I attended the CIPD HR Software Exhibition the other week, not expecting to be stirred by the experience. To my surprise I spotted a company that is using software to transform the way companies and individuals organise their career development.
careerpassport offers an innovative approach to recruitment that stands head and shoulders above the crowd in terms of ingenious technology, a one-stop approach to finding a career move for busy people and how it can be used by companies wanting to revolutionise their HR recruitment function. Headquartered in the warmer climes of Malta but with an international footprint. I was hoping I might get to sample the software in Malta but had to content myself with an interview by Skype! 🙁 I asked Christina Medici to tell me how the company encourages and sustains innovation in the fairly traditional area of HR. Disruptive innovatuon reminds me of a punk rock attitude to business, (simpler, shorter, more authentic) as mentioned by Perry Timms at a recent CIPD conference. I cannot pass on without playing “Career opportunities” by The Clash first:
How have you innovated within recruitment?
Being a recruiter is tough work. Searching for the right candidate is even tougher. You waste time copying and pasting on different job boards. This leads to unsorted CV’s from different sources. Short-listing candidates is also stuck in the 19th Century. You interview candidates, take notes etc. If these are not processed quickly you can lose valuable date in a pile of mismatched notes. You also need to give the candidate feedback, and share notes with your colleagues. So everyone loses if the process is inefficient. At careerpassport, we asked ourselves, ‘How would recruitment be if it were to be re-invented today?’ We came up with two unique elements:
1. Companies get an innovative platform, which exploits the web and social recruitment to give a company a fully integrated career site with its own choice of brand / URL. The recruiter’s job is simplified as all job applications come through the system. We use KANBAN methodology to simplify communications with applicants and allow the recruiter to spend time on the more crucial parts of the job. Companies can manage their own CV bank, enabling them to write notes on candidates, which can be easily shared with colleagues.
2. All candidates have to do is to create and maintain their Linkedin profile. This then helps to automate the process of applying for jobs, saving them time and helping them target the right opportunities very efficiently. We’ve estimated that it takes candidates 39 seconds to create a profile for a job application (rather than the ’39 steps’ approach). Candidates are alerted when a new job matching their preference becomes available online, which helps them compete effectively. The result is an efficient and streamlined recruitment system with improved chances of employing top talent at a considerably reduced cost.
Innovation in technology can often be copied or appropriated quickly. How have you built in adaptability, continuous improvement to make the system sustainable?
We use agile development methodologies. Unlike larger players we migrate into the latest version of software available once they become available. This enables us to attract the best talent and give our clients the possibilities newer technologies give us.
That’s all fine. The proof of any innovation is in the uptake / adoption by clients. What do they say?
Livebookings, one of the UK’s 50 fastest growing online companies has recently adopted careerpassport with a saving in their recruitment expenditure between 2011 and 2012 of 68%.
KONNEKT, one of Malta’s leading recruitment agencies, was looking for a highly flexible and customizable platform to fit its philosophy. By using careerpassport, KONNEKT improved client and candidate relationships significantly. Independent research ranked it first in terms of service and website functionality. As a social media oriented platform, careerpassport has also enabled the company to attract candidates who were not connected directly to them.
Alison Grech, KONNEKT’s Operations Manager said “the implementation of careerpassport helped us simultaneously achieve multiple objectives we had set at the beginning of 2011. Other social networking sites give you access to candidates but careerpassport went beyond that by better positioning our business to deal with candidates who approached us on opportunities they were genuinely interested in”. She added, “although increased effectiveness and improved service ratings where enough to justify the cost of the system, careerpassport was also a significant contributor to our overall performance. Following the implementation of careerpassport at the end of Q4 2010, it took us only a few weeks to generate the momentum required. From as early as the 6th week, we started to experience improved results and sustained higher billing during all of Q2 2011”.
OK, sum up how you have innovated in the career management space?
- Because the technology is scalable investment is always proportionate to the level of growth of the client’s business.
- We offer greater customisation and faster deployment than the usual suspects
- careerpassport modernizes the entire recruitment process from advertising the job vacancy, manage candidate relationship, interview to hiring stage with reliable technical assistance provided throughout the entire process.
- careerpassport adopts a ‘Data Liberation’ policy (similar to Google) which means that the database of candidates migrated to the careerpassport system is still the property of the client, we simply own the platform and enable our clients to use that data more efficiently.
For more details or to try the careerpassport system contact Christina Medici at christina.medici@careerpassport.co.uk T: 02032 872286
Have we got an excuse to play some modern punk rock at this stage? Of course we have, as successful innovation relies on great attention to detail as well as the big picture. Cue ‘All the Small Things’ by Blink 182:
