As the eldest sibling of three I think it’s fair to say I was brought up with the constant message of:
‘Be nice and share that with your sisters!’
Like most parents, mine have no favourite (it’s me) and they love us all the same (me most), but like many recruiters and back-office staff, my sisters and I couldn’t be different and so sharing wasn’t something we did naturally.
My sisters and I have a wide range of skills, abilities, knowledge and also very different personalities. Some of my strengths are their weaknesses, but together we’re solid and we fight the same fight as an unstoppable super-team.
Both of my sisters will agree that whilst I’ve not always been the perfect brother, I’ve got better with age.
Better with age, knowledge and maturity that is.
Especially now that I’ve learnt how to share!
‘Share, share, share!’
In the early days, any sharing with my sisters was done begrudgingly, and occasionally by force – it felt horrible.
Does anything hurt more than sharing a packet of Monster Munch crisps with your sister?
Please understand that I wasn’t an ogre. It’s just that I didn’t see the benefits of sharing anything.
I didn’t want to share, nor did I particularly care about making their lives any easier.
Looking back it was all a bit selfish really.
I’d ask myself:
Why ‘pass them the salt’ when they could reach for it themselves?
Thankfully, things are now different and today we share pretty much everything.
We share time, material goods, experiences (good and bad) and we work hard to stay in touch.
It’s the perfect, sharing, caring, communicating team.
So what have my sisters got to do with recruiters and back office?
At a recent Recruitment Agency Expo I met with many ‘recruiters’ and ‘back office’ staff.
Let’s call them ‘brothers and sisters’:
Recruiters (brothers) would say: “I don’t deal with back office stuff – someone else does that”
Back-Office (sisters) would say: “I’m looking for a Pay and Bill solution – we can’t trust recruiters to do it properly…”
It surprised me that after 19 years in the Voyager seat, I’m still hearing the same messages.
The recruitment industry has changed, but for many, processes and attitudes have not
Recruitment has become professional, ethical even, and the moral compass tops the list of priorities for most recruitment directors around the globe.
That said, all recruitment operations still live and die by their data and the quality of it.
And thanks to the GDPR, your data’s life expectancy will plummet, if not properly managed.
Candidates, clients, notes, compliance, payment details and terms, all need to be shared and seamlessly across the business, from the front office to the back office.
Recruiters need total clarity and transparency of their data where it sits, who’s managing it, who owns it and there needs to be a audit trail that allows you to review your data historically.
The big data generation
The big data generation is here right now.
If you share data, quickly, effortlessly and securely you’ll be far more efficient, compliant and business fit in today’s recruitment world.
If the recruiters and back office staff in your office find it hard to share, or do it begrudgingly, then I’d love the opportunity to show you a smarter, safer and nicer way forward for your entire recruitment family. (Click for Online Demo)
You don’t need to share data begrudgingly. Try implementing a process and system that builds and shares knowledge and experience with your team, and recognise that if you do, you’ll be a stronger team because of it.
At a very simple level, placements added to a ‘Recruitment CRM’ should automatically be verified, validated and passed to back office for checking (with no Excel spreadsheets in the middle).
If you have sibling rivalries over data and processes in your office then why not get in contact with Voyager for some sharing, caring assistance.
As a minimum, if you are looking to outsource your back office processes to a 3rd party, then make sure you select a Mid-Office approved supplier like Boomerang Funding.
Blog written by paul.thompson@voyagersoftware.com
Voyager Infinity and Voyager Mid-Office are software solutions that make Recruiters’ lives easier. Voyager Infinity is a CRM used by thousands of recruiters globally to source, nurture and maintain the relationships with their clients and candidates, and Mid-Office manages the entire Pay and Bill process (IR35 ready).
