What are the most effective ways to automate your talent pipeline?

By leveraging technologies such as applicant tracking systems, AI-powered recruitment tools, automated job posting, candidate relationship management systems and HR automation, we can streamline the recruitment process, attract top talent and ultimately drive business success in the competitive retail jewellery industry. By embracing automation, jewellery retailers can stay ahead of the curve, adapt to changing market dynamics, and build a talented workforce capable of delivering exceptional customer experiences and driving long-term growth and profitability.

ATS plays a key role in automating the TA function. Integrating the job boards to the ATS enables a single window screening for applicants. Designing the right set of screening questionnaire enables easy filtering and it is absolutely time saving. Social Media marketing enable the automation of the talent pipeline to reach its full potential.

Using a CRM is like breathing for our industry. Its a need! By building networks of the best candidates in your respective verticals, you become one step ahead of the game and are ready for when the need to hire arises.

A CRM system will allow you to organize candidates into different recruitment stages. This system could be your single searchable database which will allow you to timely and cost effectively communicate with your candidates. it will also enable you to find the right talent at the right time as creating a talent network and managing a large pool of data- candidate info- is in its core.

Master your ATS features and leverage it to full extent. At application stage, ask right questions to filter right candidates. At interview stage automate scheduling, tracking, assignments etc. Automate weekly reports and analysis. Route all profiles to ATS instead of receiving it on email or Whatsapp.

Implimentation of referral program is very important in todays working culture .Since referrals are more likely to be a good fit, they employees probably feel motivated and also gives them urge to earn perks with the icreased incentive, bonus and other perks as given under employee referral policy thus it increases the motivation level in employees and improves upon the engagement.

Employee referral programs significantly reduce recruitment costs and improves candidate quality, culture fit, and retention rate. Candidates sourced via an employee referral program get hired much faster than candidates sourced through traditional channels. Companies can expand their talent pool by as much as ten times if they leverage their employees’ social and professional networks via an effective referral program. Candidates who don’t get on board will still remember the good experience and share it with their friends. Online reputation matters.

In my Opinion Employee Referral is one of the most effective ways of hiring and retaining. As referrer usually is the testimony of organisational culture. A trust in an organisation by an employee is already built by the way of referring. Also, employee referral is a cost effective method - giving an extra earning potential to current employees by referring worthy candidates and less Expensive than an external recruitment agency

Employee Referral program is one of the most efficient, trusted and cost effective mechanism in hiring . Its a way through which all 3 parties involved are benefitted .

Good people know good people. Referral programs are a great way to expand your network to candidates that may not be advertising themselves on LinkedIn/ job boards.

For me, I think it's very important to still use the personal touch within recruitment, it makes you different to the rest and could be a big influence with the candidate's decision when the time comes. But, I do believe AI can be beneficial in the recruitment world and can help talent teams work smarter and not harder when using AI tools such as using an AI note taking tool to capture all discussions during pre-screening, interviews or even hiring manager de-/briefing meetings (telephone/video). This will capture everything discussed and you can focus on speaking with the candidates/hiring managers more without having touch pen to paper. You must ensure these AI technologies are GDPR compliant and follow company guidelines on AI.

Integrating AI-driven tools has been a game-changer for us. These systems handle repetitive tasks like initial candidate screening, scheduling interviews, and answering FAQs, freeing up valuable time for recruiters to focus on strategic initiatives. Moreover, they offer round-the-clock engagement, providing candidates with immediate responses and enhancing their experience.

Personally, I think any automation that replaces or simulates human connection is a slippery slope. Yes, you could automate something as simple as an interview scheduling conversation, but often, these brief touchpoints throughout a process are the ones that build rapport and give you insights into how they are feeling about a role. Does their tone match how they were the last time you discussed the role? Often, what someone doesn't say in a conversation tells you just as much as what they did say.

By screening applicants, setting up interviews, and sending updates, AI and chatbots automate talent pipelines, improving the applicant experience and cutting down on the time it takes to recruit. By simulating human interactions, these technologies use artificial intelligence to increase efficiency and remove biases and errors. They respond to candidate inquiries, expedite procedures, and guarantee a smooth hiring process by utilizing natural language processing.

Recommend looking into GenAI to automate applicant analysis if you have high volumes. Key word searches aren’t enough - too limited & perpetuate bias, so you want a solution that provides a deep semantic analysis and is DE&I compliant. I know Popp AI fits the bill here, & they offer personalised rejection to put an end to ghosting. We use Popp for automating candidate engagement. Once we shortlist candidates for a role we can reach out via WhatsApp and begin a screening conversation. We can market a role, ask candidates questions, answer theirs, collect docs etc. It’s a really slick solution for streamlining recruitment admin and helping us focus on building relationships with the candidates that count, and it’s a great cost-saver too.

Optimizing your career site is crucial for attracting and engaging top talent. Start by ensuring that your site is user-friendly and mobile-responsive, making it easy for candidates to navigate and apply for positions on any device. Craft compelling and concise job descriptions that clearly outline the role, responsibilities, and qualifications, using keywords that candidates are likely to search for. Showcase your company culture, values, and employee benefits to give candidates a glimpse of what it's like to work at your organization.

What makes the career site effective is its capability to deliver the employer brand and filter like-minded individuals. It captures both recruitment marketing and analytics.

By defining your employer brand on your career site help candidates better understand company’s values and mission, as well as the benefits you can provide them as their employer. State this information and make it visible so candidates don’t have to find it. Your job descriptions should accurately reflect the role for which you’re hiring, including details like experience and skills required, commitment needed, and other expectations. Your company culture can be a great selling point for your business if highlighted the right way. When developing your career site, cast a wide net to attract candidates of all backgrounds. Remain mindful of how inclusive your language is and how it appeals to candidates of all identities and abilities.

It is essential to have a user friendly careers site. It should be well designed, clear and not too long winded. You need to ensure you showcase your company culture, values, mission, benefits, jobs, as well as case studies, life at your company and interview process. You need to show this off to give the candidate a glimpse of what it is like to work at your organisation. The careers site needs to be accessible and clear to apply for jobs including all the relevant information such as job duties/experiences. If there isn't a job suitable, ensure you have a section where candidates can register their interest for future jobs/talent pipeline. By having the above, this will attract top talent and increase their impression/wanting to apply.

Optimize your career site to enhance candidate engagement, streamline the application process, and attract top talent effectively.

Utilizing an ATS as a centralized hub for managing the recruitment process. It automates tasks such as posting job openings, screening resumes, scheduling interviews, and tracking candidate progress. By integrating with job boards, the ATS streamlines job postings and application collection, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring consistency across platforms. Additionally, by incorporating resume parsing technology, the ATS accelerates the screening process by extracting relevant information from resumes and identifying qualified candidates based on specific criteria and keywords. This comprehensive approach not only saves time and effort but also enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of your talent acquisition efforts.

Similar to a CRM tool, automating Email marketing can definitely increase the reach, however, engagement with the brand and the organization is yet to be fully realized. Email marketing works better for a segmented pool with a focused approach.

Automating email marketing can assist in expediting scheduling for screening calls/interviews, plus keeping candidates updated on their candidacy. Additionally, it's a good tool for constant engagement with candidates. For example, a weekly newsletter to your candidates on a specific topic. Automated emails keep you in contact with top talent.

You want to have a consistent timeline delivery of email, for example every Friday at 15:00 (just an example) add some personality to your emails and find ways to ensure that people are actually looking forwards to receiving your email every Friday. Make it no BS email with value and you’ll see the success . You can automate all your open jobs to your email so that sending the email shouldn’t take more than 10 mins to create and send .

Email marketing helps companies to reach a targeted audience of candidates who have opted in to receive job alerts or updates from your company. This ensures that your job opportunities are seen by individuals who are actively interested in your organization and are more likely to apply. It also enables recruiters to engage with candidates on a regular basis by sending them relevant job opportunities, company updates, and career-related content.

Pree, I’d also add that developing a culture with managers around having a talent pipeline and succession plan is a critical organisational requirement. Not easy to do but it’s something that you can’t just hand to your TA team; everyone needs to own the talent pipeline. It should mimic a sales pipeline in many respects!

Recruiting is a human business. Remember to keep the human in your outreach. Stop leading with "I hope this email finds you well" (Unless they were playing hide and seek with a crocodile while awaiting your email...) It sounds canned and written by a bot. Maybe try "Happy Friday", or if you took good notes the last time you talked, lead with some event or milestone they mentioned. People like being remembered, and appreciate the extra attention to detail that doesn't cost you a dime or time.

Focus on quality over quantity: While automation helps reach a wider pool, prioritize attracting and engaging the most qualified candidates. Maintain a human touch: Even with automation, personalize communication with potential hires whenever possible. Continuously monitor and refine: Track your results and adjust your automation strategies based on what works best for your organization and target audience.

As much as I believe automation is good, always make sure to add personalization to your work, adverts, InMail's etc. you don't want to look like a robot.

Adapt Kanban methodology to have a steady supply of interested candidates. Have a constant touch with the candidates through different modes of communications, share the job openings (even if its not relevant for them, we can still get referrals from them,) and company updates to them. This way we can keep the interested candidates engaged.