Lost Talent In The UK - Could Automation Be The Answer?

How automation is streamlining the recruitment journey

The number of steps needed to complete the recruitment journey has been a pain point for recruiters, and the time it takes to come to an informed hiring decision is resulting lost talent.

And talent really is being lost - according to the Xref Recruitment Risk Index, 15% of UK HR and recruitment professionals said delays in their recruitment process had caused candidates to look elsewhere.

Couple this with the turbulent economic climate currently facing businesses in the UK and you can see why recruitment firms are looking for ways to cut costs and improve profitability to ensure the security of their business.

The risk of corner cutting

In many cases, the risk of losing a candidate due to delays in the recruitment process will lead to corner cutting on tasks that are deemed a drain on resources.

According to our research, some 23.5 percent of candidates were not asked for either a character reference or an employment reference when applying for a job. And of those that were asked for a reference, 23 percent said that their referee was never contacted.

The irony is that, by “saving time” during the recruitment process, you open your firm up to the risk of placing a bad hire, which means, at best, you send yourself back to square one, looking for another candidate and, at worst, you damage your relationship with a client.

The threat of hiring someone who is not the person they say they are is very real, with 28 percent of the job seekers we surveyed admitting to taking advantage of flaws in the reference checking process, to position themselves more favourably with potential employers.

Balancing short-term priorities with long-term results

It comes as little surprise that 49% of the recruitment professionals surveyed for the Bullhorn 2018 UK Recruitment Trends report stated profitability as a top priority.

When both external and internal factors are putting pressure on a business, the focus tends to turn to this core measurement of success and stability.

But this short-sighted focus on cost-saving and revenue generation could be preventing businesses from leveraging the smart approaches that would improve productivity and, in turn, profitability.

The adoption of recruitment automation in the UK

According to the Bullhorn report, adoption of automated processes remains low across the UK recruitment industry and 48% of the respondents revealed that they are using no automated solutions during the screening and credentialing stages.

As a result, some steps are just not happening as they are too laborious or admin-heavy in their traditional, manual format.

But that’s not to say the industry doesn’t acknowledge the potential benefits of an automated approach. According to Bullhorn, 40% of respondents saw the potential to increase efficiencies with automation, while 38% recognised the value of increased engagement that automation could drive.

The benefits of smart due diligence

Today, a smart, secure and insightful recruitment process can add real value, not just to an individual’s role, but to their business as a whole.

Benefits include:

• Increased productivity and billings - faster recruitment turnaround times generate a greater volume of confident placements and happier, more loyal clients
• Compliance and governance - tech-based solutions provide assurance for agencies who are increasingly carrying liability for the placements they make
• A competitive advantage - using tech demonstrates a recruitment firm is efficient with their time and focused on making great placements, not profits

To learn more of the findings from the Xref and Bullhorn reports, as well as the challenges and opportunities they present for the UK’s recruitment industry, watch the webinar below.

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