What Do My Trainer Collection and Your Recruitment CRM Have In Common?
I don’t remember when it started, but I order trainers so often I can’t keep track. I always need a new pair — or is it I always want a new pair? Do we even know the difference between what we need, what we want and what we do out of habit? At Bullhorn, I work with Recruitment Databases. I regularly order trainers to the office and end up with a small collection of shoe boxes under my desk, this made me realise how similar my trainer collection is to a database full of candidates.
So here are my struggles and how to deal with a big recruitment database (or trainer collection).
The bigger, the better?
My current trainer collection is so big it raises the question: Is it a collection or is it an addiction? Some recruiters suffer from the same symptoms. They have a database full of candidates but keep filling it up with more and more data. Have we now unknowingly declared quantity as a victor in the battle against quality? Are recruiters that have a bigger database the real winners? Surely not.
A pair of trainers can be cheap, but that will never signify the benefit and quality it will bring me. I undoubtedly will always be looking for a quality pair, just like recruiters will always be looking for a good candidate. But for every purchase or every addition to the database, another gets lost, which will turn into ‘how much more can I get?’ But bigger doesn’t mean better.
The diamond in the dirt
Maybe we think having new additions and more choice will help or benefit us somehow. However, this doesn’t mean the job will get done any better. Is there anything wrong with looking to an existing collection before considering external options? I used to never ask myself this and I would immediately go onto ASOS. It’s become a force of habit to buy for the sake of buying, add instead of using what I already had. Instead, I should think about what I need the trainers for, and to then look through my existing collection first for a quality pair that will do the job.
I must admit—the days of looking through my trainer collection to find what I need is a rarity. But when I do, I always find a pair that I love that escaped my mind. This is similar to a pool of candidates within a database. Because it’s now become so cluttered, it’s so difficult to locate the diamond amongst all the dirt.
Transform old habits
I could easily open up my saved items on ASOS or even run a quick search for the new arrivals and immediately get sucked into the same old habits and the same old routines. Those job boards with all those candidates sitting there, waiting for you to come and get them is hypnotising. It lures you in, and you quickly fall back into old habits.
But what about the hidden gems within? The trainers hidden under my bed, or in my wardrobe, the candidates saved in your database who haven’t been contacted or updated in a long time. What if my initial thought was to search my home for trainers, and your initial thought would be to search your database for candidates? What if these became our new habits instead? Surely this would save a lot of time and effort, searching for something in amongst what you already have. Not to mention the amount of money you will save not wasting time on finding a candidate on a job board you already have, or one with the same qualities as another already in your database.
Manage your database efficiently
It’s no secret that outsourcing is a manual and costly job. You’ll spend a lot of time and money on outsourcing against a much quicker, cheaper, and easier internal search for what you need. If we were to re-evaluate our processes and step away from our ‘bad’ habits, surely we can find a way to become more efficient.
Maybe it’s time to cleanse your candidate database and maybe it’s time for me to get rid of those trainers I don’t actually need. By changing our habits we can save time, money and effort, but still find the quality we need. How about we flip the script for a change and oppose the same old processes? There are so many question marks and ‘what ifs’ that we can so easily do something about. Taking care of what we already have could just be the answer.
Why not join us at Engage London 2019 for more top tips, key insights, and product training to help you make the most of your recruitment CRM and better manage your database? Register today!