With business software, you’re not buying a tool – you’re buying a philosophy about how your business should run. The software has features and functions like a tool, but they reflect an opinion about the workflows, relationships, and data that lead to success.

The ‘tool mindset’ stifles business transformation because it assumes that software will cure problems without requiring a company to change. The ‘philosophical mindset’ of software embraces transformation. It makes software a blueprint for changing the company.

Over the past five years leading Talent Rover, I’ve worked with boutique, midsize, and enterprise staffing and recruitment businesses, including the industry’s largest firm. In every case, I find that the more a company adapts to its recruitment software, the more of a competitive edge it gains.

That observation might sound counterintuitive. Don’t most software vendors try to adapt to their customers? “We’ll modify or customize anything you want,” they’ll often say.

While that sounds like good service, I would argue that heavy customization is often a disservice. It often encourages businesses to preserve their worst habits and processes rather than transform.

How is that possible? 

Consider that many companies have built their workflows around the shortcomings of old software. At many staffing and recruitment firms, for example, entering and reentering data in multiple applications becomes a process because their systems don’t talk to each other. Using a whiteboard for per diem staffing becomes accepted because the existing software can’t cope with the chaotic scheduling process. Saving resumes to a database doesn’t become a process because the database lacks a reliable method for searching resumes. But years after we adopt a workflow of workarounds, we can forget why did so in the first place.

So, a firm might buy new software but ask the vendor to duplicate all the workflows created to circumvent archaic software. In other words, the firm revises the philosophy of its new software to resemble that of the old software. By treating software like a tool that should adapt to their business, these firms amplify rather than solve their problems. The company can’t transform while doubling down on its existing ways.

So how do you evaluate and implement new software without becoming trapped in the philosophy of the existing?

First, reflect on why your business operates the way it does. If you adapted to the philosophy of the new software platform, how would your workflows change? Would you make more money?

When I say “adapt,” I don’t mean that you should give up the strategies that distinguish your business from others. Not at all. Adaptation involves refining old processes or adopting new ones to make those strategies more effective. In staffing, that might mean embracing new workflows that automate scheduling or digitize onboarding. The faster processes produce more placements in less time, which equates to more revenue and happier candidates and clients. 

Second, ensure that the people who make the software understand your industry. I prefer to buy accounting software from people with extensive accounting experience. And I urge recruiters to purchase recruitment software from people who have done the job. The philosophy of recruitment software reflects the experience of the people who designed it. Buying recruitment software from non-recruiters is like hiring graphic designers to manage your investment portfolio. Why would that go well?       

Third and most importantly, consider this question: Would you have to change more than 20 percent of a software product to make it work for you? If so, either a) your business isn’t willing to adapt, or b) it’s the wrong software.

Excessive customization is more of a sales strategy than a service. The vendor willing to rewrite 50 percent of its product doesn’t stand behind its own philosophy (presuming it has one). 

Tools have features and functions. Real business software has a perspective on how to make your business more efficient, effective, and profitable. It reflects the professional experience of the designers and collective wisdom they’ve gained through serving your industry. 

In 2017, stop buying hammers and start buying philosophies. Choose software vendors that have a vision for transforming your business.

Time management. It's something we all struggle with at one point or another. Time is our most valuable and most limited resource, so it is imperative to use it wisely. Too often it feels like there are simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done. However, with a few easy adjustments to your daily flow, you'll find the time you didn't know you had.

Build Traction

How many times have you been advised to get the hard stuff out of the way first? And how many times has that led to anxiety- based procrastination on getting started? If that sounds like you, those big tasks can seem discouraging at first. Allow yourself time to gain traction by starting with a few simple tasks first. The satisfaction of getting something done, no matter how small, will encourage you to continue to get things done. Eventually, you will work your way up to that bigger project.

Get Organized

It's no mystery that being unorganized can take up precious time when you're trying to get things done. You're constantly asking yourself questions like, "Where did I put that client's business card? Which folder is that presentation in? Is that Narnia in the back of my desk drawer?" To avoid spending too much time looking for the things you need and only finding the things you don't, remember these three words: alphabetize, categorize, and chronologicalize. Okay, chronologicalize isn’t a real word, but when you organize things by category in chronological and alphabetical order, you have to be trying to lose track of them.

Redo the To-Do List

Everyone knows about to-do lists­—they’re essential parts of time management 101. The sense of accomplishment you feel when you check off a box is like a tiny pat on the back. However, the mistake people make with to-do lists is writing them in the morning when they get to work. This takes up valuable time you could be using getting the items on the list done. Instead, make your to-do list in the evening before you go home for the day. This way, you have a clearer sense of what needs to get done and you are less likely to forget that nagging detail in the back of your head. You can always keep your list with you and add to it throughout the day. Just make sure you have your initial to-do list waiting for you in the morning.

Breaks, Breaks, Breaks

While working hard is important, giving yourself a moment to reset is also important. Focusing too hard for too long will cause burnout in even the most staminal of workaholics, therefore slowing productivity. Your brain is a computer and computers need to breathe. By taking some down time in between major tasks you can come back to your work refreshed and energized every time. So get a snack, meditate, or read that article you've been meaning to get around to. Your brain will thank you.

Making mistakes is a normal part of life. It happens, right? However, there are mistakes and then there are MISTAKES, some you don’t even realize you’re making. Could you be digging your own grave without even realizing it? Check yourself with this list of the 7 deadly sins in the world of recruiting:

Cockiness

Confidence is key in any situation, but overconfidence can be a recruiter's Achilles' heel. This doesn't just apply to your attitude either. Not only does arrogance tend to turn people off, but it can also give you a false sense of security in your ability to get things done. Be proud of what you have accomplished in your years of experience, but don't let it give you a big head. Stay humble.

Over Pickiness

Producing the best possible matches for your clients is the overall goal of the staffing industry, but there is such thing as being too selective. Trying to find the "perfect" candidate is a fool's errand. You will be wasting precious time you could have been spending moving the process along with strong prospects on a wild goose chase. That's not good for you, your client, or your other candidates.

Finding and Forgetting

This is the mistake nearly every recruiter makes no matter how much experience they have. They source a candidate, submit them into the database, and forget about them when they should be building and nurturing a relationship with them. Even if the candidate isn't a good match for your current client, put that candidate in your back pocket for later. When you do sourcing from your own database (which you should be doing,) they could turn out to be another client's purple squirrel.

Giving into the Grind

After so long, anything will feel tedious and predictable. You may start to feel a lack of motivation, a need for a challenge, or that cockiness we talked about earlier may start to set in. It is important to give your 500th client the same enthusiasm and attentiveness as you gave your first. Start each new lead with a clean slate, even if you think you already know what they're going to say.

Static Strategizing

Our world is constantly changing and evolving, this includes the corporate world, too. What brought in new talent last year may not necessarily work for this year. That is why it is important to keep up with the culture and not be set in your ways. We are living in the age of social media where information travels fast. Don't get left behind on the job boards when new talent is just an update away.

Disorganization

Being organized isn't just a good idea, it can be the difference between meeting your deadline or meeting your maker. Keep track of where you do your sourcing, the status of your candidates, your time spent on different activities—everything! Make sure your files are up to date, include all the necessary info, and that you are regularly checking in with your clients and candidates.

Poor Time-Management

Proper time-management is the most intrinsic part of success as a recruiter which is why mismanaging it puts you in the deepest circle in HR Hell. You can get everything else to the T, but if you do not manage your time correctly it won’t matter. Managing time correctly is especially critical when it comes to actually placing your candidates. If you take too long they may find another opportunity, but if you hire too quickly that may set off a red flag in your prospect’s head. Handling not only your own time, but the time of your clients and candidates, with care is the most important thing you can do as a recruiter.

We've all heard about the office saboteur. They are the person who slows productivity, creates tension, and never. Returns. Your. Stapler. These interactions are the worst, no question, but what about your internal saboteurs?

Everyone has a little voice in their head that can be a major source of self-doubt and dread, resulting in a less than stellar performance in the workplace. It doesn't have to be this way, though. You can make these pesky detractors work in your favor rather than to your demise.

CEO coach, Shirzad Chamine, identifies 10 different kinds of saboteurs: the Stickler, the Pleaser, the Controller, the Avoider, the Victim, the Hyper-Achiever, Hyper-Vigilance, Hyper-Rationalism, Restlessness, and the Judge. Every single person has a Judge accompanied by at least two or three other saboteurs. You know that phrase, "you are your own worst critic"? That critic is your Judge talking. Some of the saboteurs may seem like good traits, but too much of a good thing can be detrimental.

For example, hyper-achievement sounds like a great quality to have. However, the pressure a hyper-achiever puts on themself can lead to mental collapse due to nervous exhaustion. Once the hyper-achiever reaches this point, there is a noticeable decline in their quality of work and strain on both personal and professional relationships.

The first step to solving any problem is recognizing that the problem is there in the first place.

This includes your saboteurs. Take the free Positive Intelligence Saboteur Assessment to identify your saboteurs. Once you can clearly pinpoint your saboteurs and what they sound like in your head, it will be easier to make them work in your favor. If you catch yourself sounding like one of your saboteurs, it probably means something you’re doing isn’t working. Make a conscious effort to notice when the perfectionism or brooding starts to set in so you can stop them in their tracks and make the necessary changes. You already have the Stapler Stealer to worry about, don’t let something as flexible as your own mindset get in your way as well.

Crafting an effective job description can be challenging, but just like eating your vegetables, it must be done to grow your client’s company big and strong. This description may be a candidate’s first impression of the organization, so you don’t want to blow it. Unfortunately, many companies use this gateway as a professional checklist, prompting applicants to question if they meet the qualifications or embody enough of the listed ambiguous personality traits to make the cut.

Sure, it’s important to reach the right pool of potential new hires for the role, but what if the right ones are turned off by your approach? This is exactly what a study from The Journal of Business and Psychology found. Lead by David Jones, a professor from the University of Vermont, the study points out what a few tweaks in wording and tone of a job advertisement can do for its reception. Here is how you can create an up-to-date description that will lead to better new hires and greater retention rates.

Set Yourself Apart

Instead of jumping right in and drilling candidates for a list of degrees or special skills, shift some of the focus to the company. Start the post with a few sentences about the open spot, and then highlight the culture and advantages that the company has to offer. This takes some of the pressure off the applicant and sells them on your brand.

Be Authentic

Only use hiring friendly phrases in your job posting if the organization and its employees can back them up. With so many two-way review channels available to the public, there is really no room for fibbing. A few negative posts about experiences with false promises can spook quality candidates. Write the job post the same way you would speak to the peers that you are hiring for to avoid misrepresentation. Be professional, but don’t be afraid to show the organization’s true colors.

Be Mindful of the Mobile Scanner

Mobile phones have become a lifeline to the outside world, including job posting sites. Candidates can easily scroll, search, and submit using only their thumbs. Don’t get passed by because your posting isn’t “user friendly.” Choose a catchy, informative title and take the time to format for a neat flow. Be open to non-traditional apps when recruiting. Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are great places to leave a job posting, but don’t write off the less common texting and tinder style apps for job searching.

The rules are changing with the popular sub generations submerging deeper into the professional world, and everyone is scrambling to stand out to applicants. Don’t be afraid of creativity when tapping into applicant pools, and be mindful that your job description can make or break you. 

Talent Rover, the comprehensive staffing and recruitment platform, today launched a new analytics suite and an advanced partner integration with LinkedIn.

Current analytics tools centralize data, leaving the user responsible for finding and configuring it to their needs. Talent Rover Analytics incorporates essential data throughout the platform alongside related information. Recruiters no longer search for the data they need to prioritize their activity and boost effectiveness - their data finds them in all of the areas where it is most relevant. The new suite allows customers to pull in data points from any internal or external source and visualize them within Talent Rover in easy-to-configure, drag and drop modules.

Enhanced account-level insights boost the efficiency of sales teams, providing users with an immediate overview of the how the progress of certain accounts impacts the business at-large and recruiters can quickly act on open jobs with new, more useful candidate data.

“Talent Rover Analytics gives sales and recruiting teams clear direction on where to focus their efforts,” said Brandon Metcalf, President and founder of Talent Rover. “While many analytics tools are focused only on KPIs, our customers can view and act on all of their data in the areas of the platform where they spend their day.”

In addition to the analytics launch, Talent Rover announced a platform integration with LinkedIn. The main piece of the integration - Recruiter System Connect - allows a user to complete and track any LinkedIn action without leaving Talent Rover. Recruiters can post jobs, review resumes, and communicate with candidates from LinkedIn inside of the Talent Rover platform which will automatically sync activity, data, and content from both locations.

The integration includes the ability to accommodate and track job applicants who prefer to use “Easy Apply” - LinkedIn’s mobile-friendly, two-step application process. It also captures applicant data from any source on the web where candidates choose to “Apply with LinkedIn” and can even collect candidate data from those who do not complete the application process.

“Everything a recruiter can do in LinkedIn, they can now do in Talent Rover.” said Kabe VanderBaan, VP of Technology at Talent Rover. “Every new feature, every new partner integration we add is designed to give our customers more a of reason to run their recruitment workflow completely within Talent Rover. This is a great example of that.”

Talent Rover Analytics and LinkedIn integration will be available starting January 2018. To learn more about Talent Rover news and releases visit http://www.talentrover.com/news.

About Talent Rover

Talent Rover is a software platform that focuses exclusively on staffing and recruitment. Designed by industry veterans who understand the frustrations with legacy software, Talent Rover makes the journey from sales to invoice quick, efficient, and painless. Today, Talent Rover serves firms in more than 40 countries and is ranked 151st on the Inc. 5000. Talent Rover’s mobile-first, cloud-based platform is built on Salesforce.com. It offers workflows for candidate relationship management, sales automation, pipeline management, and operational functions. The platform’s powerful analytics enables leaders to analyze what drives business, predict future growth, and stay ahead of a dynamic, changing industry. Talent Rover serves all verticals of the staffing and recruitment industry. Learn more at http://www.talentrover.com.

Making it easy for candidates to apply for jobs, complete onboarding, track their time, and get paid is critical for maintaining a healthy candidate pipeline. When it comes to your bottom line, a qualified pool of candidates is a critical factor in keeping existing customers and winning over new ones. Conversely, neglecting this experience can lead to widespread problems that manifest quickly and have a lasting negative impact.

Allison Holmberg is a Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Talent Rover and has experienced how a streamlined candidate experience can accelerate revenue growth, while a frustrating one can bring placement efforts to a screeching halt.

In this month’s “On The Desk,” we asked Allison a few questions about how firms can leverage their candidate experience to make more placements and boost their bottom line.

What does it mean to provide a great candidate experience and why should recruitment firms make it a priority?

“It all comes back to ease of use – is this a process a candidate can quickly and easily complete? If not, they simply won’t do it and they’ll go find a company that makes it easier for them. Candidates have come to expect a certain level of simplicity because they get it from all of the other websites or technologies they use on a daily basis. They expect things to be easy.

I think candidates also get an underlying message here about how much they’re valued as a candidate based on their experience. Making it easy to apply for jobs on a mobile device or streamlining the onboarding process makes candidates feel like they’re more than just a resume. It’s so important that they feel like they’re working with a firm that actually cares about helping them progress in their career or, at the very least, understands their need to get on the job quickly. When you make things easy it provides that personal touch.”

How does creating an optimal candidate experience help firms build and maintain relationships with clients?

“I think in any business, and especially recruiting, positive word of mouth is a huge factor. There is such a high level of trust between candidates and firms and a positive experience ensures your best candidates will stay loyal and encourage other job seekers they know to work with you. Clients notice things like that. If you have a wealth of candidates that have a great experience with you, it speaks volumes about how to advocate for candidates.”

What part of the recruitment and hiring process do you think has the biggest opportunity to impact a candidate’s experience?

“I worked extensively in recruitment before I came to Talent Rover and quickly learned that if one part of the process is disjointed or requires too much manual effort it typically makes the entire experience difficult. I think recruiters understand this – it’s a very symbiotic process where every piece impacts all the rest.”

What happens when a candidate experience is cumbersome or poor?

“For starters, you’ll be dealing with a team of really frustrated recruiters. A high turnover rate for certain positions is often a symptom of this problem. I’ve also seen how confusing or lengthy processes can cause your candidate pool to dry up – people will just stop coming into your branches to apply for jobs or those who do complete the process won’t ever come back again. I think the ultimate consequence for any business, where it really hurts, is that placements go unfilled. Firms are literally turning away revenue because it’s so difficult to make placements.

On the flip side, we’ve seen how investing in the candidate experience has actually transformed the entire recruitment workflow. It improves everything from internal morale issues to fill percentage.”

There’s a lot of tech out there claiming to focus on enhancing the candidate experience. What should staffing and recruitment firms be looking for?

“I think one of the biggest things to look for is a platform that addresses all candidate touch points throughout the process. There are a lot of single-function tools out there that work for one part of the process or a few parts of the process. Sometimes it’s helpful for our clients to map out what that ideal candidate experience looks like from end-to-end and make sure that they invest in solutions that accommodate and enhance the entire experience.

I also think onboarding is a huge pain point for a lot of companies – lots of paperwork, lack of automation, no easy way to manage credentialing, etc. Your technology should make it easy to do things like send a training instructions, receive text message notifications, and electronically sign and submit legal documents.”

What’s one unique thing about Talent Rover that helps recruitment firms enhance their candidate experience?

“Only one!? I really love how our clients have been able to utilize our Communities feature – essentially a self-service candidate portal that transfers some of the power back to candidates and allows them to take control of their experience. This type of product is really expanding the value we can add. It opens up a recruiter’s ability to offer the personal touch that makes candidates fans of a company for life.”

Allison Holmberg is a Sr. Marketing Manager at Talent Rover and has an extensive background in the recruiting industry. She collaborates across teams to market, build, and deliver the Talent Rover platform to best-in-class staffing and recruitment firms.

The short version is that my current business partner, Kent Gray, recruited me to come work with him at CVPartners back in 2007. I ended up leading all of technology for the firm with the mindset of expansion and growth. To accomplish this I began changing all of our infrastructure, phone systems, hardware and eventually software. In 2009, I decided to move us away from the current software because it just didn’t work. And when we implemented a new one, it was an even bigger disaster. So, I approached Kent with a crazy idea… what if we built our own? In 2012, we deployed the first version of Talent Rover at CVPartners. From there, it’s been a whirlwind. We’ve seen over 2800% growth since we packaged Talent Rover and began selling it.

Our value proposition is pretty simple – our platform is built by staffing and recruiting professionals for staffing and recruiting professionals to be the operating system of choice for external staffing and recruitment firms. We understand the differences and nuances of this industry because the majority of our team, myself included, has spent time ‘on the desk’ dealing with the daily challenges and obstacles our customers face. That kind of understanding and expertise is what they value most and it’s what makes our product work so well.

1. What problems are you looking to solve in the HR space with your suite offering? Why did you choose to build what you built?

Talent Rover was born from frustration – the same frustrations that nearly every external staffing and recruitment firm we work with are still facing today. Teams are often relying on dozens of single-function tools and make-shift solutions that render them disconnected and ultimately ineffective. Talent Rover not only solves these problems, but we work with our customers to help evolve their current workflow to keep up with how the industry is evolving.

When we talk about what we’re trying to solve, I try to look at things from the perspective of someone on the desk. How do we get them from an initial sales conversation to an invoice as quickly as possible? I don’t like using buzzwords, but Talent Rover is a true platform. We’re built on Salesforce technology, so we benefit from all of that innovation. Our platform connects sales and recruiting teams, fully aligns front, middle, and back office operations, and harnesses the power of candidate and client relationships inside branded communities. We’ve taken all the most important data points a recruiter needs on a daily basis and placed them strategically throughout the platform which allows our customers to make data-driven decisions, increase speed-to-placement, and gain a competitive advantage.

2. What are some of the common misconceptions that you have had HR personnel sharing with you about deploying recruitment software? What are some of the best practices you can suggest HR teams to follow to fast-track their staffing processes?

The biggest concern or question that we hear from staffing and recruitment professionals is about how to increase user adoption. One of my personal frustrations, across several industries, is when software companies are willing to add new things whenever the customer asks for them - more features, more functionality, more fields, more buttons, etc. By the time they’re done developing Frankenstein, no one wants to use it. This is especially difficult in the staffing industry where firms typically have two segments of employees - those individuals who are fresh out of school have high expectations for the technology they use and those individuals who are more seasoned (and profitable) and would rather do things the way they’ve always done them. The guiding principle has to be ease of use. Can someone who’s never done recruiting sit down and figure this out? Can someone who’s been doing recruiting for 40 years see value in the software? We always challenge our customers to be really honest with themselves throughout the process - try not reinvent the tool that you’re buying and actually use the tool that was developed. You’re buying software for a reason, hopefully from an expert who understands your industry. If you find yourself in a place where you feel it’s necessary to customize every single aspect, you’re probably buying the wrong one.

3. New millennial and experienced talent may lie on different ends of the recruitment spectrum, have varying skills to offer and different needs to be fulfilled. From fast learning to growth to career ambitions of this wide talent pool, what are the unique algorithms Talent Rover deploys to ensure the right match?

Our Search & Match tool works for every type of hire, skill set, and level of experience. The algorithm and the technology is flexible and scalable enough to accommodate the nuances unique to the industry and all the different types of jobs and candidates that come with it. Where the real advantage comes in is our ability to capture millennial candidates and applicants from all of the sources and devices they most use to apply for jobs. Their job searching behaviors are a little be different than other groups in within the workforce.

A great example of this is our mobile-first Communities portal - a place where candidates can manage their profile, their availability, their schedule, and submit time sheets all from their phone. Another example of this is our ability to accommodate and schedule for every type of shift, no matter how unorthodox. This is useful not only for temporary and part-time workers, but for freelance, per diem, and contract placements as well.  

4. Talent retention is the flipside of recruitment, and if companies could put in some effort into retaining top positions, it would help their growth to a large extent. Considering this, how can talent acquisition software serve their customers by helping them know their C-level employees may be inclined to leave and help with a possible damage control?

The overly-simple solution here is that hiring the right candidates - at any level - reduces the risk and rate of turnover. You need a software that can look at the subjective pieces of a person, not just the skill set or the background. Someone could look great on paper but be terrible in person for what you need them to do. Capturing all the data from every conversation, every interaction, every message, is critical because it paints a clearer picture.

5. With the trend of flexitime, temp staffing and gig economy being increasingly seen amongst the workforce, how does Talent Rover support its clients to fulfil these needs?

The gig economy has dramatically changed the staffing industry in the same way that LinkedIn changed the staffing industry, in that it’s no longer just about the candidates in your database, it’s about a relationship. Recruiters are still important and will always be needed because finding a job is a very personal process. However, for those that aren’t looking for a full time job, it’s powerful to have a software that captures the relationship between candidates and previous clients or a client and previous candidates. It gives you a different way of analyzing who’s going to be a fit even for a short-term gig. What we’ve learned is that even firms who still make the bulk of their money by finding candidates and placing them out on jobs have now embraced online staffing in an attempt to adapt.

6. What is your take on the massive explosion of HR Tech companies across so many categories? Salesforce, too has made inroads into the HR space, and Talent Rover is in fact, built on the Salesforce platform. Besides this, Talent Rover has also collaborated with Adecco, the global front-office staffing firm recently and Fyre, which synchronizes Vendor Management Systems and job boards. Could you elaborate more on these alliances and what value they bring to growth-stage companies?

Technology in the HR space is being disrupted, just like technology in so many other spaces. Historically, even today, HR tech is always well-behind any other tech that’s out there. Systems like Talent Rover and other single-function products that focus on solving one or two specific needs are coming out because the technology that exists is just so bad. A big reason for this is the consumerization of business software. B2C software is far more advanced than most B2B software that is out there simply because consumers refuse to use difficult software. A great example of this is the iPhone. It doesn’t come with an instruction manual because it doesn’t need to and, if it did, consumers wouldn’t use it. In contrast, when you purchase enterprise software, it’s so complicated that it comes with huge amounts of instruction and training just to do the most basic things. I think what’s happening is that software companies are starting to realize that simplifying software leads to better user adoption, and user adoption is a critical piece of growing sales and retaining clients.

As an example of how this applies to staffing and recruitment, we’re currently working with a customer that has a 90-minute job application process. No one has time for that. If it’s difficult to apply, candidates will just stop applying. If you’re not really embracing the new technology you’re not going to be able to attract the same level of talent as those that do embrace it. Companies and software providers are realizing that which is why the space is so incredibly hot right now.

7. Regulatory compliance is an integral part of HR, how does your product/solution address the same?

The bottom line is that you have to make it easy and using the right technology can make it easier. At Talent Rover, we’ve tried to simplify this process by building compliance and credential management tools into our platform. We tackle this element from both sides. On the recruiting side, we’ve given recruiters complete visibility into the credentials that are expiring or outstanding so they can prioritize filling in those gaps. On the candidate side, we have Communities – our mobile-first candidate portal – that empowers candidates to maintain and update their own compliance documentation so that these issues get resolved faster.

8. What questions are your buyers asking you? How is that impacting your product/solution roadmap? Are there any new features or upcoming upgrades that you’re excited about and would like to give us a sneak peek into?

I’m not surprised at how symbiotic our partnership becomes with our customers - I’m surprised at how others are not. We understand what our customers go through because we’ve been on that side of the desk. We’ve always embraced the difficult questions or requests from customers because it’s our job to listen and understand the outcome that they’re wanting the system to produce. But that’s where the customer input stops and our expertise begins. This gets back into why I think so many softwares have turned into Frankenstein - because software vendors will just deliver whatever their customer asked for. It sounds like the right answer, but it’s the wrong answer. Our customers are brilliant at what they do, but they’re not software people. They know what they want and why they want it but they don’t necessarily understand how that translates into a simplified software-based solution. It’s our responsibility to look at the philosophy around our product and make sure whatever our customer is asking for holds true to what our values are.

Our product roadmap is crazy and exciting. The partnerships we have with Accenture and some of our other SI partners have enabled us to condense a 4-year roadmap down into 9 months. The level of innovation and the number of product releases that are coming from us will dramatically reshape the industry. To give you a sneak peek, we have a new BI suite that we’re rolling out this month called Talent Rover Analytics. We’ve also just wrapped up a full direct API integration with LinkedIn. Next year big things are going to come around AI, more streamlined efficiency, and lots of other features designed to get our customers from sales to invoicing as fast as possible.

9. It’s been a year since Talent Rover set up offices in Japan and Australia. How different is the APAC job market compared to the US in terms of industries, designations, the talent pool, demographics etc? Any specific insights for HR personnel recruiting for global teams?

The biggest thing for firms recruiting in APAC is to embrace that the way they do business is different from the US and EMEA. Asia, and Japan itself, has a very specific way of working. For example, in the US it’s absolutely wrong to ask someone how old they are throughout the job application process. In Japan it’s completely normal and a driving factor in who is going to get hired because it’s looked at differently. Seasoned professionals are often preferred because they bring a lot more experience with them. The biggest insights for HR personnel recruiting for these markets is understanding these culture differences - what’s typically recruited for and why - and not to be biased by what we’ve always been told is a no-no in the U.S. What we’ve learned is that having people who live and are from these areas is critical to understanding the market and learning how to adapt to these differences.

10. Can you share a screenshot of the homepage of your smartphone (iOS/Android/other)? It would be interesting to see some of the apps you personally use on a daily basis to get things done and stay on top of your day.

Understanding the Basics of GDPR

Enforcement of Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) begins May 25, 2018 and businesses across the globe are tasked with being compliant in just a few short months.

This new set of data privacy laws is intended to give European citizens increased control over how their data is collected, processed, stored, and transferred and data collectors who aren’t compliant by the deadline risk facing significant financial penalties. (Up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher.)

Even if your business is based in the United States, GDPR could still impact you. If your firm is placing candidates who are residents of the EU, making placements on behalf of customers located in the EU, or have employees who are EU citizens, the GDPR applies to you.

How GDPR Impacts External Staffing & Recruitment Firms

At their core, recruitment businesses rely on collecting and utilizing the personal data of potential candidates including contact information, resume databases, applications, public job boards, and social media profiles. Optimization and management of this personal data is critical to both maintaining compliance with the GDPR. Three important things to remember are:

1. Transparency Matters: The GDPR requires you to be transparent and honest about the data you are collecting and how that data will be used. Whether you’re using data for placements, marketing, automated processing - the reason for collecting, storing, and using this data needs to be made clear your data subjects.

2. You’re More Liable for Data Management: Recruitment companies will be required to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO), report a data breach to GDPR authorities within 72 hours of discovery, and provide proof that your firm has a legal reason for collecting data on a particular subject or person.

3. Consent is King: The best way to prove the legality for retaining data is through active consent. Consent needs to be informed, specific, explicit, and in writing.

GDPR has the potential to completely disrupt and redefine how staffing and recruitment firms interact with candidates and customers. It is also an opportunity for firms to create data management practices that promote transparency and will ultimately lead to making quicker, better placements.

How GDPR Impacts Data Processors like Talent Rover

Under the GDPR, data processors like Talent Rover will have also be directly obligated to notify our customers about breaches as well as implementing technical and organizational measures to protect personal data. At Talent Rover, we’ve opted to appoint a Data Protection Office (even though we’re not required to do so) to help support our customers as they prepare for and navigate the GDPR.

The Definition of Data Processing

Under the GDPR the definition of “processing” is very broad. It essentially means anything that is done to or with personal data. This includes collecting, storing, deleting, or even viewing that data. In other terms, EU data protection law is likely to apply wherever an organization does anything that involves personal data.

*NEW* Talent Rover’s GDPR Consent Tool

To help our customers become and stay compliant with the GDPR, we’ve built a consent tool into our platform that automatically requests consent from newly-parsed candidates. Talent Rover’s consent tool also seamlessly requests consent from candidates already in your system, regardless of how or when they are entered your database. This consent tool also tracks how and when consent was given for each record - critical to your GDPR compliance narrative.

Click here to learn more about the tool and to get a demo of the solution.

Additional GDPR Information, Resources, and Training

• Talent Rovers GDPR Page
• Talent Rovers Security Page
• Information Commissioner’s Office Guide to the GDPR
• Salesforce GDPR Trailheads

As always, Talent Rover strives to keep our customers up-to-date about all important security and compliance-related information. Talent Rover is SOC2 compliant. To request a full copy of our SOC2 report please contact us at compliance@talentrover.com.