CRM Crash course – Why Recruiters Need One and How to Use it Effectively

      

Discover how you can attract and keep the best talent by leveraging the power of recruitment CRM software. Our simplified ‘crash course’ explains more.

When it comes to recruiting and sourcing for talent for your organization, there are many moving parts to keep in mind. Chief among those, are the actual people you hope to convert to candidates, the different roles you’re trying to fill, and the modes of communication to use to reach these people. According to a recent study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), about 50 percent of SMEs owners reported that they had few or no qualified applicants to fill open positions in their businesses.

Are you struggling to attract qualified workforce to your company?

For effective results in your recruitment drive, a dedicated, all-in-one solution is needed to facilitate easier coordination of the different tasks and aspects that define talent acquisition; finding, acquiring, assessing, and hiring of suitable candidates to fill certain roles in an organization. This is where a Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) tool comes in.

This short and simple “crash course” offers a look at practical ways you can use a CRM system to improve your talent sourcing.

However, before that…

What is CRM (in more detail)?

The term ‘CRM’ is mainly associated with sales where it stands for Customer Relationship Management. Indeed, there’s a chance you’ve heard or seen colleagues in your organization’s sales and marketing department using popular CRM tools like Hubspot and other useful integrations.

The CRM model was borrowed from sales by recruitment professionals who now use it to manage companies’ talent pipelines. You can use this system to enhance and transform your talent sourcing strategy in the following ways:

– Create customized talent pools
– Manage your company’s public image
– Maintain and nurture passive candidates

How to use CRM to improve your recruitment process

Looking to integrate a candidate relationship management system into your hiring workflow and process? Here is how to do it and the benefits you stand to gain.

– i. Create customized talent pools
Being able to manage your talent pipeline is easily the most important skill you can develop as a recruiter. Essentially, you need to know how to continually create and maintain a pool of skilled people who have shown genuine interest and have the right qualities to fill particular job opportunities in your organization. An effective way to help you achieve this is by communicating correctly with these people with an aim to push them closer to take action (apply for the position or attend an interview) when needed.

A reliable CRM tool helps you automatically connect with applicants while also providing you with valuable insights on the individual’s level of interest, skill, and education – all from one central point.

– ii. Manage your company’s public image
Let’s face it, we all would love to carry enviable tags like “best employer” or “best company to work for”, but how do you become one?

Well, by using simple tactics like conducting transparent job interviews and hiring drives, listening to candidates, providing feedback to those that don’t make the final cut, and being in contact with those that qualified but were not fortunate enough to join your team. A good CRM makes all these tasks easy to do, and ultimately enhances your company’s overall image in the eyes of potential candidates.

– iii. Maintain and nurture passive candidates
Wondering what a passive candidate is? This is an individual who’s not actively looking or applying for a job as they’re technically happy with their current one. On the other hand, active candidates are those you’ll encounter and interact with through applications and resumes whenever you advertise an opening.

LinkedIn approximates that there are about 70% of passive job searchers while the rest are active candidates.

When hiring, most recruiters focus on only the 30% (active searchers), which means they miss out on the bigger (and probably more valuable) talent pool that is passive candidates. Avoid falling into this trap by learning how to attract their attention and get them to apply.

You can do this using the following three simple strategies:

– Use a CRM or an applicant tracking system (ATS) to create a database where you can store candidate information. This works best when you need to collect details of candidates that may not have been good fits for past job opportunities, but who might suit perfectly for current or future positions.

Referral recruiting is another highly effective method of finding suitable passive candidates to fill positions in your company. A good place to start is to ask your employees to refer their talented friends and family to apply for your opening.

– Social media provides another great avenue for connecting and interacting with passive candidates. By staying active on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, you might easily attract passive job searchers scrolling through their feeds.

Are you looking for a way to improve your hiring process and be able to attract top talents to your organization? Integrate a CRM solution into your workflow today. Leverage the SmartRecruiters tech to save on time and resources when hiring.