The cost of labour is roughly 70%+ of all operating budgets of organizations today. Not only is this number significant but so is the increasingly complex nature in which organizations are comprised. Employees no longer all reside in the same geographic location and work under the same roof together. Staff can literally be sitting any place on this planet at any given time, and work in teams made up of people in many different time zones. We now have a huge organizational cost of labour plus the highly complex nature of how we attract, engage and retain top talent. What this means for leaders is they are spending more and more time managing and administering the people side of their business, and teams.
In an era of “doing more with less” we have seen a proliferation of cloud-based software tools that support every aspect of the Human Resources function, from recruitment to payroll to performance management to employee engagement. From a personal observation standpoint I can comfortably say that the biggest area where software has made the biggest splash is in recruitment. Their core mandates? It’s simply to find better quality talent faster and cheaper. Within the recruitment category a variety of sub-categories have emerged such as social recruiting, candidate resume matching, online personality assessments, video recruiting, talent communities and the list goes on.
These platforms are all excellent pieces of software but the one sub-category that I have absolutely fallen in love with is online assessments, and here is why.
The Resume Really Does Suck
I can’t tell you how much I dislike resumes. How does looking at a resume that was probably written by someone else equate to selecting the right candidates to interview? It doesn’t. We do it because it once was once the best way to screen applicants, in 1971. We’re now in year 2014 and we have a gazillion other tools that can help us more accurately screen applicants to determine who we should be interviewing.
Second, the interview also sucks. Using the face-to-face interview with the screening of a traditional resume is probably the worst possible predictor of on-the-job success of an applicant. How does a series of short interviews over 2 weeks allow Recruiters, HR Practitioners and Hiring Managers get a complete picture of each candidate and their degree of fit to both job and organization, over the long-term? It’s impossible, and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out. I would argue that the majority of the population can alter their presentation in interviews to appear to be likeable and a good fit. Those that can do this regardless of past performance history and real fit for long-term success will win this game.
Given that labour is extremely expensive to organizations, why do we keep doing this? More importantly, why do we keep doing this when there are so many fantastic solutions out on the market that can help us? It’s time to change this, and I have been fortunate to have gotten to know Plum (formerly known as CreamHR).
“Moneyball for Hiring… and It Works”
The cloud-based Plum platform assesses each job applicant’s problem solving and ability and personality priorities, which are the main predictors of job performance. The data-rich tool is based on an online questionnaire that each applicant only needs to take once, regardless of how many jobs they apply for. Here’s the thing… no resumes are even looked at until the Plum platform does its analytical work to determine which applicants should be interviewed. Not only does the platform work in terms of identifying the top potential candidates, it also saves an incredible amount of time, resources while minimizing risk to not picking out the right applicants.
Key Features Include:
Great UI (User Experience)
The tool is so simple to use, including a simple-looking dashboard. Simplicity is one of the keys to successful adoption of new software, and Plum has nailed this.
Rich Data Analytics
Data is accessible in real-time using the tool. You can easily slice and dice data based on what you are looking for at any point in time. The reliance on labour-intensive and out-of-data data reports is gone. Think of the platform like a real-time report machine.
Hardware Platform Transparency
As a cloud-based software Plum enables users to use any device anytime and anywhere, whether it be their desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. Experiences are optimized based on the hardware being used, which provides customers with a huge competitive advantage with these highly flexible capabilities.
Multiple & Flexible Data Uses
The tool is not only used to assess fit in recruiting candidates to new jobs, it can also be successfully used as a way to measure developing employee skills and expertise. You can evaluate any type of job and its critical success factors at any time using any group within the Plum platform. Can you imagine the power of how organizations can better manage their talent with real-time and useful data to support growth initiatives? The sky’s the limit.
Conclusion
Plum has found the solution that will make a huge positive impact on business results in organizations today. It saves time and money, and significantly increases the ability to hire the right talent at any time. Still not convinced? Check out their success stories here.
For more information about Plum check them out on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
