thing because, in the past, many organizations interested in the advantages of an ATS, found the market consisted mostly of systems focusing on the needs of the enterprise client. This has changed and now the number of vendors competing for the business of smaller organizations is overwhelming. I feel that this is a very positive trend because ATS’s provide a solid foundation for a strategic, technology based hiring platform. Once organizations of all sizes have experience and understanding about the benefits of this foundation, they are much better positioned to begin adding supporting services such as advanced sourcing tools, qualifications screening tools, and assessment to their ATS platform. I feel this step is a necessity in creating a strategic technology-based staffing process.
Mistaken idea that adopting ATS will automatically equal increased quality of hire (negative)
One of the most disappointing trends I have seen is the fact that many organizations seem to hold the mistaken belief that using an ATS system will somehow automatically help them make better quality hiring decisions. While ATSs are an important part of quality hiring decisions, our recent survey work clearly identifies the fact that there seems to be little relation between ATS use and quality of hire. This is because they do not provide predictive, trait-based data about candidates. In short, these systems serve a valuable role but they need to be integrated with other systems or functionality that are focused on providing staffing personnel with the data they need to make effective decisions.
4. Assessment
Increased use of assessment tools (positive).
I have been very happy to see the increased adoption of assessment tools. Organizations are finally starting to realize the value that these tools can provide and are starting to study their impact on the bottom line. I feel this is critical because the use of these tools is an essential ingredient for helping organizations to make quality hiring decisions that are based on predictive data. I believe that the use of these tools is an essential ingredient in the effectiveness of any hiring process. Furthermore, these types of tools can play a valuable role in helping organizations understand the ROI of their staffing process via the provision of the type of data needed to support Six Sigma type quality initiatives. As the development of more and more innovative assessment technology systems continues, I am excited to see what the future holds in terms of available assessment options. I expect to see great things.
Continued lack of knowledge regarding assessment tools (negative)
Despite positive trends in the adoption of assessment tools the overall knowledge level about these tools and how to use them is still very low. The most unfortunate part of this is that vendors offering substandard products often prey on this lack of knowledge. This situation can result in organizations having a negative experience with assessment tools and can almost ensure that they will not consider using them again. An increased understanding of the proper selection and implementation of assessment tools is essential amongst organizations wishing to take advantage of their benefits. So far I have seen very little forward progress in this area. Perhaps this is due in large part to the complexity of the subject matter and the fact that there are very few unbiased sources of information about how to use them effectively.
5. Metrics
Increasing use of metrics to provide closed loop monitoring of staffing system efficiency and effectiveness (positive).
I have been very pleased to see the continued push towards the use of metrics to help organizations better understand the value added by various staffing initiatives. In my mind this is an essential element for ensuring the value of all phases in the staffing process and for helping to provide actual data on ROI. The use of data as part of a feedback loop to provide continued monitoring of staffing system efficiency and effectiveness is starting to catch on and there are several vendors who are providing the technological infrastructure to help organizations to help organizations make the most of the data collected during the staffing process.
Low premium placed on collection of useful data (negative)
Despite positive steps towards the use of metrics as an essential part of the staffing process, many organizations are still missing the boat in terms of the type of metrics they are using and their commitment to collecting the data required to ensure their ability to monitor ROI. For instance, it is important for organizations to understand the need to move past metrics such as time to hire and cost per hire towards quality focused metrics that have some teeth. These types of metrics demand that organizations close the loop via the systematic measurement of critical aspects of job performance. Unfortunately, most organizations are falling well short of the commitment needed to ensure this data becomes a central part of their commitment to metrics. Unlocking the value of staffing process will require changes in this area. This will be an important step because it is this data that will ultimately allow organizations to make reality based business cases needed to secure the funding needed to create more advanced hiring processes.
Conclusion:
I continue to be more and more pleased by the progress we are making towards a more complete understanding of the role that technology can play in creating new paradigms for the way organizations hire people. I still firmly believe that with each passing day technology and process are becoming more tightly intertwined and that this trend will have serious advantages for organizations and individuals alike. Fulfillment of the full potential requires good leadership that can leverage knowledge and innovation to help ensure we accentuate the positive aspects of our progress while helping to eliminate the negative. If we maintain our focus on these objectives, I am certain that 3 years from now, we will all be able to look back and feel a great sense of accomplishment.