What is a CRM for recruiters?

In May 2020, the unemployment rate in Canada grew to a record high for 13.7% according to Trading Economics. While in recent weeks we have seen the economy pick up, we are a long way from normal and there are record numbers of qualified candidates who are currently seeking employment.

Recruiters are facing a double-edged sword: on the one hand, there may never have been so many qualified candidates vying for positions, and on the other hand, the sheer abundance of applications makes it harder to find the candidate who will bring the right fit.

Enter the CRM for recruiters. CRM, in the context of recruitment, is an acronym for Candidate Relationship Management. It was created to improve the recruitment process for both recruiters and candidates alike. It is based on the premise that candidates should be treated like customers, and every interaction the company has with a candidate is an opportunity to build a lasting, positive relationship.

4 key elements of CRM for recruiters

CRM designers have spoken with recruiters and listened to the challenges they face daily. From attracting the right candidates and creating an efficient recruiting process to ensuring a good candidate experience… what matters to recruiters is what matters to your CRM. CRM for recruiters helps recruiters bring ease and a human touch back into the recruitment process. As a recruiter, it will allow you to:

• Find, attract, nurture and manage candidates
• Build and maintain relationships with large pools of candidates
• Streamline the entire recruitment process
• Manage all aspects of staffing and recruiting

Who is a recruitment CRM intended for?

CRM recruitment is designed for companies that recruit on a large scale, specifically big companies or companies that are facing a period of great growth. CRMs facilitate team-oriented and collaborative recruiting.

But wait, what if I already have an ATS?

The first thing to point out is that an ATS is not a CRM. Many large companies do have ATS, or in other words, an Applicant Tracking System. But these are a far cry from the Candidate Relationship Management system. Here’s how you can tell the difference.

You know you need a CRM in addition (or instead of!) your ATS when:

You have to manually input too many required fields.

This is a huge waste of time and it reduces the efficiency of your team. The automated natured of a CRM can decrease time-to-hire and improve candidate conversion.

Your database is basically just administrative

Your data serves just for workflow process and compliance, but fails to give you a decent ROI for sourcing and reporting.

You need to screen CVs

Having a CRM lets you rate candidates without their resumes and keeps you from being fully dependent on the data the candidate gives you.

You can’t measure engagement

A CRM will tell you if a candidate is active or engaged and help you track relationships.

Here are a few signs it’s time for you to consider a recruitment CRM

• You have multiple profiles for the same candidate

ATS restricts visibility, which can result in duplicate profiles. This can occur in situations where a recruiter sources a candidate who already exists in the system, a candidate who applies for a job is also referred by an employee, a candidate reapplies to the same job, a candidate applies to a different job… all leading to a chaotic situation that can be fully avoided thanks to the clarity of a CRM.

• You actively source candidates

While the ATS is reactive by nature, the CRM allows recruiters to be proactive by targeting the prospects that are truly of interest and building new relationships.

• You’re tracking candidate data on spreadsheets

ATS was designed to manage candidates after they applied, not before. A CRM, however, tracks communication no matter what the stage the applicant is in during the pre-hire process thanks to email syncs, LinkedIn InMail integration, source tagging and a clear CRM display of past sourcing context. CRM lets you trade in spreadsheet confusion for relationships and insights.

• Your ATS is a cemetery of lost leads

The hundreds or thousands of candidates who have applied to your company over the last few years are haunting your ATS and cluttering it with outdated data. A CRM can automatically update your ATS data and allow you to target the best applicants for open roles.

• The old ways of recruiting may not be possible in today’s world anymore

Career fairs and online campaigns have long been go-to ways to build brand and attract passive candidates. It might be a while before career fairs are a part of our reality once more and online campaigns make it hard to measure ROI. The right CRM will help you track prospects and nurture new relationships with measurable data.

Top features you should be looking for in your recruitment CRM

In your search for the right CRM, look for a candidate relationship management system that allows you to:

• create and segment a talent pool
• send personalized and automated emails and text messages
• create email campaigns and surveys
• send automatic invitations to company events

Recruiters will find tremendous value in a system that allows you to track applicants and manage the applicant’s journey from the moment they apply until the day they start their new position.

Also crucial – the ability to glean candidate relationship management analytics. Your CRM should let you track all your recruitment efforts through detailed reporting and tracking. In addition to enabling strategic data-driven recruitment, tracking will allow you to prove to your upper management the value of your recruitment team in scaling growth in your company.

The benefits of using a CRM for recruiters

The benefits of a CRM are twofold: they help recruiters do their jobs more efficiently, and they create a smoother and more pleasant process for candidates, which is not only a great start to the relationship your company will have with future employees but also enhances your brand even among candidates who will not ultimately work for your company.

Reduced time-to-hire: by eliminating manual data, the CRM speeds up the hiring process.

Increased productivity: by eliminating spreadsheets and manual data entry and facilitation teamwork and collaboration, your team will save precious time.

Better candidate relationships: build detailed candidate profiles and automate communication to nurture candidates. Send automated emails, conduct qualification screenings, schedule interviews and conduct background checks all within the same CRM.

Visualize data on any device: build more in-depth relationships with each candidate and reach out to them on a more personal level during the recruitment process.

Have an up-to-date database of candidates: keep in contact with all of your candidates for future recruitment opportunities.

Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is your best option

Powered by the Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is built by a team of Staffing, Recruiting and Human Resource professionals who have experienced the many challenges of managing customers, candidates, hiring managers, jobs, applications, interviews and placements first-hand. With the help of their team’s Certified Microsoft Dynamics Technology Specialist and Application Developers, they focus on finding solutions that promote business growth and eliminate the bottlenecks in your staffing and recruiting processes.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers you a personalized experience that integrates well with your existing ecosystems. A system that evolves as you do, Microsoft Dynamics 365 connects with other platforms including Office 365 and SharePoint.

Also, you can integrate LinkedIn into your Dynamics CRM solution. There are a lot of benefits for you linked both platforms as being able to keep a track of potential candidates for future jobs and finding candidates and providing managers with the most up to date information for interviewers.

Things to look for in Dynamics CRM

• Dynamics CRM is customizable.

An out-of-the-box solution might not be right for your reality as a builder. Dynamics CMR can accommodate the needs of your business model.

• Dynamics CRM is extensible.

Chances are you already have some other platforms that work for you and you don’t see the need to change them. Dynamics CRM can connect seamlessly with other platforms so that you can build on what you already have instead of starting from scratch.

• Dynamics CRM offers you the right levels of security.

Obviously, customer data is not something to take lightly. Some of it can be sensitive in nature, and your very reputation depends on your clients trusting you with their project and their information. Dynamics CRM has the right security in place so that neither your data nor your customers’ data is at risk.

• Dynamics CRM is scalable.

You’re in the business of growth. Don’t pick a CRM for recruiters that is incapable of growing along with you. Your CRM for recruiters needs to evolve and keep pace with your business decisions, and should be able to handle anything that is thrown your way.

After all, you’re not shopping for a CRM for the next year or two, you’re looking for something for a much longer time horizon that won’t need to be replaced down the road. Dynamics CRM software is always improving, it keeps changing and developing to keep up with the needs of the market.

If you are looking for a CRM for recruiters, it is important to find the CRM that fulfills the needs of recruitment.

At Gestisoft, we understand recruitment and we understand CRMs. We would be happy to speak with you about the best fit for your recruiters. Find out how our consulting services can help you reach the next level in CRM excellence